Phishing — pronounced fishing — is the latest form of identity theft. It’s when thieves act as if they are representing us and try to “hook” you into providing personal information. Once you’re “hooked,” the thieves can do serious damage to your financial accounts. They can dupe you into providing your Social Security number, financial account numbers, PIN numbers, passwords, mothers’ maiden names and other personal information.

How Does Phishing Work?

By E-mail:

The most common form of phishing is by e-mail. For instance, you could receive an e-mail from Safeway Montana Federal Credit Union asking you to “reconfirm” your personal information. Unfortunately, this e-mail is not from us, but from a phisher pretending to be a representative of our organization.

Typically, the e-mail contains a link to a Web site that looks like a new-replica of our site. You click onto the link and add your personal information, which goes right into the hands of identity thieves. It’s important to not respond to these e-mails.

By Phone:

Phishers also use the phone to hunt for personal information. Some, posing as employers, call or send e-mails to people who have listed themselves on job search Web sites.

While phishing scams can be sophisticated, the following features are often indicators that something is suspicious.

Be aware of a potential scam if:

• Someone unexpectedly contacts you and asks for your personal information, such as your financial institution account number, an account password or PIN, credit card number or Social Security number. Safeway Credit Union would not contact you for that information.

• The sender, who is supposedly a representative of our organization, asks you to confirm that you have a relationship with us. We have that information on record.

• You are warned that your account will be shut down unless you “reconfirm” your financial information.

Safeway Credit Union is doing everything we can to counter this type of criminal activity. Your account protection is our top priority.

What to do:

If you receive an unsolicited e-mail or phone call that seems suspicious, and is allegedly from our organization, please do not reveal any information. In fact, please call us at 723-4607 to verify that the request is legitimate.