Common Identity Theft Scams

Here are some common ways fraudsters try to convince people to wire money.

• Fake Check Scams. Someone sends a check and tells them to deposit it.
• Romance Scams. Fraudsters create fake profiles on dating sites and apps.
• Family Emergency Scams. They receive an unexpected phone call from someone pretending to be a friend or relative.
• Apartment Rental Scams. They respond to an ad for an apartment with surprisingly low rent.
• Business Email Compromise. The fraudster sets up an email address that looks like it is from a known individual or company.
• Holiday Scams. Fraudsters send fake package shipment and delivery notifications to try to steal personal information. Or, they impersonate real companies in ads on social media.  

Learn about the latest scams, and get advice to help avoid, report and recover from a scan using FTC guidance.

Phishing is a process by which scam artists try to get you to divulge your Social Security number, your account numbers, address or other personal information under the guise of a legitimate company with which you may already be doing business.

Like phishing, smishing is a method used by criminals to extract your personal or account information.

Vishing is the criminal practice of using telephone technology to gain access to private personal and financial information.

To order your free annual report from one or all of the national consumer reporting companies, you should not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually.

To help lower the number of unsolicited telephone calls you receive, and as another means to deter identity theft, you may want to get on the do not call lists.

You can choose not to receive pre-approved offers, by exercising your right to opt-out, preventing consumer credit reporting companies from using your credit file information for pre-approved offers of credit or insurance.

With advanced computer technology and desktop publishing, scammers are producing more and more counterfeit checks that look like official cashier’s checks, money orders, or corporate checks.

Change your password frequently. Change your password as often as possible to prevent abuse of a password that someone might have obtained illegitimately.

You can adopt several security strategies to protect yourself from viruses and malware.

Interra Credit Union provides valuable resources to help members protect their personal and account information, to prevent identity theft, to create awareness of fraudulent activity and related topics, too.

Contact information for the big three. Equifax. Experian. Transunion.

A tech support scam is a form of internet fraud that implements social engineering and fear tactics in order to get the victim to take the bait.