Scammers stole approximately $10 billion from unsuspecting victims in 2023. Due to the increasing sophistication of phishing tactics, it can be very easy for a scammer to impersonate your financial institution as well as other businesses with which you exchange money.

Over the years, we have several members fall victim to scammers impersonating Fire Police City County Federal Credit Union through texts, phone calls and emails. While we do our best to protect you from fraud, we believe in financial education as a first line of defense. The next time someone claims they are contacting you from FPCCFCU, follow these tips to discern whether the call, text or email is legitimate.

The following is a list of things we will NEVER do when contacting our members:

They ask you to open a link. We will never send you a personal email asking you to login to your online accounts. Beware of suspicious URLs meant to trick you into giving over your personal information.

They request personal info. If a text or email asks you for personal information such as passwords, social security numbers or PINs, you can assume it’s a scam. We will never request this information.

They ask for urgent action. Scammers often use scare tactics to get you to act, such as a warning that your account will be closed if you don’t login to verify it within 24 hours. Credit Unions will not do this.

They include an attachment. Your Credit Union will never send you an unexpected attachment, especially if you didn’t request it. Such attachments could contain malware that can compromise your devices or your personal information.

They ask you to send money through a payment app. We will never ask you to send money through Zelle, CashApp or any other payment apps. Some other red flags include a caller asking you to send money to yourself or if they claim to have accidentally overpaid you through a payment app and request that you refund the excess amount. You can be certain that if you follow through, your money will end up in the hands of a scammer.