Scammers Unleash Identity Theft Attacks

Jeffco Credit Union has been targeted by a 'phishing' e-mail and a series of phone calls tricking customers to disclose their sensitive financial information. This has forced the company to temporarily shut down its online banking services.

The bank's website now displays a fraud alert, cautioning members to guard themselves against "phishing e-mails" which inform members that their account has restricted access or has been terminated.

Credit Union authorities informed that the fraudulent mail takes members to an Internet link which is very much a replica of the company's live site. Certain customers have even punched in their credit card details and found that money has been stolen from their online accounts.

Lakewood's Candace Mowers, though not a Jeffco customer, received one such dubious auto-generated call in the afternoon on December 28, 2007. She got suspicious when she was asked by the automated voice to punch in her credit card information, as per the news published by 9news on December 28, 2007.

Another e-mail, replete with look-alikes of Jeffco logos, is also prowling the cyberspace. The e-mail directs people to a certain website which very much looks like the online banking website of Jeffco. The e-mails as well as calls are targeting many people, even if they are not Jeffco members, suggesting that the cyber scammers do not possess a member list, but are working randomly.

Jeffco officials revealed that they are being deluged with reports of the dubious phone calls since December 27, 2007. The next afternoon onwards, the company restricted online banking to only account viewing. It has suspended its online withdrawal and transfer facilities in a bid to prevent financial losses of its customers.

Jeffco is in touch with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and an Internet security firm to trace and shut down the websites involved in the "phishing" scam. The sites seem to be based in California, Nevada, and even Romania. The phone number that the scammers use is registered with Level3 Communications.

Jeffco Credit Union has sent a reminder to its members and those targeted by the scam, that their union and even other financial institutions never request information from people.

Related article: Scammers Exploit Tax System Resulting in ID Theft

» SPAMfighter News - 1/10/2008