Financial Security

Since I work in the Operations side of a Credit Union and I am very passionate about what we do I feel like there are some pieces of information that I should share.

There is a new scam going around the Middle Tennessee area that consists of an automated phone call stating for the security of your account we need to verify your information...the information they request for you to input is your debit card number, expiration date and PIN. I AM YELLING RIGHT NOW...DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVER GIVE YOUR PIN NUMBER TO ANYONE!!!!! What people don't understand is that yes, you are protected from fraud...but if you give out your Personal Identification Number (aka PIN) the financial institution is relinquished from any and all transactions that occur on your account. You may think this is common sense...but these fraudelent actions are very persuasive. An example of this happened just this week to one of our members...and he works in finance...he knows better....but his wife was out shopping and he thought that this was coming from his card company and maybe her card had been blocked...he gave all the information. He lost an estimated $500. DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR PIN!

On a second note, this is something I'm pretty excited about and I don't think I've blogged about it...but if so, just humor me...
You can place a security freeze on your credit report. As of January 2009 it will be available online thru the credit bureaus. If you're interested check out this site http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html and click on your state. This is absolutely the best way to fight identity theft. We found out from our credit bureau representative (thru Equifax) that they will be issuing PIN numbers so if you don't want to have to go in and release a block then reinstate it you can just give the PIN to the creditor you allow to look at your credit...anyone else can't see it unless you authorize it. How cool is that?!

So, what did we learn today? Hopefully nothing...hopefully it's just a refresher that you never give your PIN to anyone. I just got an email two seconds ago stating there is a new scam that they've made to look like it's coming from Wells Fargo Bank...asking same info stated above and yet it looks very legit.