August 11, 2008
Phishing scams devise clever ways to trick you into revealing personal information. A favorite of these criminals is sending spam email, claiming to be from your bank, warning your account is about to be closed unless you take action. Most often, that action involves logging into a site that you think is your bank's, and entering your account information, only to find that scammers have created a fake site to "phish" your information and sell it in the criminal underground.
Now scammers appear to have added a new wrinkle. A number of consumers in Kentucky have reported receiving telephone calls from someone claiming to be from Commonwealth Credit Union with a warning their credit cards are being suspended. Members and non-members of Commonwealth Credit Union have reported receiving calls on their cell, work and home phones.
"This is a scam," said Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. "Our investigators have received several complaints and confirmed with representatives from Commonwealth Credit Union that this is a hoax and may be an attempt to compromise members' accounts."
The message asks people to call a phone number. When callers dial the toll-free number, they are then instructed to enter their credit-card numbers to reactivate the accounts.
"Do not respond to this message," Conway warned. "Commonwealth Credit Union has informed our investigators that it will never make calls to members asking for personal information."
