Security & Fraud

Protect Yourself Against Scams

At Robins Financial, the safety and security of our members is a top priority. We are committed to keeping you and your accounts safe and protected.

The scams we are notified of have become increasingly sophisticated, so it can sometimes make them harder to detect and harder to protect yourself from. Knowledge is your best defense in protecting yourself from scams and fraud, and we’re here to help you learn what to look out for. Here are some of the current scams we are seeing and what you can do to protect yourself:

Phishing/Vishing Scams

With phishing scams, identity thieves pretend to be someone else in order to deceive people into providing personal information such as Social Security Numbers, financial account numbers, PIN numbers, credit card information, etc. The most common form of phishing occurs via email. There is another form of phishing that occurs via text message, known as “smishing” for SMS (short message services) phishing. Both forms of phishing schemes attempt to trick you into clicking a link that leads to a phony website, where you are then prompted you to enter your information so fraudsters can steal it. Ruses may include a claim that there were unauthorized charges on your account that you need to approve, that a temporary hold was placed on your account, or that your account has been restricted, all stating that you need to log into your account immediately to resolve the issue. The best way to avoid these types of phishing scams is to never click on links or open attachments when you aren’t 100% sure that the email or text message is legitimate. You can hover over a link before clicking to see what site it will direct you, and if the site looks suspicious or unfamiliar, do not click on it. You should also never enter personal information on a website you are unfamiliar with, rather go directly to the website by typing in the web address.

There has also been an emergence of phishing via phone calls, known as “vishing” (voice phishing). In this instance, a phony caller may claim to be from Robins Financial Credit Union to try to get you to tell them your Secure Access Code (SAC) and/or Personal Identification Number (PIN), thus bypassing our security controls. They would then have the ability to initiate fraudulent transactions against your account. It has been reported that these fraudsters have even spoofed our phone number in an attempt to make their scam appear more legitimate. Please be aware that Robins Financial will never ask you to provide your PIN or SAC over the phone. We do not need this information to verify your account or for any other reason. If you are ever unsure of whether a call is valid, hang up and call us back at 478-923-3773 so you can be sure you are speaking with a legitimate employee.

Social Media Scams

While social media allows us to stay connected to our family, friends, and colleagues, it’s also an avenue for scammers to collect personal information. There has been a recent rise in scams involving celebrity social media profiles, most often with a scammer posing as the celebrity. The “celebrity” may be requesting money from fans, encouraging donations to a cause, or even claiming to award exclusive tickets or a big cash giveaway. Even if the celebrity appears to live streaming a video, those can be faked and manipulated. There has also been a rise in scams using popular peer-to-peer payment apps such as CashApp, Venmo, and PayPal. Celebrities and influencers may claim to host online cash giveaways through these apps, but again these are often scammers and not the actual person. The scammer may request you send a small amount of cash to them first as a “verification fee” and send you a link that is actually a phishing scam to steal your credentials and the money you sent. We have also received reports of scammers contacting someone who shared their payment app handle and requested the person provide their financial account information such as account number, security questions and answers, or digital banking login credentials, claiming that they will deposit the money directly into your account, but this is always a scam.

Another form of social media scam is the chain posts you’ve likely seen circulating on social media as fun “getting to know you” posts. These posts use information like the name of the street you grew up on, your children or pet’s names, your mother’s maiden name, the year you were born, etc. to determine a fun new name or trait about yourself. While these posts may seem harmless, they are actually common security questions and by posting your answers online, you are giving away your personal information for free which could lead to your accounts being hacked.

A particularly awful form of social media scam is fake charity scams. These tend to pop up following a major tragedy, natural disaster, or other unfortunate event, and offer opportunities to donate to a charity in need of support. However, scammers prey on our natural instincts to help those in need, and create fake websites or donation pages to collect funds for their own heinous uses. Always verify a charitable organization directly from their website, and rely on compiled lists of credible non-profits rather than following links from social media posts.

Job Offer, Investment, and Influencer Scams

Although there are many appealing and legitimate remote work offers, claims of guaranteed profit or huge returns on a small initial investment should raise a red flag. These types of scams present themselves via unsolicited phone calls, emails, text messages, and even sometimes social media messages from someone posing a potential employer, investor, or someone seeking an influencer partnership. They may claim that they saw your resume or portfolio online, or perhaps you responded to a posting on an internet job board or social media post, and they have an opportunity for you to work from home and make large sums of money. Unfortunately, the position in this case does not actually exist. Or, they may contact you encouraging you to invest in their company, sometimes before earning your own income through them or by re-selling products. You may even be contacted requesting to partner with a brand or organization as an influencer. The person contacting you may request your digital banking credentials claiming it’s so they can access remote deposit and make fraudulent deposits into your account to act as your first official paycheck. Remember, you should never provide your digital banking login credentials to anyone else. Or, they may mail a fraudulent check along with deposit instructions, specifying for only a portion of the funds to be kept for yourself, and wire the remaining funds elsewhere. But just because a check clears, does not always mean it is a legitimate check. If you ever receive a check and are unsure of whether or not it is a scam, contact us and our staff will be glad to assist you in verifying the legitimacy of the check.

Check Scams

More general types of check scams often involve receiving a check with instructions to only take a portion of the proceeds, then send the remaining funds to someone else. For example, you are selling an item online, and the buyer sends you a check for significantly more than the selling price, then they request that you forward the remaining funds to a moving company who will arrange pick-up of the merchandise. This is known as an overpayment scams. In all variations of this scam, somebody sends you a check for more than expected, always with the trap of then asking you to do something else with the “extra” funds. Be wary if someone sends you a check and asks you to send some of that money back to them or to someone else. You should never accept a check that is made out for more than your selling price. If you’re ever skeptical about a check, bring it in to one of our branches and we will gladly review the check with you to determine whether or not it is legitimate. If you receive a check that you think is a scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Check out their helpful infographic on how to spot fake check scams.

Romance Scams

Most people are familiar with the concept of catfishing, wherein someone online pretends to be someone they are not, but romance scams take this impersonation one step further. If you connect with a con artist, you may find yourself both emotionally and financially devastated. Though forming a relationship and building trust may take some time, these scammers are in it for the long con. Eventually they will begin to ask for money, possibly claiming it is needed for a flight to come visit you or to repair their car that broke down, to help them with bills, or to help them out of some other fictitious situation. If you agree to pay the first time, the scammer will continue to come up with new reasons to request money until you either realize that this is a scam, or have no money left to give. You should never send money to someone you haven’t met in person and don’t know for sure that they are real and who they claim to be. If they refuse to meet you in person or even speak by phone or video chat, tell them you are uncomfortable sending them money. If they are persistent, end your communication with them.

Sweepstakes, Lottery, and Prize Winning Scams

With these types of scams, you will be contacted and notified that you are the winner of some large sum of money or other awesome prize. But then, you’ll be asked to pay some type of fee in order to claim your winnings, typically via wire transfer. These scams have a very clear red flag: If you never entered a contest, you can’t win it. Ignore any claims that you’ve won some sort of prize if you know you haven’t entered to win anything.

Fraudulent Text/Smishing Scams

As technology advances, scammers are finding new ways to trick people into sharing personal and financial information. One of the ways scammers have developed is through fraudulent texts or smishing scams. Smishing scams are a combination of SMS – for short message service – and phishing, the practice of stealing personal information through deceptive communications. These texts may appear to come from your financial institution requesting personal or financial information. There will be a link within the text directing you to a website that seems to be legitimate where you will “verify” your account by entering sensitive information. Members have reported receiving texts regarding ACH transaction verification and account disablement with a clickable link to a site that appears to be our online banking site. These messages are fraudulent attempts to gain your personal information. Never click on any links that are sent to you from an unknown source. Robins Financial will never ask for information such as your Digital Banking login credentials via text messaging, email, or phone call. We do not need this information to verify your account. If you are concerned that you are a victim of fraud, please contact us immediately. You can also check out our Scams and Fraud playlist on YouTube to learn more about potential scams you may face, as well as how to protect yourself and your information from falling into the wrong hands.

Please remember, you should never provide your financial account number, Digital Banking login ID or password, Secure Access Codes, debit or credit card information, or any other details to anyone under any circumstance.

Follow these steps while traveling to ensure that Fraud Prevention can reach you during your travels, should it be necessary:

• Update your phone numbers with us, including your cell number.

• Provide us with a temporary phone number.

• Be sure to let us know when you return so we can remove this temporary number.

• Add a travel notification in our Cards App app by setting your travel destination, your departure and return date to avoid transaction declines.

Also, if you are traveling abroad, please take the toll Free international numbers with you, should you need to contact Fraud Prevention. When calling the international number(s), please wait on the line until an operator answers and ask to be transferred to Fraud Prevention.

Is it Fraud or Dispute?

Participation is the key in determining whether a transaction is fraud or a dispute. If you have ever done business with the merchant or given them your card number, it is NOT fraud. If you have NEVER given the merchant your information, then it is fraud.

Why does it matter?

If we dispute a transaction as fraudulent and the merchant can prove that you have an account with them, you cannot get your money back. However, if we send your transaction back as a dispute, we have a better chance of getting your money back.

Your Robins Financial Credit Union Visa® debit and credit cards are monitored 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for fraud detection by Falcon Fraud Monitoring. You may be contacted by Voice Response Unit (VRU) or a live representative between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST, to verify that your transactions are valid. If you are unavailable, you will receive a message asking you to call 866-864-9677 (toll free). For cardholders who are traveling abroad, we have a list of Visa^® International Toll Free Numbers for Falcon. If we do not hear from you to verify the transactions, we may block your card at our discretion.

Please note that Falcon Fraud Representatives will never ask you to give out your card PIN, security code (on the back of your card), or your card’s expiration date. They will, however, need to verify some basic information in order to confirm your identity.

If you verify that the charges are valid, you may continue to use your card. If the charges are not valid, your card will be blocked to prevent any further fraudulent activity. Please note that Falcon Fraud Prevention cannot stop a charge once it has been approved, they will simply block your card to prevent further fraud. If your card is blocked, you will need to contact us directly to report the fraud and request a replacement card.

In addition to the phone calls Falcon Fraud Prevention already makes to notify you of potential fraud, we are pleased to offer additional protections for our members. For members that have a valid email address on file for your account, Falcon Fraud Prevention will send an email to notify you immediately of suspected fraudulent transactions on your Robins Financial debit or credit cards.

Members are also able to enroll to receive text alerts to alert you of suspected fraudulent charges. To ensure that you receive these messages from Falcon Fraud Prevention, please verify and update your contact information in Digital Banking and opt-in for card fraud text alerts.

You will need to verify the listed transactions should you receive an email or text message from Falcon Fraud Prevention. Please note that these messages are only to verify charges, Falcon Fraud Prevention will never request sensitive account information via email or text message.

We encourage cardholders to download our Cards app which allows you to remotely manage all aspects of your Robins Financial debit and credit cards. With Cards App, you’ll receive real-time alerts and have the option to block your card within the app. We also encourage members to sign up for e-Alerts in Digital Banking to stay on top of your account activity and monitor your transactions.

In an effort to try to combat fraudulent activity, Robins Financial Credit Union reserves the right to restrict certain types of transactions from time to time.

* Visa^® liability guidelines apply; see a member service representative for details.