Consumer alert!

Monroe County Community Credit Union customers are being targeted by an online scam that apparently attempts to capture account numbers, login passwords and other information. The e-mailed message looks like this:

From: “Monroe County Community Credit Union”<admin@mcccu.org>

Date: February 10, 2008 3:40:46 PM GMT-05:00

Subject: New Inbox Message!

 

You have one new message at Monroe County Community Credit Union.

INBOX (1)

From: Customer Service
Date: 10/02/2008
Subject: Official service renewal notification.

In order to read the message click here to login at
Monroe County Community Credit Union and access your MAIL section.

Monroe County Community Credit Union,
715 North Telegraph Road,
Monroe, MI 48162.
Copyright © 2008, Monroe County Community Credit Union. All rights reserved.

If you ignore the futuristic date in the message and you click on the “click here” link, it takes you to a Web site that is almost an exact replica of the MCCCU home page that asks for your account number and password. But there are two distinct differences: The Web address in your browser doesn’t begin with the “https” prefix that indicates it’s a secure site. Second, it also doesn’t have the bright red “Scam” warning about halfway down the page that the legitimate site has. If you punch in any entries in the login and password boxes, you’re taken to a legitimate looking site that says “Suspended Account” and asks you to enter your name, a credit card number, an e-mail address and other personal information.

If your fooled by the bogus page into punching in your password, you probably should then go to the real site and change your password. If you’re fooled by the second page, you probably should report what you did to the credit union.

If you ever receive an e-mail from your financial institution for any reason, it’s best to give them a call and make sure it’s legit. Most financial institutions don’t ask for personal information via e-mails they send to you.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 6:44 am and is filed under Internet hoaxes, Scams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.