Beware of Scammers Trying to Get Your Account Info!

Keep Scammers at BayFinancial institutions have seen an uptick in scam reporting. These scams are getting more sophisticated and even harder to detect for the average consumer.
Scammers are using phone calls, emails, and even text messages to lure unsuspecting victims into compromising situations. Often, these scammers will pretend to be from legitimate sources to gain your trust, including companies like Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, Best Buy, and even your credit union.
Here are some great tips for reducing your chances of getting scammed:
  • If you don’t recognize the number or email address, don’t answer or respond. This is the easiest thing you can do to protect yourself.
  • If you didn’t initiate contact with a company for a service, don’t give them your information. Scammers have been known to say they represent a legitimate company and offer you a service you didn’t request, tell you that you’ve won a prize you didn’t enter for, or convince you there’s an issue with a transaction you didn’t make.
  • Stay focused. Scammers count on distracting you by creating a problem you need to solve so that they can gain access to your information.
  • Don’t offer information, such as names of people or institutions. Scammers will pretend to be someone and wait for you to identify a person’s name or say something like, “I don’t bank with you, I bank with Revity FCU.”
  • If you are on the phone and concerned it might be a scam, tell the person you’re busy right now and ask for their name and a number you can call back on. Most scammers will try to keep you on the phone instead of giving you information to call them back.
  • Just hang up or delete! If you don’t feel right, you don’t need to stay on the phone or hang on to that email or text message. Simply hang up the phone or delete the message!
  • Unless you know the person you are talking to on the other end of the phone is a legitimate company you are authorizing to debit or credit money to you, never give:
    • Your routing number
    • Your full checking or savings account number
    • Your full debit or credit card number, expiration date, or security code
    • Your address
    • The MICR line from the bottom of your check
  • Never give out:
    • Your home banking login information
    • Any online passwords
    • Your address
    • Your PIN number
    • Any OTP (one-time passcodes) to login to an account
  • Remember: if you give out your information, there’s little to no chance at recovering your losses. Always err on the side of caution and keep your information safe!

If you ever have any questions concerning your account, please reach out to us at 336-373-2090 and we’ll be happy to help you.