February 25, 2023
Mail Theft Uptick Leads to Check Fraud
According to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, mail theft complaints more than doubled from March 2020 to February 2021. The criminals rob mailboxes and mail carriers of the master keys to the blue mailbox drops to gain access to the mail. The criminals then sift through to locate checks that can be altered, counterfeited, or sold online.
In several cases, member-issued checks have been stolen from USPS mailboxes, as well as members’ mailboxes, altered, and negotiated elsewhere. The checks can also be used to open fraudulent new accounts and loans using the name and address information for stolen identities.
Mail theft and armed robberies against U.S. Postal Service carriers have increased substantially throughout the country. The criminal’s focus is to gain access to the master keys of the blue USPS mailboxes –ultimately in search for checks that can be altered, counterfeited, or sold online.
AllCom Credit Union members are encouraged to sign up for direct deposit, pay bills online or use AllCom’s bill pay service via online and mobile banking. If you need to mail a check, consider mailing them inside the Post Office lobby rather than using blue mailboxes. As always, we encourage our members to log into your accounts frequently to review transaction history – looking for unfamiliar transactions. Please report unfamiliar and unauthorized transactions immediately to AllCom.
January 26, 2023
Chick-fil-A Investigates Suspicious Activity on its Chick-fil-A One App
In a statement released by Chick-fil-A on Jan. 4, 2023, the company announced that suspicious activity has occurred on some Chick-fil-A One accounts. AllCom continues to monitor the situation. Chick-fil-A One account holders are advised to change their password and remove all payment information on the app immediately. For more information, please visit Chick-fil-A’s customer support website here.
December 27, 2022
Learn the Signs of a Fake Survey
Lately, AllCom has been seeing members fall for surveys by inputting card information on fake “survey sites”.
Some key tips to remember:
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We are up-to-date on all the latest scams – you can always call and ask for our opinion.
- Free trials, free samples, surveys, social media offers and pay for shipping only transactions should always raise concern and be researched further. A quick Google search or call to the credit union can help determine if something is legitimate. There have been many members who participate in these types of transactions and later they find out they have been enrolled in a subscription they weren’t aware of (because they didn’t read fine print).
- Even if an email, text, phone call, source, etc. says they’re a particular merchant doesn’t necessarily mean they are. Example: You get an email from Kohl’s asking you to fill out a survey and in return, you’ll receive a free item if you just pay for shipping. You give them your card number to pay for shipping and then nothing is ever delivered. Sometimes these scammers may even start charging other unauthorized amounts.
Always keep in mind:
- Once again, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is
- Free trials always have fine print and typically enroll you into a subscription unless you cancel before you’re charged
- If your card info is needed for something and you’re told you won’t be charged, it should raise suspicion
- If you’re promised goods or money in return for doing something, it should raise suspicion
- Scammers are great at what they do. There are countless ways they can find out information and contact people. It’s important to learn all their tricks and be able to identify scams
- When in doubt, Google is a great tool. Most of the scam situations can be Googled with results showing people who have already complained online
- AllCom team members are available (888.754.9980) to help determine if it’s a scam
For more information on fake surveys visit: https://www.bbb.org/all/spot-a-scam/signs-of-a-fake-survey.
