Social Media Fraud

What You Need To Know

While social media can be a great way for you to stay connected with your family and friends, as well as your favorite brands, it also presents opportunities for fraudsters. In one type of scam, fraudsters create fraudulent accounts that resemble the social media pages of legitimate companies, like Bethpage, and, by doing so, can entice you to share your personal or financial information.

Ways to avoid social media scams:

• Be aware that posting personal information as status updates can be used in the following manner:
  • Posts about going out of town may leave your house susceptible to robbery.
  • Pictures and videos of your house, car, and other personal possessions may allow others to gain identifying information that could be used to impersonate you online or the phone.
  • Phishing attempts using information posted online can be used to gain trust in order to obtain non-public information.
• Never login to an account if the link is provided to you through social media.
• When using social media, do not provide personal or financial information unless you initiated the contact and know the contact is authentic.
• Use caution when you click links that you receive in messages from your friends on your social network. Treat links in messages on these sites as you would links in email messages.
• Know the social media account handle for the company you are dealing with. Make sure you communicate only with the legitimate account.
• Look closely at the reply you receive and be skeptical. Look for misspelled handles, email addresses, etc.

If you come across a social media account impersonating Tucson Federal Credit Union, or if you fall victim to a social media scam, call TFCU right away at 520-795-8520.

Please note: Tucson Federal Credit Union will never initiate a conversation with you asking for your sensitive personal information. Any message you receive from us (the TFCU brand or TFCU employees) on social media will come from our official account and will only be in response to a contact you initiated (e.g., commenting on our page or photos; sending us a direct or private message; or mentioning us in a comment or tweet).