LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union is warning members and the public about a scam involving automated telephone messages. In a press release, KCFCU said perpetrators send automated telephone messages that appear to be from a financial institution with
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union is warning members and the public about a scam involving automated telephone messages.
In a press release, KCFCU said perpetrators send automated telephone messages that appear to be from a financial institution with the goal of persuading users to share sensitive information that can be used to commit fraud or identity theft.
KCFCU was made aware of a recent phone scam that apparently has returned, by e-mails and phone calls received from members and non-members.
The perpetrators in this scam send automated telephone messages which notify people that their credit or debit card has been suspended because of unauthorized access by a third party.
In certain cases, a phone number was provided with instructions to call.
“Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union did not send this automated phone message, nor would we ever ask members to submit personal financial information over the phone,” said Charles Carveiro, KCFCU vice president of loans and information technology.
“Any such requests should be viewed as highly suspicious, and recipients should not respond to these phone messages,” Carveiro said. “We cannot prevent this type of fraud from being attempted again in the future. Therefore, only through education and awareness can we hope to protect ourselves from identity theft and these types of scams.”
Members who responded to the automated phone message by sharing personal financial information about their accounts at KCFCU are encouraged to contact KCFCU as soon as possible by calling 245-6791, or by visiting a branch office.
Carveiro said KCFCU is working with Internet security experts to shut down the fraudulent phone numbers. Recipients of a suspected fraudulent phone message can also report it to abuse@kcfcu.org.
KCFCU would like to remind consumers that reputable financial institutions would never ask for sensitive financial information through automated phone messages.
Still, Lihu‘e’s Luther Burney, a former KCFCU member whose son carries the same name and is a current KCFCU member, said he wonders how perpetrators got a hold of his telephone number, which he has had for only around 18 months.
Burney does lots of computer work, including server security, and figures the only way someone could have gotten his number is by accessing KCFCU’s member database.
But Irving M.K. Soto, KCFCU vice president of business development and credit union service organization, said such scams use random, computer-generated telephone numbers, and that he is certain KCFCU “data has not been compromised.”
Soto said he received calls from Texas and other parts of the country, with the callers saying they aren’t even KCFCU members and they received the automated calls.
Further, KCFCU has hired a security company that watches the KCFCU computer system, with no breaches reported, Soto said.
