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Dos and Don’ts for Protecting Your Accounts from Scammers

Learn these Dos and Don’ts to keep you financial accounts safe.
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Financial scams are one of the most common causes of anxiety - with a sizable percentage of Americans reporting they or a family member have lost money due to a scammer.

Scammers often take advantage of busy times of year or situations that are higher in anxiety. For example, you might see more scams being perpetrated over a holiday weekend or in the lead-up to Tax Day.

When scammers target consumers, they may go high-tech, using false phone numbers or profiles to target members and access personal information.

Andrews Federal will never contact you to ask for your personal information. This includes, according to the Department of Labor:

  • Information that directly identifies an individual
  • Name
  • Address
  • Social security number or other identifying number or code
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Other indicators, including gender, race and birth date

We are constantly working to protect your accounts, and we need your help. You are the first line of defense to keep your account information protected and to make us aware if you spot abnormalities in your accounts.

To protect your accounts, DO these four things:

  • Change your password regularly. Make a strong password, store it securely and change it frequently. Microsoft recommends that a good password be:
    • At least 12 characters long
    • A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols
    • Significantly different from other passwords you use
  • Set account alerts to get real-time transactional information. You can set up Alerts in Digital Banking to tell you when transactions over certain amounts are made, when checks are cashed, when deposits are processed and more. You can view instructional videos to quickly and easily learn how to set up alerts and make yourself more secure.
  • Use Card Management. The Card Management tool in Digital Banking makes it easy to report your card if it’s lost, misplaced or stolen. It gives you a quick way to shut down access so fraudsters cannot use your card, and so you can have a little peace of mind while you try to figure out where your card is.
  • If someone calls asking you for personal information, END the call. Andrews Federal will never contact you to request your personal information including:
    • Social security number
    • Driver’s license number
    • Contact details including email or phone number
    • Account number
    • Passwords or pass codes
    • Online access codes

If you get a request for any of this information, get off the phone immediately or end the text conversation and report it to our Andrews Federal team. You can send us a secure message via Digital Banking.

Do not:

  • Share personal information. Oftentimes, scammers will not ask you for money directly. Instead, they’ll position themselves as a helpful person trying to protect your account. They’ll use sneaky tactics to convince you to give them information under the guise of – ironically – helping to protect you from fraudsters.
  • Give out personal information, including your social security number, Digital Banking username, password, secure access code, debit card and/or PIN number, to anyone over the phone. If you do unknowingly share this information with a fraudster, do not hesitate to report it. Many intelligent people can be tricked by fraudsters, and fraudsters depend on you being embarrassed and staying quiet, so they have more opportunities to wreak havoc on your information and finances.
  • Transfer or send money to people you do not know. Scammers will often become aggressive or send messages that create a false sense of urgency. They believe if you feel rushed, you’ll make out-of-character decisions and send funds or share information because you are in a panic. Scammers may ask you to cash checks, send money through person-to-person tools like Zelle or Venmo, or even make transfers to another credit union account.

Fraudsters are making attempts to access accounts and information daily. With caution and vigilance, you can do more to ensure your accounts are protected and your information is safe. If you think you may have been impacted by fraudsters, do not hesitate to reach out to our team so we can help you mitigate the damage and manage the situation.