Cardholder Fraud Protection

How We Protect Your Card (And How to Spot a Scam)

We are upgrading our fraud monitoring systems to better protect your accounts. If suspicious activity is detected on your debit or credit card, our automated Fraud Prevention Center will now contact you immediately via text message or phone call to verify the transaction.

Because phone scams and voice impersonations are on the rise, we want you to know exactly how our legitimate alerts work so you can easily spot an imposter.

How Our Fraud Alerts Work:

  • Texts come from a short code: 
    • Our text Fraud Alerts will come from a 5-digit number.
    • Our text Fraud Alerts will NEVER come from a standard 10-digit phone number.
  • No links: 
    • We will never include a clickable link in a Fraud Alert text message about a merchant charge.
    • We will only ask you to reply YES or NO to a text for a specific merchant charge.
  • Phone calls: 
    • If we call you, we will only ask you to verify specific merchant charges. 
    • You NEVER have to verify your identity on a call you didn't initiate.
    • We will NEVER ask for a verification code or One-Time Passcode (OTP) sent to your phone or email. If a caller asks you to read a code back to them, it is a SCAM.
    • We will NEVER ask for your card PIN or the 3-digit CVV code on the back of your card.
    • We will NEVER ask you for your online banking password.

Our "Hang Up and Call Us" Promise

Scammers can fake caller ID to make it look like our credit union (or any other business or government agency) is calling you.

If you ever answer a phone call from someone claiming to be our credit union or a government agency, and you feel unsure, hang up immediately. If they say you cannot hang up, then absolutely hang up because it is a scam. Do not redial the number that called you. If the person on the phone gives you a number to call back, do not do it. Instead, call us directly at the phone number printed on the back of your card or on our website. Our team can always pull up your account and tell you if the fraud alert was real.

Stay safe, and remember: when in doubt, hang up and call the number on the back of your card or 301-784-3000.