In phishing scams, scammers poses as a legitimate business or service provider - such as Market USA. The fraudsters use social engineering, capitalizing on social norms to inspire trust and manipulate unsuspecting people.
The scammers usually communicate via email, but they may also use phone calls, text messages or social media. They convince people of their legitimacy by providing personal details about the victim that are available online.
Next, the victim is lured into providing more information by the promise of compensation or by requests to verify or update their accounts. Once the scammer has the information, they can empty the victim's accounts, track their online activity and steal their identity.
Alternately, the scammer may lure a victim into clicking on links that are embedded with spyware. The links go to a website that look just like Market USA's, but is actually bogus. Since the victim thinks they're browsing Market USA's site, they generally won't hesitate to input usernames and passwords.
You can recognize these messages as scams by remembering that we will never ask for sensitive information through insecure channels.
Unfortunately, countless people fall prey to phishing scams. Here are four tips to help you protect yourself:
- Ignore suspicious emails: If you receive an email from an unidentifiable source, ignore it. Don't reply or click on embedded links or open attachments. Similarly, never "friend" or otherwise accept communications with a stranger via social media.
- Alert Market USA: If you think you've been contacted by a scammer who's impersonating Market USA, let us know. It's best to forward the original email you received to phishing-report@marketusafcu.com. If you've already deleted it, send us an email with every detail you can remember.
- Report suspicious activity: File your complaint at www.ftc.gov. You can also visit the FTC's Identity Theft website at www..gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize the fallout from identity theft.
- Strengthen your computer's protection: Efficient antivirus software can block suspicious emails. If your software doesn't update automatically, update it manually on a frequent basis. A strong firewall prevents scams and viruses by making you invisible on the internet and blocking communications from unauthorized sources.
- Other precautions: The settings on all of your social media outlets should be as private as possible. Finally, all suspicious email addresses should be added to your computer's blacklist as quickly as possible.
Market USA Federal Credit Union is a full-service financial institution with locations in Maryland and South Carolina as well as nationwide locations through the Shared Branch Network.