There are many types of fraud that occur throughout the world. Every day scammers come up with new ways to defraud people, so it is essential to be aware of different types of fraud.
Never provide your personal information in response to an unsolicited request. Neither Peach State nor any of our third party providers (for example Visa) will ever ask a member to disclose account or other personal information via email, text, or phone call. If this happens to you, please call us immediately at 855.889.4328, stop by a local branch or email us at psfcu@peachstatefcu.org.
If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you could be involved in a fraud or about to be scammed:
- Is the check from an item you sold on the Internet such as a car, boat, jewelry, etc.?
- Is the amount of the check more than the item’s selling price?
- Did you receive the check via an overnight delivery service?
- Is the check connected to communicating with someone via email?
- Is the check drawn on a business or individual account that is different from the person buying your item or product?
- Have you been informed that you were the winner of a lottery, such as Canadian, Australian, El Gordo or El Mundo, that you did not enter?
- Have you been instructed to either “wire”, “send” or “ship” money, as soon as possible, to a large U.S. city or to another country such as Canada, England or Nigeria?
- Have you been asked to pay money to receive a deposit from another country such as Canada, England or Nigeria?
- Are you receiving pay or a commission for facilitating money transfers through your account?
- Did you respond to an email requesting you to confirm, update, or provide your account information?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, contact us immediately.
Online Security & Internet Safety
Always use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (if offered). Strong passwords contain a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Multi-factor authentication adds an extra security measure when accessing accounts. Never share passwords, store them in a safe location and be sure to change them often.
Regularly monitoring your accounts not only helps track spending, but allows you to catch suspicious activity faster. If you notice unusual activity on your Peach State accounts, contact us immediately.
Download our Mobile Banking app for quick access to monitor your accounts, set alerts, temporarily or permanently deactivate your card, and more.
PIN, Not Pen: Signature-Based Transactions
Due to an increase in fraud, you may be required at some merchants to select debit (PIN-based transaction) when making a purchase, as opposed to running it as a signature-based transaction. If you are at a merchant and your card is declined, try the transaction as a debit. While the security of the system is the same whether you use credit or debit, using the PIN provides an additional layer of security over just using the card. The card can be replicated, but it’s difficult to obtain PIN information.
We are doing this in order to protect our members’ accounts from fraud. If you do not know your PIN, you will need to complete the transaction using a different payment method. We will be unable to make exceptions to this rule. If you need to have your card re-pinned, please stop in at any one of our branch locations.
ATM & Debit Card Monitoring
To protect your account, our service provider (Fiserv) monitors your ATM and debit card transactions for potentially fraudulent activity. If Fiserv suspects fraudulent ATM or debit card use, an automated service will call you to validate the legitimacy of your transactions. Your participation in responding to their call is critical to prevent potential risk and avoid restrictions we may place on the use of your card.
- An automated call will ask you to verify recent transaction activity on your card.
- You will be able to respond via your touchtone keypad.
- You will also be provided with a toll-free number to call should you have additional questions.
- Our goal is to minimize your exposure to risk and the impact of any fraud. To ensure we can reach you whenever potential fraud is detected, please keep us informed of your correct phone number and address at all times.
Gift Card Scams
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning consumers of potential scams involving gift cards. The scam involves someone contacting you and asking you to pay for something by putting money on a gift card, like a Google Play or iTunes card. Then they will ask that you give them the numbers on the back of the card so they have access to the funds. No real business, including your financial instution, or government agency will ever insist you pay them with a gift card. Anyone who demands to be paid with a gift card is a scammer. Click here to learn more about these scams and how you can protect yourself.
