Your financial wellness is important to Travis Credit Union and protecting you from potential financial loss due to frauds and scams is a top priority. Learn how TCU keeps your funds safe and secure and learn how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of financial scams.
How TCU Protects Your Finances
Having your funds deposited at TCU is much safer than keeping large sums of cash at home. With cash, there’s a risk of theft, damage to the paper money or even loss, as in a fire. Instead of keeping your nest egg at home, trust Travis Credit Union. TCU deposit accounts are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which guarantees your deposits up to $250,000 per account.
When it comes to your TCU accounts, the credit union takes a proactive approach to keep your data private and secure. We constantly review our systems to ensure they remain at the forefront of security in the credit union industry. Also, we use a monitoring service to help catch any unauthorized transactions before they happen.
Providing our members with information about phishing scams, ATM skimmers and other types of fraud is another way Travis looks out for you. Knowing what to look out for can help prevent monetary loss and save you the stress of your personal information being compromised.
Here are some types of scams to be aware of and steps to avoid them:
- Charitable Donation Scams: These scams are usually delivered via email or a phone call, with the sender or caller claiming to be from a legitimate charity who is trying to solicit funds from you. The charity may sound familiar and even look legitimate online. Do your research first before you donate. Look for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and read up on where your donation will specifically go. Be sure to only donate to charities that you know and trust.
- Check Overpayment Scams: These types of scams occur when a seller posts something for sale and the potential buyer pays the seller with a check with a larger amount than the sale price and asks the seller to wire back the difference. When that check is deposited, however, it bounces, leaving the seller out of the “extra” money he wired back to the buyer, and without payment for their sold item. To protect yourself from this scam, ensure that the check provided for the purchase is the same amount as the sale price. A better way is to request a cashier’s check from the buyer (if cash or verified digital payment is not offered) so you can verify the funds through the issuing bank.
- Romance Scams: This scam can leave you broke as well as heartbroken. The scammer will make you believe they are in love with you and will then ask you for money, usually a considerable sum of cash, to help them with a financial issue. Once they get the money, the would-be companion disappears or may try to get even more money from you. The best way to protect yourself is to get to know the individual first before providing them your financial information, credit card or a check.
- Online Lending Scams: These scams take advantage of people looking for a loan. The victim typically receives an email from a fictitious lender and applies for the loan shown. Once the victim’s personal and financial information is provided, that info is used in identity theft. In some instances, the scammer sends a fake check to the victim and asks to have some funds sent back as a fee. To ensure you do not fall for this scheme, research the lender, and check online reviews to see if there have been any issues with the company.
- Award Scams: Scams like these often involve a phone call or an email claiming that you have won a lump sum of cash in a foreign lottery or a major award. The scammer will send the victim a fake check for deposit. The scammer then asks the victim to wire back some funds to cover the “foreign government taxes.” If the victim follows through, he or she is out some money because the check that was deposited bounces.
Protect Yourself From Scams
Protecting yourself from scams is important to your financial wellness and requires vigilance on your part. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Do your research first before accepting any unsolicited offers from unknown or unfamiliar solicitors to be sure you do not become a victim of fraud.
If you have any questions about your TCU account activity, you can visit Digital Banking to view your transaction history and contact us through a secure message. We also have more information about fraud protection and resolution. If you want to speak with us in person, you can visit a branch or call us during normal business hours at 800-877-8328.