Banking Email & Website Awareness

Use common sense and extreme care when your personal and financial information is at stake.

Suspicious Emails

• If you receive an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, you should not reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, directly contact the company cited in the email using a telephone number or website address that you know to be genuine.
• Similar to above, be suspicious of emails requesting personal information or “updates” to your account. Reputable companies will NEVER ask for sensitive information in an email. If you need to update your information online, open a new browser window and type in the website address of the legitimate company and go to their account maintenance page. Call only numbers listed on official websites and never telephone numbers in suspicious emails.
• If you have any doubts about an email or website, contact the legitimate company or check with websites devoted to eliminating spam and scams (see resources below).
• Neither the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) nor any other federal financial agency uses email to request non-public information, such as account numbers, date of birth, or Social Security Number.

Use Caution

• Avoid emailing personal and financial information, unless you are using a secure form on the website with which you are doing business, such as our secure email form. Additionally, before submitting financial information through a website, look for the “lock” icon on your browser’s status bar. (You should also look for the “lock” when signing-on to a website.) Also look for “https” in a website address. Both the “lock” and the “https” signal your information is secure during transmission.
• Review credit card and HVCU account statements as soon as you receive them to determine if there are any unauthorized charges or suspicious activity. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call the credit card company or HVCU to confirm your billing address and account balances.
• Do not respond to a suspicious email by return email. Do not call phone numbers listed in suspicious emails. Never click on website links embedded in suspicious emails.
• Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam email to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you have been a victim of a fraudulent scheme, file a complaint at www.ftc.gov, and visit the FTC’s Identity Theft website to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from the identity theft.