Common email scams and how to avoid them
Recent scams
- Beware the "$50 Reward" survey from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). It's a phish! The email asks you to click on a link and provide important financial information.
- Similarly, do not open or follow any links in unsolicited emails that appear to be sent from the IRS, especially if it asks for personal and financial information.
View Tech CU's email policy to find out about how we use email communications.
Commonly seen scams
- Lottery scams. Someone emails you and tells you that you’ve won the U.K. Lottery! While you’ve never been to Europe and don’t recall ever entering a lottery for citizens of the United Kingdom, you’re intrigued. To receive your winnings, you’re instructed to wire or send a money order to pay the taxes up front.
- Sweepstakes scams. This time you’ve been notified that you’re the winner of an amazing sweepstakes prize! They offer to send you the first installment to deposit in your account and all you have to do is wire them the money to cover the tax.
- Inheritance scams. A long-lost relative in another country has passed away, leaving you as the sole heir to the family fortune. Just send the money to pay the inheritance tax, and the full inheritance will be coming your way.
- Merchandise scams. You get a reply to your online ad to sell your dining room set from an interested party. They’d love to buy it, but for various reasons they need to send you a personal check or even a third-party check from someone in the United States for more than the selling price. You’ll need to wire funds for the difference via Western Union.
- Transfer agent scams. Someone from a faraway land offers you an amazing opportunity: Transfer this money into your personal account for safekeeping, and the owner of the funds will give you a huge commission!
Counterfeit check scams
In many cases, the scam artists send you a check, ask you to deposit it, and then wire them the money. Many of these checks look so real that even bank or credit union tellers can be fooled. Even though you don’t have to wait long to use the funds, the check isn’t necessarily worth the paper it’s printed on. In accordance with Regulation CC, financial institutions have to make the funds you deposit available within one to five business days, depending on the type of check. It can take weeks for your financial institution to discover that it’s counterfeit—but by then you’ve probably already wired thousands of dollars to someone in the hopes that you can get the millions of dollars promised to you for your inheritance.
Suddenly, it becomes clear that you’ve been scammed and you’re liable. If a check that you deposit bounces, the financial institution debits your account for the amount that was originally credited to your account. If you have insufficient funds, your financial institution can take funds from other accounts and potentially sue you for the money owed.