Scams Are on the Rise
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), our primary Federal consumer watchdog, reported in 2023 that financial institution impersonation scams were the most common form of fraudulent text messages reported to the agency. In fact, consumers reported losing a staggering $330 million to text scams in 2022 (and that’s only what was reported to the FTC).
DFCU Financial may reach out via text message from time to time to report suspected debit or credit card fraud via Enfact. Your local branch or loan officer may also follow up on a loan application or other requested service via text.
However, DFCU Financial will never:
- Ask you to surrender internet banking credentials, your debit card PIN, or verify one time numeric passcodes by text message.
- Advise you to transfer your funds out of the Credit Union for safekeeping.
- Recommend you convert your DFCU deposits to gift cards or cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, etc.).
- Ask you to send your debit or credit card and PIN to our security team, especially to a state where we don’t do business.
Here’s how you can protect your hard-earned money:
- Verify messages with your local branch or by calling 888.336.2700 before responding.
- Block persistent text messengers. They will eventually move on.
- Do not comply with unusual requests such as purchasing Bitcoin. It’s never too late to hang up the phone!
- Report unusual messages or account activity as soon as possible. The sooner we know, the sooner we can help!
Visit the DFCU Financial Security and Fraud Protection page to learn more about this topic as well as our legitimate debit card messaging service, Enfact.