We continue to see a lot of online scams along with ongoing identity theft issues. Here are a few to watch out for:

We Sent You Too Much

You get a letter with a check or a message saying we owe you money, tell us where to send the check. The check is for too much, so you’re instructed to just deposit the check and wire back a certain amount right away. The problem: it’s a bad check. Your wire goes through, they receive the money, the check bounces and you’re out the money you wired.

Send Us Gift Cards

Scammers say they’re from the government, tech support, or claim to be representing a friend or family member in an emergency. They claim you need to buy gift cards and send them to remedy the situation. This is ALWAYS a scam.

Only scammers will tell you to buy a gift card, like a Google Play or Apple Card, and give them the numbers off the back of the card. No matter what they say, that’s a scam. No real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them.

Data Breaches and ID Theft

The good news: with the recent plethora of data breaches exposing nearly everyone’s information, financial institutions are more conscientious than ever to try to make sure anyone claiming to be you is actually you before extending credit or access to your accounts. The bad news: fraudsters are more conscientious, too. For the latest on data breaches and how to best protect your identity, visit our Online Security Center here