Fraud Prevention & Key Response Tips

Knowing how to recognize the signs of common scam, fraud, and phishing attempts is a critical part of protecting your personal information. But once you know the signs, what can you do to proactively reduce your risk of falling victim to fraud, or what key actions should you take in the event you are targeted by a scam? Let’s discuss!

Key Tips for Fraud Prevention

When it comes to proactively reducing your risk of fraud, one of the most important things you can do is regularly monitor your accounts. This is true for both your personal financial accounts and accounts of other types—whether it’s your bank account or an email account, regularly ensuring that there’s no unusual activity is an essential part of minimizing your fraud risk.

Outside of manually logging in and reviewing your transaction history, one of the most effective ways to monitor your accounts (or even your credit report!) regularly is enabling login or activity notifications. Some example scenarios could be:

• Receiving a notification for withdrawals or purchases through your bank account
  • This could help you identify potentially fraudulent purchases right away!
• Receiving a notification for attempted or successful account logins
  • This could help you know immediately when someone is attempting to compromise an account.
• Receiving a notification for any new or attempted account changes, including new credit lines on your credit report or edits to personal information

Another effective measure for protecting your accounts is utilizing two-factor authentication. There are two common methods you might choose to use:

• Receiving a one-time passcode via call, text, or email
• An authenticator app that generates a code per login attempt

Two-factor authentication introduces another step to your login process, increasing your account security. Even if a scammer knows your username or password, they still won’t be able to log in without your one-time passcode—making it more difficult for your account to be compromised.

Practicing these tips will increase your account security and better protect you and your sensitive personal information from fraud. But if you believe you’ve already been targeted, what should your first actions be?

What to Do if You Believe You’ve Been Targeted

The most important first step is to stop engaging with the scam; whether that’s hanging up the phone or stopping replies to text messages, it’s critical to separate yourself from the scammer. Afterwards, it’s best to call your financial institution, or whatever business your affected account is with, for direct support in mitigating the scam’s impact. Every scam is different and receiving guidance from an expert who knows how to handle your specific situation is essential. However, some common important actions can include:

• Changing passwords to secure your accounts
• Running a malware or antivirus scan on affected devices
• Placing a freeze on your credit reports with credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion

Now you’re prepared to mitigate your fraud risk and know what to do if you’re targeted by a scam! For additional recommendations, visit the FTC’s Consumer Advice page or the FBI’s library of common fraud schemes and prevention tips.

If you are a Sun Federal member and believe you’ve been targeted by a scam or attempted fraud, contact our team immediately for assistance by calling 567.301.0959. We are always here to help.