Republished from CU Weekly dated July 8, 2020. By James McCabe.
As the country continues its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a war being waged against consumers by criminals who are finding insidious and ingenious ways to wreak havoc.
Researchers at Barracuda Networks noted a 667 percent increase in phishing emails during Marchalone. These emails were malicious attempts to lure consumers into clicking on dangerous links and subsequently downloading computer viruses that lead to malware, ransomware, and individual ID theft attacks.
By the middle of this past April, the Federal Trade Commission had received over 17,000 complaints. It determined that criminals had already stolen more than $13 million in COVID-19 related scams and attacks.
Several U.S. federal agencies are posting alerts on nearly a weekly basis to warn consumers (your members) about aggressive attacks designed to prey upon the fear and distraction related to the COVID-19 crisis. In May, the Feds issued a joint warning with the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of the Treasury, the IRS, and the Secret Service about COVID-19 CARES Act payment fraud scams.
In June, the FBI has made it clear that hackers are now targeting mobile banking app users to steal their credentials and commandeer bank accounts. Now is the beginning of a dangerous time for anyone who thinks the bad guys aren’t going to find a way to take over our phones and all the personal data they store.
Based on this continuous news about attacks on your members, credit union executives have an excellent opportunity to come to the aid of their members when it counts the most. Why not take this moment to bring members a source of protection from their credit union that they could not afford anywhere else?
Now is the opportune time to bring your members a suite of ID theft and fraud protection & recovery services that provide them and their families, the ultimate safety net against the avalanche of attacks happening around them. Search out the best resource for this kind of protection and give your members a positive message during this time when good news is seldom being heard.
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