Fraud never rests, and cases are only continuing to climb. Anybody can be a victim of fraud, regardless of age, occupation, or location.

various tools depicting how fraud can happen and steps to prevent it

Recent scam campaigns are involving scammers contacting clients and posing as fraud representatives within their financial institution, including Servus Credit Union. These are not actual representatives of the bank or credit union, but are impersonating them to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.

Scammers are constantly evolving and using a variety of tactics and delivery methods to catch you. This includes through email (phishing), phone calls (voice phishing or vishing), and text messages (SMS phishing or smishing).

Servus Credit Union and a legitimate/trusted contact, will never reach you and ask you for the following:

  • For personal information like your debit or credit card number, CVV, expiry date, social insurance number, or your date of birth.
  • To identify yourself through a one-time code, password, or PIN sent through SMS, email, voicemail, or an authenticator app.
  • To give access to any of your personal devices.
  • To send or receive money transfers via interac e-transfer or to deposit funds to a Bitcoin ATM or cryptocurrency wallet.

Scammers are getting smarter, but so are you! Protect yourself with these tips:

1. Don't take the bait! Stop and think before you click. Be aware of incoming unsolicited call, text or email. Spoofing/phishing uses a fake email address, display name, phone number, or web address to trick people into believing that they are interacting with a known, trusted source. Start from a position of skepticism, and work to verify the authenticity. If in doubt, hang up and call us back at 1.877.378.8728

2. Use strong, unique, and secure passwords on every site – no repeats!

3. Keep your applications up to date with automatic updates and reputable antivirus and firewall software. Applications and software are the programs and tools that you use on your computer, phone, or other devices.

4. Turn on multi-factor/two-step authentication. Adding this extra layer of security means even if someone gets your password, they can't access your account. It requires you to give two or more pieces of evidence to confirm your identity before you can access your account or service. We strongly recommend enabling it for any account or service that offers it, especially for your email, banking, and social media accounts.

Read more about prevention strategies and measures against fraud and phishing attacks at the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity.

Servus Credit Union takes the security of its members very seriously. If you are asked to share your personal information through an unsolicited and suspicious email, website, mail, or phone call, do not action the request and report it to us immediately. Report by visiting your branch or calling our Member Contact Centre at 1.877.378.8728