Navy Federal Warns Sailors of Phishing Scam

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Navy Federal Warns Sailors of Phishing Scam
Navy News | July 20, 2005
WASHINGTON - Navy Federal Credit Union is warning Sailors of an online identity theft scam targeting account holders.

The scam tries to steal personal information through a fraudulent e-mail – a process known as "phishing," where cyber thieves forward e-mails that look like messages from trusted financial institutions asking to verify certain information, like account or credit card numbers.

The Navy Federal scam follows this pattern.

"We want to make sure that [account holders are] aware that this is a "phishing' attempt and do not log in," said Susan Brooks, a spokesperson for Navy Federal Credit Union in Merrifield, Va.

The fraudulent e-mail states that the individual's account may be compromised and provides a link to verify account status. That leads to a series of Navy Federal look-alike Web pages that prompt the individual to log in and enter personal information. That information includes one's social security number, credit card numbers and expiration dates, ATM personal identification numbers and date of birth.

Brooks stressed that such detailed e-mails are not common practice.

"We'll email information if we have a new product or service," she said, "but we never, ever ask for personal information or for security information."

Brooks said they're not sure how many customers have received the e-mail, but they know the number of people who have been taken by the scam so far is "miniscule."

Navy Federal has an example of the fraudulent e-mail at www.navyfcu.org/01/aa/em_phs-v1.html, along with an address to forward suspect e-mails to the credit union – a move that may help Navy Federal stop possible fraud.

"What we did in the last case was get the [fraudulent] Web site shut down," said Brooks.

Navy Federal asks anyone who may have been taken in by this scam to call them immediately.

"We'll close everything out just to be on the safe side and issue them new account numbers and put in place a different set of security measures," said Brooks.