Your security is CU1’s top priority.
But you can help too. Knowledge is a powerful defense against fraud, and knowing what CU1 will ask you—and what we will never ask you—is an important way you can help us keep your money safe.
Scammers are constantly finding new ways to steal money. Common ways include impersonating your financial institution through phone calls, texts, and emails.
Phone Scams (Spoofing)
Recently, phone scams known as spoofing have been on the rise. Spoofing is when a scammer disguises their phone number to seem like they are calling from a trusted source, like your financial institution. CU1 does make outbound service calls to our members, so we want to be sure you know when a call is legitimate.
When we call you, we will never ask you to provide or verify your:
- Full Social Security Number
- The last 8 digits of card number
- Card Personal Identification Number (PIN)
- Digital Banking Secure Access Code (SAC)
- Digital Banking Username
- Digital Banking Password
If you receive a call from Credit Union 1 and you have any concerns at all, hang up and call CU1 directly at
800.252.6950 to verify the validity of the caller.
Text and Email Scams
Scammers may also try to gain access to your information via text or email. These emails and texts will contain fraudulent links that will encourage you to share personal information, like usernames, passwords, and account details. These communications often look like legitimate emails or texts from companies you already do business with.
Common signs of email or text scams include:
- The text or email comes from a number or email address you don’t recognize.
- The communication uses generic greetings, like “Dear Customer.”
- There are misspelled words in the email or its URLs.
- The email or text creates a sense of urgency to try to get you to take quick action.
- The communication asks for sensitive information, like account or log in information.
If you receive a text or email from Credit Union 1 and you are unsure if it is real, do not click on any links. Call CU1 directly at 800.252.6950 to verify that the text message or email you have received is truly from Credit Union 1.
Be Proactive
Credit Union 1 has many ways to help you protect your accounts. Many of the helpful tools to keep your account secure are available through our Digital Banking platform. When you register for CU1 Digital Banking, you have anytime, anywhere access to your accounts.
Through Digital Banking, you can:
- Monitor your account(s) regularly for unusual transactions.
- Ensure your contact information is up-to-date so we can contact you directly in the event of suspicious activity.
- Set up alerts to stay informed about activity on your accounts. You can set up alerts for when your cards are used and set transaction alerts for specific dollar amounts, merchant categories, or geographic locations.
- Manage your Debit and Credit cards using CU1 Card Keeper, where you can lock or unlock your card.
- Enable biometrics like facial recognition and fingerprint sign-on for the CU1 mobile app.
- Sign up to receive eStatements and electronic documents through Digital Banking to help reduce the risk of identity theft from stolen paper documents.
Register for Digital Banking
Credit Union 1 also recommends you take the following preventive steps for your security:
- Create strong passwords for a solid defense against hackers. An ideal password should be 12 or more characters and use a combination of special characters, numbers, and capital and lowercase letters. And do not use information easily available on social media—like a pet’s name or your birthday—as part of your password.
- Always log out of Digital or Mobile Banking when you are not using it. Do not save your login credentials on any public computer or leave a public computer unattended.
- Review your credit report annually from the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
- Visit annualcreditreport.com for a free copy of your credit report. You can request this free copy once every 12 months.
- Shred important papers like statements and credit card offers before throwing them away.
- Before entering your PIN at an ATM, look around for unusual items around the machine and shield the PIN pad before entering your information.
- Keep your devices (phone, tablet, and computer) up to date with the latest browsers and operating systems.