Fraud + Resources
Your Security is Our Priority
E-mail and telephone scams are on the rise. As a reminder, MPCU will never call, email, or text members for account numbers, passwords, card numbers, or PINs.
Quick Tips To Keep Yourself Safe
- MPCU Staff WILL NEVER ask for the following over the phone: Username, Password, PIN, or One Time Passcode
- Never share private information or verification codes from calls you did not initiate. The caller ID may read 781-905-1500, or “Members Plus Credit Union” – that does not ensure that it is someone from Members Plus.
- If you receive a direct message from a social media connection related to money, don’t respond or click any hyperlinks. Instead, contact the person offline and verify whether the direct message is genuine.
- Never provide your financial account login details to anyone. Call or visit your financial institution to verify any unusual requests.
- If you ever question the validity of a “Members Plus” contact, please call us at 781-905-1500 for further guidance.
Updated: 2/11/26
Scams To Watch Out For:
Company Impersonation Scams
Scammers may call or text while posing as a trusted company like Members Plus Credit Union, even using a spoofed caller ID (meaning that it reads MPCU even if it is not coming from us). They often pressure you to act fast with lines like:
- “If you don’t move your money right now, you might lose it all.”
- “Don’t call anyone else – they might be in on the scam.”
- “If you give me remote access to your device, we can fix the fraud issue.”
- “You’ll need to withdraw cash and deposit it into a new account to keep it safe.”
Members Plus Credit Union will never say these things, never ask you to move your money to “protect” it, and never request personal information by phone, text, voicemail, email, or automated services.
Social Media Scams
Not Every Ad Is The Real Deal!
Huge Sales: Urgency can make you rush – if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is!
Scam companies can make real-looking ads or clone ads from real companies. This can be on social media, via email, or even in the mail.
Safety Tip:
Check that the URL is the same as the real company – if it looks even a little off, it’s not real
Tech Support Scams
If you click a link, or go to an unfamiliar site and a scary-looking alert box pops up saying “you’ve been hacked” – it’s likely a tech support scam. These scams are usually quickly followed by another pop-up saying that you need to call the number on your screen, and they will fix it for you.
Safety Tip:
DO NOT CLICK or CALL. Even if they look like they come from your computer, or an anti-virus protection company. If you think you have been impacted, please call a trusted tech support company.
“AI” (Artificial Intelligence) Scams
| If It Feels Suspicious, It Is! Scammers will text or call (using AI), pretending to be a friend or family member. They will ask for gift cards or money to be sent to a location (example: I lost my wallet and need to get a new phone; they accept Visa Gift Cards). Always check with the real person through another communication method (call/text/email) to make sure it’s really them. Safety Tip: Create a family safe-word that only you know, so that if AI is impersonating one of you, you have a code that only you know. |
Social Engineering Scams
These scams come in a variety of forms, and have another, horrible name “pig butchering”. This comes from the fact that the scammer spends weeks and months “fattening up” thier vicitms – they build trust in the form of advise, friendship or romance.
Then, once they have gained the victim’s trust, they convince you to send money, or to invest in legitimate-looking platforms. These platforms are owned by the scammers, and once the money is “invested” it disappears forever.
Safety Tips:
- If you do not know the person in real-life, be extremely careful who you trust online, especially with your money
- If you do know the person in real-life, make sure to verify with them off-line that it is really them
- Always verify the URLs for any errors; even small changes can indicate if a site is fake, such as the change from a “.com” to a “.net”
- If you are unsure, reach out to MPCU and we will be happy to help.
Check Fraud Scams
Scammers can steal checks that are not properly disposed of, or even straight out of the mail. They then use chemicals to “wash” the checks, and rewrite the check out to themselves. They can also use these checks to steal your personal information such as your account number, and seel that infomation, or create counterfeit checks.
Safety Tips:
- Use pens or permanent ink so it is harder to erase.
- Draw a line through the empty space with the dollar amount or payee so that any blank space cannot be altered.
- Dispose of checks properly, and do not leave them accessible.
Resources
Alerts Archive
