Rest Confident, Your Money is Safe and Secure at Kirtland Credit Union, a message from our President & CEO. Learn More

All Kirtland CU branches and locations will be closed on Monday, September 2 in observance of Labor Day.

Our TellerPhone service is experiencing intermittent issues.  We are working diligently to resolve. Please use our Online and Mobile banking services. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Phishing scams are on the rise – don’t get caught! Learn how to spot scams and more at our Fraud Awareness and Prevention Center.

If you have been financially impacted by the wildfires and floods in the Ruidoso area, we have options available to help. Call us at 1-800-880-5328 to learn more.

Welcome to Kirtland Credit Union's

Fraud Awareness and Prevention Center

Let’s work together to help keep your account safe.

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

Sign up for account notifications

Get notified when there's a purchase or withdrawal from your account over a certain amount.

Set up identity monitoring

Get alerted when there are changes to your credit report or if your information is found in a data breach and then added to illegal online sites such as the dark web.

Remember: Kirtland CU will never contact you to ask for your login or payment information such as your email, online credentials, access codes, or your debit card number, PIN, or CVV. Scammers may contact you via phone calls, text messages, or email, and may claim to represent Kirtland CU or another organization you trust. They may to try to trick you into sharing sensitive information, installing dangerous software, or visiting fraudulent websites.

However, when you call Kirtland CU’s Contact Center, we will ask questions to verify your identity.

Help Us Keep Your Account Safe

Here’s some things you can do today to increase your security and help protect yourself against fraud and identity theft.

Please be sure to keep your mailing address, email address and phone numbers up to date on each of your accounts with Kirtland CU.  This way we can contact you quickly in the event we see suspicious activity on your account.

Shred sensitive documents as soon as you are done with them. You can also switch to paperless communications to help avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

Sign-up for eStatements and Go Paperless – see how in FAQs.

Online banking or the Mobile app is an easy and secure way to access your accounts and keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

Learn More

A strong password means a strong defense against hackers. Create complex passwords using a mixture of letters, numbers, and characters. Avoid easily guessed words or using personal information such as your phone number, pet, or family names.

Get extra security at sign-in

2-step verification requires you to enter a unique code every time you sign in to on a browser. This feature provides an additional layer of protection to your account every time you sign in form a different browser.

Checking Account: setup alerts to easily monitor checking account or debit card activities. You can customize the alerts you want to receive, setup an alert that lets you know when there is a purchase or withdrawal from your checking account over an amount you think is unusual, or a new activity on you debit card.

Credit Card: catching fraud early is critical to limiting losses. One easy way is alerts! Set alerts for spending categories, block foreign transactions, and more. Alerts are also a great way to keep you on track with your monthly budget. Set spending alerts to either block the card or notify you when your spending threshold is reached.

Set up Alerts

Use a current web browser, and keep your computer, anti-virus, and browser up to date to help protect against vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. This includes your phone and tablets too!

Understand how scammers operate and the ways in which they pressure or trick you into sending money and information. If you provide your information or give money to a scammer, there is often little we can do to get your money back.

We should know by now that clicking a link to an email or text message, we didn’t expect is a surefire way to introduce malware or other problems onto our devices. Responding to these messages only gets you connected with a scammer.

Be wary of any email or text message you receive from someone you don’t know. Don’t click on links or respond to any emails or text messages, and don’t call phone numbers listed in the notice.  If you have any questions about a communication, look up the phone number and call.

If you call a phone number from a phishing email, you’ll likely reach a “support agent” – someone working with the scammer to gain your confidence and manipulate you into giving them money or information that can be used to take your money. These “support agents” may ask to obtain remote access over your device to fix the problem described in the original phishing message – with remote access, they can secretly install software on your device, which can log your keystrokes and take screenshots of your device. With this information, scammers can obtain passwords, account numbers, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive information without your knowledge.

The key to staying safe is keeping as much information private as possible. Leaving your personal important information such as:

  • Social security number
  • Place of birth
  • Birth of date
  • Financial account numbers
  • Banking pins
  • Card number
  • Card expiration dates
  • Security codes
  • Home and email address

 

laying around, isn’t a great idea.  And, if it’s not possible, be aware that others can gain that information and use it against you, making you a victim to identity theft.

Use a current web browser, and keep your computer, browser, and anti-virus software up-to-date.

How to protect yourself against Identity theft

Identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal information and uses it without your consent to take your money, open credit accounts and more.

The following tips can help you lower your risk of becoming a victim.

You can pull your credit report, review it for fraudulent accounts and unauthorized transactions, and check the accuracy of your personal information, such as your address and Social Security number.

Notify each of the nationwide credit reporting agencies directly if anything is incorrect:

Password protect your mobile devices and add phone numbers to the Do Not Call Registry.

Protect your personal information on your computers and smartphones. Use strong passwords. Use firewall, virus, and spyware protection software that you update regularly.

Steer clear from spyware viruses. Download free software only from sites you know and trust. Don’t install software without knowing what it is. Set Internet Explorer browser security to at least “medium.” Don’t click on links in pop-up windows or in spam e-mail.

Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet. If your health plan (other than Medicare) or another card uses your Social Security number, ask the company for a different number. 

Scam artists “phish” their victims by pretending to be banks, reputable companies, or government agencies, for example, Social Security or the FBI.  They may contact you by email or text message, show you a popup online, or call you directly.  Scam artists will claim they need you to confirm a transaction, validate or update sensitive information, or ask for usernames, passwords, passcodes, bank accounts, or card numbers. Sometimes, they may even threaten consequences if you don’t divulge this information.

Stop– Do not respond to any request to verify your account number, password, or passcodes. Legitimate companies do not request this kind of information in this way.

Instead– Disconnect the call.  Look up the phone number of the company they claim to be calling on behalf of.  Never use the number they are calling from displayed on your Caller ID, and NEVER call the number they provide you with.

Bottom line: Never give out your personal information – unless you made the contact.

Identity thieves love passwords because they open doors to our personal information. Get tough and organized now. Use different passwords for all your accounts. Make those passwords strong with at least eight characters, including a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols ($+r0^gh@h@). Hide them safely, and keep them handy. Good password practices are work, but fixing an identity theft problem is hard labor!

What you share on social networks (your home or email address; children’s names; birth date and so on) is what tech-savvy thieves use for scams, phishing, and account theft. Don’t over share.

When shopping online, check out a Web site before entering your credit card number or other personal information. Read the privacy policy and look for opportunities to opt out of information sharing. (If there is no privacy policy posted, beware! Shop elsewhere.) Only enter personal information on secure Web pages with “https” in the address bar and a padlock symbol at the bottom of the browser window. These are signs that your information will be encrypted or scrambled, protecting it from hackers.

Example:

Open your credit card bills and bank statements right away. Check carefully for any unauthorized charges or withdrawals and report them immediately. Call if bills don’t arrive on time. It may mean someone has intercepted or changed contact information to hide fraudulent charges.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions when a business or agency asks for your personal information. Ask how it will be used. Ask how it will be shared, and how it will be protected. Explain that you’re concerned about identity theft. If you’re not satisfied with the answers, consider taking your business somewhere else.

Don't Be a Victim!

You need to know about credit union impersonation scams so you can avoid becoming a victim of these nefarious tactics.

Online and Mobile Banking will be unavailable on Thursday, July 25 from 4:00–7:00 a.m.