• Monitor financial account statements and immediately report any suspicious or unusual activity to financial institutions.
• Credit Union of Denver offers their members a free credit score and a TransUnion report through Credit Score & More (powered by Savvy Money), accessible safely and securely through Online Banking or Mobile banking. You may also request a free credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 877.322.8228. Consumers are entitled by law to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus Equifax^®, Experian^®, and TransUnion^® for a total of three reports every year. Contact information for the credit bureaus can be found on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website at ftc.gov.
• Review resources provided on the FTC identity theft website at Identitytheft.gov. The FTC maintains a variety of consumer publications providing comprehensive information on computer intrusions and identity theft.
• You may place a fraud alert on your credit file to let creditors know to contact you before opening a new account in your name. Simply call TransUnion at 800.680.7289 to place this alert. Transunion will then notify the other two credit bureaus on your behalf.

• Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, or email messages from individuals asking about you, your employees, your colleagues, or any other internal information. If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization, try to verify his or her identity directly with the company before giving them any information!
• Do not provide personal information or information about your organization, including its structure or networks, unless you are certain of a person’s authority to have the information.
• Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information. This includes following links that are contained within an email.
• Do not send sensitive information over the internet before checking a website’s security (for more information, see Protecting Your Privacy).
• Pay attention to the URL of a website. Malicious websites may look identical to a legitimate site, but the URL may use a variation in spelling or a different domain (for example; .com vs. .net).
• If you are unsure as to whether an email request is legitimate or not, try to verify it by contacting the company directly. Do not use contact information provided on a website connected to the request; instead, check previous statements for contact information. Information about known phishing attacks is also available online from groups such as the Anti-Phishing Working Group (antiphishing.org).
• Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email filters to reduce some of this traffic.  For more information, see:
  • Understanding Firewalls
  • Understanding Anti-Virus Software
  • Reducing Spam
• Take advantage of any anti-phishing features offered by your email client and web browser.
• Employees should take steps to monitor their PII (personal identity information) and report any suspected instances of identity theft to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

Additional information about preventative steps can be found by consulting the Federal Trade Commission’s website at consumer.gov/idtheft. The FTC also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with the Commission using this contact information: Identity Theft Clearinghouse Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 consumer.gov/idtheft .

1. Never give your personal information out through email or text on mobile devices. If you contact us by phone, we do ask for identifying information to confirm who you are, but we do not ever contact you, asking for this information. Your personal information includes account numbers, social security number, passwords, PINs, or credit card security codes. If you are asked to verify any of these through email, text or a call which you did not initiate, do not fall for it. Contact your financial institution directly to confirm any attempts to gain information from you.
2. Keep your PC antivirus programs updated and current any pc that utilizes the internet should have an ongoing virus program in place. McAfee, Kaspersky are a few of the well-known products. Make sure your program is set up to perform regular updates and scans. In addition to antivirus programs, we also recommend malware programs such as those offered through Malwarebytes. This will add additional protection to your pc.
3. Contact Credit Union of Denver immediately at 303.234.1700 if you suspect any fraudulent or suspicious activity on your account. Forward any suspicious emails asking for your financial information or asking you to click on a link to verify financial information to abuse@cudenver.com.
4. If there is suspected fraudulent activity on your credit card, you may be contacted by a representative from our fraud area of Credit Union of Denver. The call will come from 888.918.7313 and the representative who contacts you will not ask you to give them any information about your card, but will only verify any suspicious transactions. If any transaction is not authorized by you, your card will be deactivated immediately and you will be directed to call the Card Services Department at the Lakewood branch directly to order a new card. If you are suspicious of any call you receive from C·U·D, DO NOT provide any information to the caller; hang up and call us directly at 303.234.1700 or 800.279.3288 to verify that the call was legitimate.

If you do find yourself falling victim to a fraudulent scheme or if you feel that you need some advice on how to handle any possible legal matters, we have a resource you may contact.

The Hughes Law Firm

The Hughes Law Firm has been providing credit union members legal services and guidance since 1974. This is a Group Legal Benefit Plan that is offered to our credit union members and it includes free educational seminars and a free consultation on many different personal and business legal matters. They have over 500 years of combined legal experience in areas such as Estate Planning, Colorado Medicaid, Probate, Estate Administration, Real Estate, Family Law, Divorce, Child Support, Business Tax Law, Criminal, DUI, Domestic Violence and more.

Let the Hughes Law team provide you with the legal assistance you deserve so you can gain control over your situation and regain peace of mind for you and your family. For any questions, give them a call at 303-4-ADVICE (303.423.8423).