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 Scam Artists Go Phishing through the Credit Unions
 Local consumers have been the recipients of multiple fraud attempts initiated via e-mail. The e-mails claim to be from the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Credit Union and the FCU, to name a few. These e-mails were sent to both the general public and to some credit union members. This false e-mail asked for the recipient to click on a link to verify their credit union account registration. The link directed them to a false website whose website address included the letters NCUA, and bears a close resemblance to the actual NCUA web address. The website then asked for their credit union account number and PIN, along with other personal information.
A similar fraudulent e-mail is currently circulating that offers rewards to Credit Union Members in the form of cash, gift certificates, or other small gifts if they will follow a link and provide account verification in order to claim their gift. Here is an example with a disarmed link:
CONGRATULATIONS!
Credit Union National Association kindly asks you to take part in our quick and easy question survey. In return we will credit you $33 to your account - Just for your time!
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The following is a statement from the National Credit Union Administration:
NCUA does not ask credit unions members for such personal information. Anyone who receives an e-mail that purports to be from NCUA and asks for account information should consider it to be a fraudulent attempt to obtain their personal account data for an illegal purpose and should not follow the instructions in the e-mail.
If you responded to such an e-mail and provided any confidential account information, please notify your credit union immediately of the scheme. You should also change your account's PIN, and take any additional action recommended by your credit union to protect your account.
If you feel that you have received a fraudulent phishing e-mail purportedly from NCUA please forward the entire e-mail message to Phishing@ncua.gov
Additionally, you can file formal complaints concerning any suspected fraudulent e-mail with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at ncua@ic3.gov. The IFCC is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National White Collar Crime Center.
For more information on the latest Credit Union phishing scams please visit: http://www.ncua.gov/Phishing/phishing.htm
Lottery Scams Still A Local Problem
Kern County residents are still being targeted by scam artists through both e-mail and conventional mail services. These messages claim to be from an International Lottery. There are two main variations to this scam.
The first variation offers an invitation to participate in foreign lotteries. The letter promises a secret technique or formula to winning these foreign lotteries. They promise large sums of cash at very favorable odds. What the consumer needs to know about this type of scam is that if you play foreign lotteries via mail or telephone, you are in violation of Federal Law. Also, the consumer needs to consider that international lotteries, even if legitimate, are still games with astronomical chances to win. There are no special tricks to winning lotteries.
The second and more dangerous version of this scam is the letter stating the recipient has already won a large sum of money via an international lottery. It is common that someone who responds to the first letter will receive this letter as well. The recipient is then told either through mail or e-mails that in order to handle the transfer fees of this money; they have to transfer several hundreds of dollars up front from their bank accounts. Sometimes the victim receives a check of a few thousand dollars as an upfront "good faith" payment. Of course, this check is fraudulent. To add validity to their claims, the scam artists sometimes use the name of an attorney or barrister in a foreign country as their contact. The victim falling prey to this scam can be milked for several thousands of dollars and lose control over their personal information. If you or anyone you know is involved in this type of situation, have them contact the local authorities informing them of this scam.
Many of the victims of this type of scam are elderly. If you have older family members, you may want to keep on eye on their mail, or at the very least discuss it with them so they do not become prey to such unscrupulous offers.
For information on this and other consumer scams please call the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or visit their website at www.ftc.gov
Workers Illegally Denied Lunch Breaks Use Civil Justice System to Hold Retailer Accountable
For 116,000 Wal-Mart employees in California who were illegally denied lunch breaks, the civil justice system proved their last and only resort to hold the retail giant accountable and recover wages they should have been paid. Click here to read more...
Local law firm celebrates
70 years of trial advocacy
Joe Stevenson, a reporter with The Bakersfield Californian writes about our law firm. Click here to read article.
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