An association of US credit unions has warned of an e-mail scam, in which credit card users are deceived into giving personal information, being carried out under its name. The US Credit Union National Association (Cuna) said cardholders have been sent e-mails from "America's Credit Unions", bearing the Cuna logo, telling customers that their cards and personal identification numbers (PINs) had been deactivated.
Cuna has warned cardholders not to respond to the e-mail, which tells them to call a "card activation line", said to be open 24 hours a day, to have cards reactivated. It said the details given could be used to defraud accounts. "Your financial institution would never solicit your personal identification information via e-mail," a statement from Cuna said. People who have responded to the e-mail are advised to contact their banks or credit card companies.
Credit card company Visa said on its website that reputable financial organisations rarely ask for PINs by e-mail, on a website or by telephone. This is the latest of a string of "phishing" e-mail scams to defraud UAE residents. Other such scams common in the region include those that ask for financial data or money in return for residence visas for the US and European countries. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consumer group, said phishers typically include "upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their e-mails to react immediately". The group said phishing e-mails, including these ones, generally do not have information such as full names.
This scam comes four months after thieves made tens of millions of dirhams of fraudulent transactions on credit and debit cards that had been used in the UAE. dbardsley@thenational.ae
