AFCU Forms 'Anti-Phishing' Team

Seeking to step up its efforts to thwart the various online identity fraud schemes, America First Credit Union has established a new e-mail address-emailfraud americafirst.com-that can be used by members and non-members alike to report suspected "phishing" attempts. Phishing is an online scam in which fraudsters pose as the credit union and ask the member to "verify" their account numbers and other information.

All responses to the website are referred to the appropriate security, network and support personnel at America First, and when warranted, the credit union said it will contact senders of such notices. Senders are also provided with the necessary contact information, so that they can change their account and personal identification numbers, if they feel their personal information may have been compromised. Where appropriate, referrals will also be reported to the Utah Cybercrime Task Force.

As part of the effort, America First has also created a new "Anti-Phishing" team within management.

"The team is charged with improving suspicious activity monitoring, developing additional identity verification controls, helping members who detect unusual or fraudulent account activity, improving credit union notification procedures to alert members about e-mail and Internet-related fraud schemes, and caution them against responding," said America First Senior Vice President Rich Syme.