OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) - Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office warned consumers on Monday about fraudulent texts and phone calls pretending to be from the Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU).
Members and non-members of the WSECU have received texts that appeared to come from the credit union. The texts state the recipient's card was deactivated or suspended. Ferguson's office warned consumers to not respond to the texts.
Scam artists use a process called smishing in which they send text messages in an effort to obtain card information to commit fraud. The fraudsters send out bulk text messages in hopes of reaching WSECU members. This is why both members and non-members receive the messages.
The WSECU is working to shut down the multiple phone response numbers associated with the text messages.
Members of the credit union also received automated phone calls stating their debit cards have been deactivated, put on hold or suspended. The calls purportedly instruct the members how to reactivate the cards. The calls are likely another attempt at fraud.
Both the text and phone call fraud attempts often occur after hours or on the weekend when the WSECU is closed. The credit union and Ferguson's office warned consumers never to provide personal or credit card information when responding to an unsolicited request.
Wash. AG says scammers pretending to be from public employees' credit union
