Recently, we invited Jim Stickley, CEO of Stickley on Security and a well-known cyber security expert, to participate in a fireside chat discussion on the impacts of fraud as the shift in member behavior turns to more digital channels.
Member fraud always seems to come down to one thing: identity theft. Fraudsters will often change the approaches and methods they use to commit fraud, but the goal is still the same. While fraud continues to rise across all channels, especially since the COVID pandemic, this month’s blog posts will feature a type of fraud that is growing in popularity.
Vishing (or voice phishing) is an impersonation scheme that preys on the most vulnerable. Phone phishing refers to phone calls from people who are pretending to be from a reputable organization, like your credit union. To get victims to share personal and financial information, they use social engineering tactics—psychological and social methods of manipulation or tricking users—and the victim’s own emotions to get them to provide information or to perform a specific action.
Jim says, “It’s almost impossible, over a telephone, to be able to know; am I really talking to who I think I’m talking to.” While vishing often targets individuals, it isn’t a consumer-only problem. Voice phishing also targets financial institutions to get call center representatives to provide account information. A few years ago, Jim did a segment for the Today Show demonstrating how easy it is to “vish” a consumer.
If you’re a member, how do you know it’s the credit union they’re talking to? “That’s what I like about MemberPass. The authentication is not just one way. Both sides are able to verify who they say they are. To me, that’s what everybody needs,” according to Jim. “Then they can train their members and give them assurance that the credit union will not call them asking for social security numbers. If the credit union does call them member, the authentication will be done through MemberPass.” With MemberPass, this type of fraud and other phone-based fraud methods can be stopped in 14 seconds or less and takes the friction out of the member experience.
Three of four consumers say the most important factor when choosing a financial services provider is trust and security. If members have digital trust, they won’t feel the need to worry about the possibility of being victims of such fraud.
Taking the first step toward creating digital trust between your credit union and your members is easy. To learn more about MemberPass and how to participate in our Digital Trust Registry, send us an email requesting a list of FAQs or a demo, register to attend one of our webinars, or visit us at www.memberpass.com.
CULedger, a credit union service organization, offering MemberPass, the simplest, most secure solution to verify your members through leveraging touch-less, privacy-enhancing technology to protect credit unions and their members from identity theft and fraud. Visit www.memberpass.com or email us at sales@memberpass.com.