How to Protect Yourself from scams

Multiple FUMC friends have notified staff that they have received emails claining to be from Rev. Karyn Richards-Kuan requesting the recipient to purchase gift cards, or provide personal information. These are not from Rev. Karyn, but unfortunately are  phishing scams. Please do not comply with these requests.  First Church staff will never email you to request for your personal bank information, email passwords, or request you to buy gift cards.

Be on the lookout for suspicious emails or text messages. Legitimate, responsible companies will never solicit personal information over email. Never reveal personal or financial information in response to an email request, no matter who appears to have sent it.

Don’t click on links or attachments in suspicious emails or text messages. Instead, visit the mentioned website directly by using a search engine to locate the real site. If the web address listed by the search engine and the address in the email do not match, the email is most likely a phishing attempt or spam, and you should delete it.

Set up a spam filter. A spam filter can greatly reduce the number of phishing emails you receive. University IT provides free spam management for University email.

If you are still tempted to click, pick up the phone instead. If the message looks real and you are really tempted to respond, instead look up the phone number of the company and call them. Do not use any phone number in the email because it could be fake. Ask if the message was actually sent by the company and if you can take care of any issues over the phone instead.

For more information, please visit the Federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

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