How do scammers get information about me?

Data Breaches

Data breaches from any company you've ever made a payment to can expose information about where you bank. There are countless places in the payment pipeline that a data breach could occur. Several businesses use a third party to process your payments, so data breaches could occur there. Furthermore, it could be the business accepting the payment itself that encounters the breach as well. 

Don't let this information scare you off from shopping online, but realize that it's very possible for your information to get out there easily, and it could be anywhere along the line. 

Social Engineering

Social engineering is a broad term, but it is, in short, when fraudsters try to manipulate as much information out of you as possible by posing as a trusted entity, using emotional triggers or incentives to obtain your personal information. 

Sometimes scammers will specifically target you to access your information with social engineering attacks, sending links with fake login pages to access your login credentials, or to install malware on your devices. Or, they will cast a wide net through phishing attacks to reach as many people as possible and see who bites. This will confirm who the information does and doesn't apply to. 

One form of social engineering that has been reduced in recent years relates to scammers spoofing your phone number to call your financial institution and use their automated system to obtain your most recent transactions. Some financial institutions only require your phone number to verify you to give out this information. Rest assured, this is not possible at P1FCU. Furthermore, this has been cut down on in recent years due to scams like these. That said, just because a scammer has information like your last few transactions it does not mean they are legitimate. Press them for more information, or call the institution back at a trusted phone number if you're unsure.