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Trade association warns US consumers of phishing scams

A rising number of email phishing scams, texts and phone calls have prompted a US national credit union trade association to issue warnings to consumers to be more protective of their financial information.

According to the Credit Union National Association, banks have seen a rise in fraudulent messages, which coincides with the re-opening of colleges and increased credit and debit card activity, reports UticaOd.com.

"Nationwide, phishing is kind of happening in peaks and valleys, but it is prevalent," said Dorothy Steffens, vice president of web services for the association.

"We have periods where phishing is higher, like at tax time, [when] there are a lot more fraudulent e-mails trying to get people to click on a link."

According to Steffens, cyber crooks are evolving fast and phishing has now gone beyond emails to 'vishing', which involves crooks calling victims, making them believe they are talking to a reliable source.

The trade association works closely with financial institutions, the FBI, CIA and Secret Service to fight financial fraud and ID theft.

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