Suncoast will never ask for your complete account number, PIN, CVV code, or full social security number in a text or email. If you receive a message asking for that kind of information, do not engage!

Scammers are clever. They are experts at tricking people. Thankfully, there is one simple thing you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of fraud. Ready to hear it?

Do NOT click the link.

It’s that easy! When you get an unexpected text that claims to be from Suncoast Credit Union or another financial institution and it includes a link, do not click it.

Let’s go over some examples:

This image shows an example of a recent fraudulent text. The text claims to be from Suncoast, but it was not. It was sent by a fraudster.

Typically, messages like this one get sent to all sorts of people, whether they have an account or not. The goal here is to frighten you into thinking that there was a payment made from one of your accounts in order to get you to click the fraud link.

How do you protect yourself? Don’t click the link.

In this case, there are some hints that this is a fraudulent text. You may notice that the URL is misspelled, for example. Even if you missed that, it’s ok. Because you’re not going to click on the link.

If you get a text like this and want to ensure that there was no payment made from your account, you can log in to your account through your usual channels. Instead of clicking the text link, just go directly to Suncoast’s app or online banking login page like you normally would. You could also call us directly or stop by a branch if you prefer.

Let’s look at more examples:

These are both fraudulent messages. Like the first one, these texts claim to be from Suncoast. They are actually from a scammer. These texts also try to trick you into clicking the link, this time by claiming that there is suspicious activity on your account.

How do you stay safe? Do NOT click the link.

Again, there are hints that this is not legitimate. The first link doesn’t even appear to be from Suncoast and the second comes from a URL that is not ours, even though they put our name as part of the title. The scammer is hoping you will be so afraid of potential fraud that you will click as a reaction to protect yourself.

If you want to know if there is any suspicious activity on your account, once again, all you need to do is go directly to the Suncoast app or online banking login as you normally would, to check. Or you can reach out to our team at a branch or over the phone. We can confirm that your account is safe and that the text did not come from Suncoast.

Whether it is a text message like the ones shown here or an email with a similar tone that asks for immediate action, stop and think before you click the link. That one simple step can save you.

What happens if I already clicked the link?

While we really want to help emphasize the importance of not clicking on fraudulent links, we understand that sometimes it happens. Try to keep your radar up, even if you accidentally clicked the link.

Different scams have different strategies, so it’s crucial to stay vigilant. For example, some of the links from the examples above lead to a page that at first glance looks like Suncoast’s log in page. If you take a moment to look, you will notice that the URL is not our official website.

The scammer hopes you will attempt to log in to this fake page, because if you do, they will now have your log in information. This means they can now log in to your accounts and access your money.

If you mistakenly click the link and it brings you to what looks like a log in screen, do not engage further. Leave the page. Never put in your personal information.

Here are a few additional points to keep in mind:

• Suncoast will never ask for your complete account number, PIN, CVV code, or full social security number in a text or email
• If you aren’t sure if a text or email is legitimate, do not engage with it and reach out to us directly through our usual channels