I am in big trouble. I have been denied access to my credit union account.

Access to my money is being cut off, because National Credit Union Administration needs additional information in order to provide more security for my account. Wait just a minute. I don’t have an account with this credit union. Actually, this isn’t a credit union at all. It is the independent federal agency that charters and supervises Federal Credit Union. So, what’s going on?

You have probably already figured out that this is a phishing attempt, but the crooks goofed. They used a federal agency’s name rather than that of an actual credit union. I know that no federal agency is going to send out this type of e-mail, and neither for that matter, is a credit union. Providing sensitive financial information through an e-mail link that is not secure just isn’t something you or I should do.