Fraud/Scam Center

Check Your Credit Report Regularly

You can request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once every 12 months. Go to annualcreditreport.com . Space your requests evenly throughout the year and you’ll have free access to your report every four months! Review the document carefully and make sure the information is correct.

Sign Up for Visa Purchase Alerts

With Visa Purchase Alerts, you’ll receive real-time text alerts when your card is used. You can customize your preferences too. First, simply enroll your First Commonwealth credit and debit cards, and then set up your custom alert triggers based on threshold amounts, geographical location, and more. When a transaction occurs outside of the parameters you set, you’ll receive a real-time text alert so you can put a stop to fraud the moment it occurs. Learn more at www.visa.com .

Take Advantage of Our E-Services

Digital Banking makes it easy for you to keep a constant eye on your accounts, helping you spot suspicious activity long before you receive your monthly statement. And speaking of statements, be sure to sign up for e-Statements! It’s a simple way to cut off the dumpster divers from access to the papers they need to steal your identity. For more information about all our e-services, go to Digital Banking.

• Federal Credit Union Scams: Scams impersonating your financial institute to steal account credentials. The scam usually comes in the form of a text or email. Remember, your financial institute will never contact you seeking logins, passwords, or social security numbers.
• Federal Student Loan Scams: A call, email, or text messaging declaring your loan borrowing needs additional (personal and sensitive) information to process your upcoming student loan payments. This scam accelerated during the 2020 Student Loan Relief Period when payments on millions of student loans were put on pause. If you have questions about your student loan, visit https://studentaid.gov/
• The Nigerian Prince: An email or letter sent by an alleged benefactor seeking financial assistance in exchange for a large sum of money to be transferred into the victim's bank account.
• Catfishing / Sweetheart: Taking place on dating websites and social networks, catfishing scams involve earning the trust and love of the scam subject. Catfish scams use storytelling to influence their target into sending them money, usually in the form of prepaid cards.

• Device Servicing and Maintenance: A scam to steal passwords and sensitive login information. The scam is commonly disguised as someone impersonating an IT professional from a major technology organization. I.e Apple, Samsung, Microsoft.
• Extended Vehicle Warranty: A scam to steal financial and personal information. The scam hurts both car owners and vehicle loan holders. The scam call often comes from an automated message.
• Phishing: An email coming from seemingly reputable sources seeking account information. The email leads to an unassuming website, disguised as authentic but is actually a hub to steal personal information. Always look in the address line of your browser. You may not be where you think you are!
• Tax Season Scams: Tax season sees an uptick in scam calls coming for criminals impersonating federal IRS agents. They intimidate the taxpayer into providing their social security numbers and personal information. Another common trick used involves the solicitation of "gift cards" in exchange for "fixing their tax issues."
• Crypto and Gift Cards: New scams are rising involving non-regulated and non-tracked currency. From federal agents asking for crypto or gift card payment through QR codes and ATMS, to fake bitcoin retirement accounts and fraudulent crypto "trading," be careful and stay vigilant when getting involved in the wild world of digital currency. Read more from the FTC.