REC officials say they’ve become aware of a scam targeting its members, where criminals attempt to divert payments intended for REC into fraudulent accounts.
“The scams are sophisticated, with the criminal spoofing emails appearing to be from REC. Emails were conversational and associated with real account transactions, making them appear even more legitimate,” says Casey Hollins with REC. “We want to remind our members to be diligent when they receive an email and never hesitate to contact us if they feel anything about a correspondence is suspicious.”
Hollins says:
- Attackers are impersonating REC, using a spoofed or lookalike email address.
- The scammers are sending payment change requests.
- At first glance, the emails appear to be legitimate and may reference real account details, but when looking closer, there may be red flags such as noticeable grammatical mistakes.
To stay safe–REC says:
- If you have any doubt in the correspondence received as being from REC, call REC directly to verify: 1-800-552-3904.
- If there is mention of a process being changed, or you’re being asked to use a different payment system to make a payment, contact REC. REC will never email you to say we have changed a payment process or method.
- Do not share personal or financial information, including your Social Security number or bank account information via email.
- Do not make payments by gift cards, prepaid debit cards or wire transfers. Fraudsters favor those methods because they are difficult to trace
