To catch a thief, STCU depends heavily on members to proactively protect their own accounts.
The credit union also depends on dumb crooks.
When an unkempt young man recently tried to cash a $200 check at STCU, an STCU teller questioned the transaction when she saw that the check was written out for “housecleaning” services.
The check was signed by an STCU member, but this guy wasn’t exactly the housecleaning type. He acted nervous and his personal hygiene could have wilted a GQ Magazine.
The alert teller compared the member’s signature to the original signature card filled out when the member first opened her account. The signatures were different -- a sure sign that the check had been forged.
When asked who wrote the check, the man spun a creative tale about the member being so busy, she had asked her boyfriend to write the check. Yeah, right.
Suspicions fully in play, the teller left a voice message with the member to call back to verify the check. The man took off before the member could alert STCU that her truck and checkbook had been stolen that morning. And, of course, she had not employed a housekeeper.
STCU won’t snag every questionable check, but you can help the credit union to guard your accounts from unauthorized access by taking three basics steps before an incident occurs:
No one wants to be the victim of fraud or identity theft. It can take hours to unravel the crime, to stop the abuse, and to protect your credit.
Far better to proactively protect your accounts before a crook tries to steal your identity and money. Giving STCU the tools to verify your signature and identity can help to secure your accounts against unauthorized access and to make your credit union the safest place on earth.
