Over the last few years, social media scams have exploded, with fake Twitter and Facebook profiles increasing by 100% in just one year. That also means there are several types of social media scams, most which involve a phishing scheme component.

Here’s how it happens: Scammers try to “friend” you by creating a bogus profile or cloning the profile of someone you know. Then, they’ll get you to share personal information by asking you random questions. Meanwhile, you’re unknowingly giving away the security questions for your personal passwords. By the time you realize what’s happened, it’s too late. Other social media scams involve fake offers and promotions. To get your hands on the goods, though, you’ll first need to share your personal information.

In another scam, fraudsters reach out to you while impersonating Louisiana FCU. They’ll claim to have incredible rates on loans. And, if you apply for this “loan,” the scammers might empty your accounts or trick you into making upfront payments to qualify. Here’s how to spot, prevent and react to social media scams:

It seems like no one can stay healthy during this time of year. Everyone’s got a sniffle or a cough, or worse … the dreaded flu bug! These viruses have evolved over the years to be highly resistant to many of our efforts to contain them.
It may seem like we’re powerless to prevent the spread of disease. Though we can’t prevent it, we can help lower the risk of spreading it around. Here are five tips you can use to beat the flu this year

Ready or not, 2018 is here!

Remember the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared! A brand-new year, always ripe with resolutions, is the perfect time to reassess your financial attitude, improve, and vow to do more

Member workshops are one of the many ways our team helps educate our members and our local community. The workshops are held monthly and cover a variety of topics, including Social Security, retirement planning, identity theft, budgeting, estate planning and more. Last month we presented Sending Your Child to College. Here are some key takeaways:

Let’s talk about debt. It’s a term that most people dread, probably because many of us have accumulated some type of debt throughout the years. In fact, CBS news reports that U.S. consumers have approximately 3.4 trillion dollars in outstanding debt. Why? Well, it’s probably because our paychecks are remaining the same, while our expenses continue to increase. Life keeps getting more and more expensive, so how do we get out of debt? The following tips have helped me lower my debt tremendously.