COLORADO SPRINGS — From phony letters to annoying robocalls sometimes it can be difficult to determine what's real and what's a scam. When a Colorado Springs couple received a suspicious letter from USAA in the mail they asked us to verify whether it was legitimate.
We spend a lot of time talking about scams and fraud because these issues and attacks have become a part of our daily lives. If you're ever unsure about something, you can reach out to us at News 5. That's exactly what happened here.
Sandra Vanvig and her husband contacted us after calling the number on the letter. The call taker asked for social security and driver's license information.
"What it sounded like they wanted was information from our credit report which for the last five years we've had locked because of previous breaches in the Blue Cross Blue Shield episode and then through Equifax," said Vanvig.
News 5 reached out to the USAA corporate office in San Antonio to get some answers. Surprisingly, we learned this letter is true, legitimate.
A USAA spokesperson thanked us for verifying the letter with them and said, "This is a valid notification. USAA will never contact members and proactively ask them for their personal information such as Social Security numbers, one-time verification codes, USAA PIN or password. As you can see on this letter, it directs the member to call either USAA or the LexisNexis Consumer Center directly with any questions. When members call in, they may be asked for some personal information for authentication purposes, but people should always research phone numbers to ensure they are valid before calling to provide any personal information."
"Given again how many military families are in this area we thought well we know you guys do investigations and maybe this is something the general population in this area should know," said Vanvig.
So, in this case, USAA says this letter is valid, but checking on it helped Sandra and her husband avoid any problems.
You can reach out to us at News 5 anytime if you believe you've been the target or victim of a scam.
