NCUA Warns of Phony Fraud Alert

The NCUA is urging federally insured credit unions to be on the lookout for a bogus Letter to Credit Unions accompanied by two compact discs.

The letter, which purports to be a fraud alert, has so far been received by one federal credit union. It is numbered “09-FCU-09” and deals with phishing scams.

The agency urges people not to run the compact discs because it could corrupt security.

Credit unions receiving this package or a similar package should contact your NCUA Regional Office or the NCUA Fraud Hotline at 1-800-827-9650.

Survey of Experts Finds Increase in Fraud During Economic Crisis

Intense financial pressure during the economic crisis has led to an increase of fraud, according to a survey of fraud experts conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Results of the survey, published in the new ACFE report "Occupational Fraud: A Study of the Impact of an Economic Recession," also found that layoffs are pervasive and are leaving holes in organizations' internal control systems.

The survey responses of more than 500 randomly selected Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) were compiled by the Austin, Texas–based ACFE, the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of anti-fraud training and education. CFEs are experts in fraud detection, prevention and deterrence, and must pass a rigorous exam as well as meet high professional, educational and ethical standards.

Read more at: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/acfe-survey-of-experts-finds-increase-in-fraud-during-economic-crisis,788078.shtml

Fake CU also prompts alerts in Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa. (4/13/09)--The Pennsylvania Department of Banking has issued a consumer scam alert about an entity calling itself "First Star Lending Services" and "First Star Credit Union," believed to be the same entity that received a cease-and-desist order from a Michigan regulator last week.

The Pennsylvania department warned about an apparent advance fee loan scam using the names at www.firststarlendingservices.com.

Two consumers said they applied to the company for loans ranging from $7,000 to $10,000. When they were asked to pay several hundred dollars in upfront fees to receive their loans, they became suspicious and did not send any funds.

The companies claim to be located at 1800 Loucks Rd., Suite 850, York, Pa. However, no such address exists there. First Star Lending Services claims to offer first and second mortgages, consumer loans and other financial products, but it is not licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking. There is no First Star CU chartered by state or federal regulators said the department.

News Now reported that the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation issued a cease-and-desist order against a fake credit union, "Firststar CU," claiming to be a Pennsylvania-based credit union. OFIR said the institution is a fraudulent financial institution (News Now April 10).

Beware the debit card swindlers

Five seconds.

"We've looked at the videotape, that's how long it took," said Detective Steve Cook of Hamilton Police Services major fraud unit.

Five seconds was all the fraudsters needed to install the equipment that would rig an automatic banking machine to capture the debit card information from unsuspecting users.

"One guy standing behind to block the view, the other guy takes the pieces out of a gym bag," said Cook. "Five seconds, he walks away, and it's ready to go."

But this is no amateurish duct-tape-and-chewing-gum job being pulled off.

To an untrained eye, it would be difficult to detect that the machine had been compromised.
The level of sophistication involved in today's typical debit card fraud is staggering -- tiny computer processors attached to bank machines, miniature cameras, Bluetooth wireless technology, magnetic stripe encoders, portable safes.

As technology evolves, there's a corresponding evolution in criminal techniques.

Read the rest of this interesting story at:

http://www.thespec.com/News/Discover/article/501278

66 FCU shuts down fraudulent sites, phone numbers

66 FCU, Bartlesville, Okla., has submitted more than 45 websites and 40 phone numbers to be shut down by servers after scammers sent mass e-mails and text messages, and called members of the credit union asking for personal financial information.

Of the credit union's 47,000 members, 20 responded to the scammers through e-mail and phone. A total of $15,000 was withdrawn from members' accounts, and the transactions were traced back to Chile, Romania and Spain, said Chris Berger, 66 FCU director of marketing.

66 has blocked transactions from those countries on members' accounts. If members are traveling to those countries, they can contact the credit union and ask to have the block lifted, Berger said.

The credit union sent e-mails to members about the scams. It also posted examples of fraudulent e-mail on its website--a "small percentage" compared to the total number of e-mails circulating,

Fraudsters Still Find the Phishing Fine

Credit unions continue to attract the attention of phishers, according to the RSA Anti-Fraud CommandCenter.

The 7/24 monitoring/takedown operation of RSA Security said that 42% of American credit unions were targeted in March, compared with 35% of regional U.S. banks and 23% of nationwide banks.

Meanwhile, the so-called Rock Phish gang continues to drain tens of millions of dollars from bank accounts globally, RSA said, and accounts for more than 50% of phishing attacks worldwide.
The group uses a variety of well-known techniques in combinations that have helped it infiltrate thousands of e-mail servers, RSA said.

Alert Issued about Fraudsters Targeting Credit Union HELOCs

Fraudsters are now targeting credit unions in a sophisticated attempt to secure wire transfers from members’ home equity line of credit (HELOC) accounts, according to the Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association (CUISPA). All credit unions should put their call centers and other member-facing staff on alert to the scam.
http://www.cutimes.com/article.php?article=35533
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