Inthe latest round of wire transfer fraud sweeping the nation, morethan two dozen credit unions have been hit and some have sufferedlosses ranging from $100,000 to $400,000 in a home equity line ofcredit scam, according to Roger Nettie, a senior consultant of riskmanagement at CUNA Mutual Group.

The Madison, Wis.-based company issued analert this week regarding a wave of scams aimed at theaccounts.

“HELOC accounts are a very attractive target for thieves,” saidNettie, who has worked in CUNA Mutual's risk management divisionfor almost 30 years.

Cybercriminals used information from public records such asmortgages and social media such as Facebook to pinpoint potentialtargets and to steal members' identities, gain access to onlinebanking accounts and transfer funds, Nettie said.

“In these latest cases, it usually starts with an accounttakeover so they can change the member's email or password to getinto their online banking and move HELOC funds to their share draftaccount,” he explained.

Fraudsters posing as members used details they've gained toimpersonate members when they called to request a wire transfer, heexplained.

To avoid being victimized by the scam, Nettie advised creditunions to exercise extreme due diligence when processing requestsfor wire transfers and to avoid wiring large transfers unless themember is in the branch.

“They should look for red flags,” Nettie said.

In some recent cases, fraudsters contacted credit unionsdirectly to change member profile information, including addresses,phone numbers or email accounts, he noted.

By transferring funds from the HELOC into a share draft account,criminals try to reduce the chance that a credit union employeewould notice suspicious activity, Nettie said.

Some recent wire requests received by fax included accuratelyforged signatures, which the fraudsters found on the HELOCdocuments they searched out online, he said.

In some instances, member phone numbers were call-forwarded bythe criminals or callbacks by the credit union were forwarded tothe criminals, CUNA Mutual said.

“Some of the credit unions that have been hit have comparedinformation and some of the voices on the callbacks sound like thesame person, the same accent, so it does seem to involve fraudrings,” Nettie said.

Not taking steps to prevent wire fraud can be a costlymistake.

“It is important for credit unions to understand anyrequirements for coverage under their insurance program,” Nettiesaid. “Some carriers require written wire agreements, recordedphone lines or callbacks to specific phone numbers.”

“CUNA Mutual moved from a callback requirement to a co-paymentfor risk sharing, to discourage large dollar requests not inperson, or encourage other layers of security,” he explained.“Credit unions are generally responsible for retaining 50% oflosses over $25,000 for requests not received in person.”

Losses related to wire transfers have remained on CUNA Mutual'sradar for 20 years, Nettie said. The company experienced its firstwire transfer loss of $250,000 in 1994, he added.

Wire transfers related to HELOCaccounts began pelting credit unions in 2006 with the mostrecent blip showing up on the screen a few months ago, Nettiesaid.