WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Feel that the fight against “fake CUs”is like fighting a ghost? Credit unions can take heart that inaddition to efforts by NCUA, NAFCU, CUNA, NASCUS and lawenforcement agencies, credit union leagues are upping the ante andexperts say communication trumps con artists. “It is difficult tofight,” said CUNA Mutual Protection Solutions Group Risk ManagementSpecialist Vince Wagner. “There is no particular pattern on whichcredit unions are targeted, they seem to just pick names. Whilethis may sound simplistic the first step is for all credit unionsto be aware that their credit union identity can be taken orspoofed.” While banks started off as initial targets for years,credit unions were next in line with the appearance of fake CenturyCU ads in Missouri last summer. The fake company was based inFlorida and released advertisements in Missouri, Ohio, SanFrancisco and Indiana. The legitimate credit union based in St.Louis, Missouri contacted the Missouri Credit Union Association,local police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NCUA, theFederal Trade Commission and the Missouri and Florida regulators.Over on the West Coast an ad for Zurich CU a nonexistent creditunion was placed in an Everett, Washington-based newspaper. “Iguess we were kind of the guinea pigs for them,” said MissouriCredit Union Association Vice President of Public and LegislativeAffairs Amy McLard. “We notified everyone we could think of and tothe best of my knowledge we haven't had a problem since but we werejust the first part of their learning curve and now unfortunatelythey seem to have more direction.” In late fall, First Rate CUburst on the scene with an alleged headquarters in New York. ThenContinental CU in Scranton, Pennsylvania came upping the number ofstates with the false advertising to 20. Recognizing the challengeinvolved in the fraud fight, Wisconsin Credit Union League Directorof Communications Chris Olson says credit unions here have done afantastic job of notifying the league when they spot something, andthat a proactive approach is the best weapon. The WCUL has alsocreated standard information forms for newsletters and risk alertsnotifying media contacts and credit unions. “Don't wait until yousee an ad pop up in your state,” said Olson. “Preemptively send outwarnings to newspaper advertising departments, post warnings aboutthis activity on the CU and league Web sites and write about it incredit union newsletters. Keeping everyone in the loop is how youstop this.” Developing that networking relationship has helped WCULidentify two recent scams within days of an ad attempt. TheWisconsin Department of Financial Institutions' Office of CreditUnions has notified the Wisconsin Newspaper Association that scamartists are attempting to place ads here for Advantage CU – alegitimate credit union in Wisconsin. According to DFI, anindividual who is not associated with the real credit union hascontacted some three newspapers in Beloit, Eau Claire and La Crosseto place an ad for Advantage CU. The ads show phony informationfrom the DFI and the actual credit union's logo. Some of the redflags include a (866) phone number that did not match up to theactual CU's number. In addition when the same group attempted toimpersonate Heartland Credit Union allegedly based in Newton, N.C.,Olson forwarded the information to the North Carolina Credit UnionLeague the same day so that warnings could be sent. “My opinion isthat part of the reason why these criminals are targeting creditunions is because of their reputation as member friendly financialinstitutions,” said Wagner. “So they target that person who needs aloan or has a hard time getting credit.” Ferndale, Michigan-basedCredit Union ONE Compliance/Security Officer Mark Sebastian is onlytoo familiar with the ploy as his CU's corporate name wasfraudulently used to solicit debt consolidation services. One ofthe fraudulent ads that ran in December stated the following: “Needa Fresh Start? Consolidate your debt. Call Credit Union One at(866) 475-8024. Regardless of your credit status we can help.”Consumers that call the number are asked to provide personalinformation including social security number, date of birth,employment information and drivers license number. In addition,they are asked to pay via wire transfer or cashier's check advancepayment fees ranging from $300 to $2,500 to cover such items asinsurance, border taxes and processing fees. Sebastian agrees thata national press release to all media outlets is effective, and inhis case news/information giant Gannett not only notified its 101newspapers' ad department but also ran a consumer alert in itspublications. One thing is certain the scams are not going awaysays Wagner. “I hate to predict but this scam can take any form andfrom the amount of money that can be made from it we can expect itto continue,” said Wagner. “It all helps from having a goodrelationship with the papers letting them know that there is onlyone person authorized to establish ads to periodically running yourCU name through a search engine on the Internet to see what you getare just some of the proactive steps credit unions can take. In theend the best defense is knowing what is going on out there.”[email protected]