AUSTIN, Texas — Persistent thieves are now targeting credit unions in a sophisticated attempt to secure wire transfers from members' home equity line of credit accounts, according to the Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association.
Kelly Dowell, CUISPA's executive director, said his organization is aware of nearly a dozen such attempted transfers, averaging as much as $70,000 to $100,000 each. He said the fraudsters are calling the credit unions already armed with information that apparently is coming from public land records that provide such details as the existence of a HELOC account, credit lines, and signature samples.
The Austin-based organization said all credit unions should put their call centers on alert to the scam and to be particularly wary of callers asking for information that would not be available publicly. Also, beware of requests for information regarding accounts that have not been very active or have recently changed addresses, the organization said.
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Dowell said the criminals are making multiple calls to call centers, seeking information such as account balances in an apparent effort to verify the institution's authentication procedures, and ordering credit reports on account holders within 24 hours of attempting transfers. With proper signature, the wire transfer requests are faxed to the credit union, Dowell said, and in some cases, the fax header uses the account holder's correct home phone number.
"It is strongly recommended that all member-facing employees be notified of this scam and to be cautious of giving out account specific information that would not be public," Dowell said.
"We began receiving notification of this scam from members on New Year's Eve," he said. "After polling our subscribers, we heard that some started receiving these attempts in November, although the frequency accelerated around Christmas."
Dowell said the FBI and Secret Service have been notified. The organization also is now organizing a Webcast on the threat and taking other measures. Details are at www.cuispa.org.
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