MADISON, Wis. — A costly new attack by fraudsters on members with home equity lines of credit (HELOC) loans is being reported by CUNA Mutual.

The sophisticated schemers already have struck at least 18 credit unions, who reported losses or fraud attempts totaling more than $6.5 million, with more losses expected, CUNA Mutual says.

The faxed or e-mailed requests, frequently for more than $100,000, are to send the funds to banks in the United States, China and Japan to accounts with the words “Title” or “Construction” in the account name, Pate says.

Even credit unions with strong security in place have been duped, including instances where staffers made call-backs to a secure telephone number. The thieves also have had detailed member information, which is enabling them to answer additional challenge questions from credit union staff.

CUNA Mutual says it is helping the FBI and Secret Service with their investigation. The Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association also has received reports of the scam from several credit unions and has alerted authorities.