The NCUA has discovered that the situation prompting the FraudAlert it issued on Tuesday was a credit union's effort to test itssecurity systems.

An unnamed credit union created a fax of an NCUA Fraud Alertdesigned to test its security system. "This was an unauthorized andimproper use of the NCUA logo, and also included a falsifiedsignature of then-Chairman Michael Fryzel," the agency said. Thebogus alert was forwarded to NCUA, which prompted NCUA'saction.

"Credit unions are not authorized to create facsimile documentsbearing NCUA logos or signatures, or to improperly representcommunications from NCUA, even during the legitimate conduct ofbusiness such as a computer security assessment," the agencystated.