data breach phishing
Credit unions in West Virginia and Louisiana reported data breaches that affected 255,981 individuals, according to disclosure documents filed with the Maine Attorney General’s office.
On Sept. 11, the $564 million Fairmont Federal Credit Union in Fairmont, W.Va., mailed data breach notification letters to its 45,054 members.
Disclosure documents showed the data breach affected 187,038.
Additionally, on Aug. 29, the $752 million Carter Federal Credit Union in Springhill, La., which serves 34,939 members, mailed notification letters to members, reporting a data breach that affected 68,943 persons. What’s more, eight individuals have filed seven proposed class action lawsuits against the credit union in Louisiana federal court.
Fairmont FCU became aware of a data security incident on Jan. 23, 2024 and immediately initiated what it described as a prompt and through forensic investigation with cybersecurity professionals.
“After an extensive investigation, we concluded on or about August 17, 2025, that one or more of the files accessed and/or by the unauthorized part between September 30, 2023 and October 18, 2023, contain your full name,” the credit union’s notification letter said. The rest of the sentence had been redacted in the version filed with the Maine Attorney General’s office. Typically, other personal information exposed in a data breach includes address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license/state identification number, credit/debit card number and financial account number.
Carter FCU said it learned on July 2, 2025 that an unauthorized third party gained temporary access to the credit union’s network and immediately took steps to contain and remediate the incident. After reporting the incident to local law enforcement, the credit union hired a forensic security firm to assist with an internal investigation.
“The forensic investigation recently concluded and determined that the unauthorized third party accessed certain files on our network between June 25, 2025 and July 2, 2025,” the credit union stated in its Aug. 29 notification letter to members. “We reviewed the relevant files for personal information and recently determined that they may have contained some of your personal information, including your name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license/state identification number, passport number, credit/debit card number, financial account number, and financial account history, to the extent that any such information was contained in our systems.”
Less than a week after the notification letters were mailed, two proposed class action lawsuits were filed by Tina Ellis and Olivia Lewis and Corina Gonzales in U.S. District Court in Shreveport on Sept. 4. Belinda Harris, Alan Kaufman, Lakeyshia Brown and Billy Ray Smith Jr., each filed their separate proposed class action lawsuits on Sept. 5, and Yolanda Jackson filed a proposed class action lawsuit on Sept. 10. They are accusing Carter FCU of negligence, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment and other civil allegations.
Fairmont FCU and Carter FCU stated they are not aware of any reports of identity fraud as a direct result of these incidents. Nevertheless, both credit unions said they are offering complimentary identity protection services through a third party.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at pstrozniak@cutimes.com.
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