Phishing attempts made against CUs in three states

MADISON, Wis. (5/22/08)--The latest phishing expeditions using credit unions to lure personal financial information away from members and other consumers have occurred in Missouri, Illinois and Florida.

Authorities have reported phishing attempts at three credit unions. It is not known whether the phishers succeeded in obtaining account information.

In the incidents:

• Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said consumers in Kansas City, Mo., are receiving phone calls, text messages and e-mails purporting to be from Kansas City-based Mazuma CU. The contacts are actually from identity thieves, he said.
• Land of Lincoln CU in Decatur, Ill., was in the process Monday of notifying credit and debit card account holders that scamsters are using its name in phone calls, text messages and other phish attempts. Several residents received computer-generated phone calls that claiming to be from the credit union and advising their account was closed for security reasons. (Herald-Review May 20).
• McCoy FCU, based in Orlando, Fla., also was warning members about a text-messaging scam using its name. The scam urges the recipient to call a phone number and provide account information to fix a "problem" with the account.

The credit unions and authorities emphasized that credit unions and other financial institutions would not solicit such information.

courtesy of cuna.org