'Phishing' schemes targets area credit union
An e-mail "phishing" scheme started phones ringing Friday morning at the credit union for Allegheny Ludlum.
The phony "official notification" tells "Allegheny-Ludlum Brackenridge Federal Credit Union cardholders" that their online account has expired.
It then asks customers to click on a site and fill in their account number.
The real credit union isn't involved in the scheme in any way, and its files haven't been compromised.
"These pfishing schemes are unfortunately common, and they target banks and other customers," said U.S. Postal Inspector Barbara Burnhauser.
Burnhauser is a team leader for the Pittsburgh-based Southwestern Financial Crimes Task Force.
This type of e-mail is a fraudulent attempt to get personal identities, Burnhauser said.
"Real banks and other financial institutions never send this type of request to customers or make phone calls to them," she said.
"We didn't send this," said Linda Daum, manager of the Allegheny-Ludlum Brackenridge Federal Credit Union based in Brackenridge. "We never do that. We put on our letters that we never call for information. I guess we'll have to add e-mail to that warning," Daum said.
"This had to be done at random -- taking names from the telephone book -- because none of the people who have called this morning are members," she said.
She said the credit union's computer technicians checked the credit union's computer system and determined that "it wasn't hacked into," she said.
Daum also said the computer techs urge people not to click on the attachment in the bogus e-mail because that might harm their computers.
Once only open to employees at Allegheny Ludlum's facilities in Harrison, it is now open to anyone in that area. It has $17 million in assets, according to its Web site.
Burnhauser said most of the pfishing schemes are tried by people overseas.
Last week, state Attorney General Tom Corbett warned people about e-mail phishing scams disguised as messages related to investment or retirement accounts.
Some fraudulent e-mail messages appear to be from banks, investment account managers, retirement plans or other financial institutions and ask people to update online account information.
A link actually is seeking to get personal information for identity theft, Corbett said.
Additional Information:
Phishing and other financial crimes
To report a fraudulent e-mail solicitation or other fraud, contact the Southwestern Pennsylvania Financial Crimes Task Force .
The Web site has an easy-to-use guide explaining many of the scams in use.
To get more information about avoiding identity theft scams by reviewing the 'Identity Theft Toolkit,' click on the consumer section at www.attorneygeneral.gov .
