Thieves target accounts at First Choice Credit Union

Thieves tried to access accounts through an automated phone system and a phony Web site.

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A scam that targeted customers of First Choice Credit Union appears to have been resolved.

At least, says its CEO Marilyn Wehr, she hopes so.

“It started Super Bowl Sunday,” Wehr said Thursday, with First Choice members getting text messages at home to say their accounts had been compromised.

People were instructed to call a phone number, where an automated system asked for an account number, expiration date and PIN number for debit cards and VISA credit cards, she said.

Then last Friday, Wehr was working after the credit union had closed at 4:30 p.m.

“My lines lit up like crazy,” she said.

Members were being told to go to a Web site that had been set up to look like First Choice’s. The Web address was www.firstchoicefcu.net, while the credit union’s real address is www.firstchoicefcu.com.

When people went to the phony site, they saw First Choice’s real logo and other information.

Wehr said she located the origin of the misleading domain name Monday and got it shut down.

She said the FBI indicated that First Choice did not have enough financial loss for the agency to pursue the case.

She said there was only one loss to a member out of about six who gave information in the scam, and the amount was under $500.

“I had about a half-dozen that answered questions,” she said. Most thought better and called First Choice, she said, and the credit union blocked the thieves from accessing accounts.

“They know what they’re doing,” she added, saying that the thieves called to access accounts around closing time.

Wehr said First Choice has purchased the domain name firstchoicefcu.net. The name came up for sale after the phony site was shut down, she said.

Wehr said people should remember to never give their account information to someone over the phone or through an e-mail or text message. She said PIN numbers should be guarded as carefully as Social Security numbers.