Member Security & Fraud Alerts

August 2009 - Text Messaging Scam Alert

Attention Members,
There has been a dramatic increase in vishing calls (automated phone calls), phishing emails, and now false text messaging (a new form of phishing) targeting credit union members nationwide. By using a variety of communication mediums such as false, automated voice mails, emails, and now text messages, the scammers work to deceive you into thinking your Debit Card or Account has been compromised or blocked, and to convince you to disclose account or personal information. Market USA does not contact members to obtain account or personal information. Please do not reply to such attempts to contact you. If you have any questions or concerns please contact memberservices@marketusafcu.com or call the Member Service department at 301-586.3400 or toll free at 800-914-4268.

Below is sample text of the most recent text message received by members:
sms.alert@visa.com/VISA (Card Blocked) Alert. For more information please call 1-877-362-XXXX.

Please remember that Market USA has not and does not contact any members via text message to elicit account information. To help protect yourself from identity theft and fraud, it is VERY IMPORTANT to only call your financial institution directly, or the phone number listed on the back of your ATM, debit or credit card(s) to obtain any information about your account.

January 27th, 2009 - Card Compromise Alert

Market USA FCU has received notice that credit and debit information belonging to a large number of VISA cardholders has been compromised after an incident at a company that processes transactions for stores and businesses nationwide. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., one of the worlds largest debit/credit processing companies serving over 175,000 merchants, has discovered an internal security breach within it's processing system. Heartland is not a vendor of or associated with Market USA FCU in any way, rather they process credit and debit card transactions for merchants that you may do business with. No information has been provided explaining the locations where the transactions may have occurred.

Some Market USA FCU credit and debit cards were potentially affected by this compromise. Cardholders whose cards were possibly affected will receive a letter with more information on the compromise and new card(s) will be reissued.

For the most recent information on the security breach, please visit Heartland Payment Systems Inc.'s website at http://www.2008breach.com/.

For any questions pertaining to your card or account, please contact Market USA FCU's member service center at (301) 586-3400 or (800) 914-4268.

December 16th, 2008 - Text Messaging Scam Alert

Market USA FCU members have been affected by a "smishing" scam directed towards members of Bank Fund Staff FCU & Lafayette FCU.

Members have received text messages via mobile phones and wireless devices purporting to have originated from the Credit Union. The false message indicates that the member's ATM card has been blocked, and directs the member to call a non-BFSFCU toll-free number.

Please ignore these messages and do not reply to the attempts to contact you. They are not from Market USA FCU, Bank Fund Staff FCU, or Lafayette FCU.

Sample text of fraudulent message:

Notice / This is an automated message from Bank-Fund Staff F.C.U. Your ATM card has been suspended. To reactivate call urgent at 1-888-586-XXXX.

July 21st, 2008 - CO-OP Email Fraud Alert

If you received an email that purported to be from CO-OP Network asking for cardholder information, please note that the email was fraudulent as CO-OP Network never contacts credit union members directly and never requests personal account information. The email should be considered a deceitful attempt to obtain cardholder information with the intent of committing fraudulent activity against your accounts.

November 9th, 2007 - CUNA e-mail Fraud Alert

We have just become aware of a scam that looks like it is from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). This e-mail is not from CUNA. If you receive this e-mail, it is important that you do not respond. CUNA has posted a response to this scam on their web site at www.cuna.org. Market USA Federal Credit Union will never ask that you enter your account number, passwords, PINs or any other personal information using a link provided via e-mail.

July 24th, 2007 - Jury Duty Fraud Alert

March 19th, 2007 - E-Mail Fraud Alert

June 2006 - Visa Credit Card Phone Solicitations and General Fraud Information

Fraud Alert Information

February 8th, 2006 - Nation Credit Union Association (NCUA) Internet/E-Mail Fraud Alert

Recently, there have been multiple e-mail fraud attempts, known as "Phishing", that were initiated via e-mail sent to both the general public and to some credit union members that appeared to be from NCUA. This false e-mail asked for the recipient to click on a link to verify their credit union account registration. If the recipient proceeded to do so, the link directed them to a false website and asked for their credit union account number and PIN, along with other personal information.

NCUA does not ask credit unions members for such personal information. Anyone who receives an e-mail that purports to be from NCUA and asks for account information should consider it to be a fraudulent attempt to obtain their personal account data for an illegal purpose and should not follow the instructions in the e-mail.

If you responded to such an e-mail and provided any confidential account information, please notify your credit union immediately of the scheme. You should also change your account's PIN, and take any additional action recommended by your credit union to protect your account.

If you feel that you have received a fraudulent phishing e-mail purportedly from NCUA please forward the entire e-mail message to Phishing@ncua.gov

Additionally, you can file formal complaints concerning any suspected fraudulent e-mail with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at ncua@ic3.gov. The IFCC is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National White Collar Crime Center.

December 8th, 2005 - Credit Union National Association (CUNA) "Phished"

CUNA, NOT CUNA Mutual Group, is continually being used as the subject of a phishing message targeting your credit union members to collect personal account information, plastic card numbers and passwords. CUNA is warning people who receive the e-mail not to click on the link to the fake web page, just delete the message.

The fraudulent message may use graphics from CUNA's web site. The message alleges "FCU NOTICE: Important Security Update" "Credit Union is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience." The message provides a link to restore account access. The link will take the user to a spoofed web site. There are numerous versions of the e-mail being sent to credit union members.

CUNA does not have such a link on its CUNA.org site, and there is no security update process for accounts by CUNA. CUNA does not have access to credit union member accounts. CUNA is pursuing proactive actions to shut down any unauthorized web sites and servers.

June 21st, 2005 - Compromised Visa Check Cards & Credit Cards

A small percentage of members may have had their cards compromised. More Information

June 2nd, 2005 - National Credit Union Association (NCUA) "Phished"

Recently, there have been multiple e-mail fraud attempts, known as "Phishing", that were initiated via e-mail sent to both the general public and to some credit union members that appeared to be from NCUA. Please read about it on www.ncua.gov