http://spyglass1.sjmercury.com/breaking/docs/072573.htm
Computer-savvy crooks steal cards, charge up
WASHINGTON (AP) -- High-tech thieves rang up international charges of
almost $1 million on the debit cards of members of a Washington-area
credit union by using computers to guess account numbers, The Washington
Post reported today.
Sophisticated computer programs apparently analyzed sample credit card
numbers, then generated ones that turned out to be valid about half the
time, said Mark Cis, vice president of corporate property and casualty for
CUMIS Insurance Society, a credit union insurer that has investigated the
case.
Officials told the newspaper they have corrected a security oversight that
allowed charges to be made to accounts at the Alexandria, Va.-based
Transportation Federal Credit Union. It serves retired and current
employees of the U.S. Transportation Department, the Federal Aviation
Administration and Blue Cross-Blue Shield of the National Capitol Area.
The Post report that a source close to the investigation said an Asian
organized crime group, which has hit other credit unions in the United
States, appeared to be behind the fraud.
Security experts minimized the threat to national banks and other large
institutions with large staffs and budgets devoted to protecting accounts.
Credit unions tend to be smaller, with fewer resources.
``The crooks have gone (after) less secure installations, and those tend
to be credit unions,'' Cis said.
The credit unions said fewer than half of its 2,600 card holders were
victims of fraudulent charges; none will be held responsible for the
charges.
The fraud involved Visa check cards, a kind of credit card allowing
merchants to deduct funds directly from a cardholder's account for a
purchase.
-o-
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Received on Sat Aug 15 15:03:01 1998