Area credit unions and banks are being hit with a counterfeit money order scam, costing customers tens of thousands of dollars. University of Kentucky FCU said three members wracked up more than $20,000 in losses when they tried to cash the bogus certificates. As a result, credit unions and banks are ending the tradition of treating money orders as cash as money technology has helped scammers create life-like money orders.
The Federal Reserve recently reminded financial institutions that they may treat money orders as checks and impose a hold period of up to 10 days. The Fed is also speeding up processing of money orders in order to detect counterfeits faster.
