Federal Employees ID's Used To TapCU

WASHINGTON - (06/17/05) -- The FDIC was warning its employeeslast week of a security breach which allowed thieves to useemployees identities to take out tens of thousands of dollars ofunsecured loans at NIH FCU, in nearby Rockville, Md. Theinformation was used by an employee of NIH FCU to open accounts atthe credit union, then use the accounts to take out 28 unsecuredloans, averaging between $10,000 and $18,000. Lindsay Alexander,president of the $375 million credit union, confirmed incidents ofidentity theft but said she couldn't comment further because of anongoing investigation by the FBI. "The investigation is real activeright now, so I can't talk about," she told The Credit UnionJournal. The phony loans were uncovered when one of the victimizedFDIC employees contacted the credit union in March. The loans werealso suspicious because they were made to people outside the fieldof membership of the credit union, which serves employees of theNational Institutes of Health, George Washington University andother select groups.