SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The FBI is investigating whether an in international ring siphoning funds from local credit union and bank accounts obtained the account information from ATMs owned by 1st Source Bank.
The victims all appear to have used a 1st Source Bank ATM during the first 10 days of May, authorities said. The bank was alerted of a possible computer breach on May 12 and responded by shutting down its computer system and contacting authorities. Two weeks ago, 1st Source sent its customers a letter explaining the unauthorized access of its debit card server, during which thieves are believed to have obtained account numbers and PINs from cards used at its ATMs.
Officials at 1st Source Bank did not return a phone call from the Credit Union Journal seeking comment yesterday.
Leo Ditchcreek, president of Notre Dame FCU, yesterday said a review of the 50 or so members whose cards were accessed from overseas locations in Russia, Ukraine and Spain showed that all of the cards had been used at 1st Source Bank ATMs between May 1 and 9. He said he is confident the bank’s ATMs are the source of the breach. “We know it,” Ditchcreek told The Credit Union Journal yesterday.
Richard Rice, president of Teachers CU, said as many as 250 of his members had been affected to the tune of around $50,000. Rice was reluctant to name 1st Source Bank as the culprit, but said all of the victims at his credit union had used the ATM from a certain "bank".
The transactions on Teachers CU accounts came from such far-flung places as Russia, Ukraine, Spain, the Phillipines and Kenya, said Rice.
Meantime, the scope of the breach continues to grow, with at least eight area institutions reporting that accounts had been hacked into, including Farm Bureau CU, Chiphone FCU and KeyBank, Michiana’s Finest Bank and E-Trade Financial.
Notre Dame FCU’s Ditchcreek said the hackers appear to be using the card information to withdraw cash in small amounts. About $15,000 to $20,000 has been siphoned from Notre Dame FCU accounts so far, which the credit union has reimbursed.
“Right now, our main concern is to get all of our members to take a look at their accounts and see if they’ve been affected,” he said.
