JOPLIN, Mo. - When recent storms demolished homes and property here, scattering personal information for miles, Joplin Metro CU turned its attention to making sure members’ accounts are protected from theft.
Heather White, who works in business development at the $20-million Joplin Metro, told Credit Union Journal that the CU’s disaster planning calls for increased attention to account protection following a tornado. News from a nearby town in Oklahoma emphasized the importance of the move.
“In Picher, a lady’s paycheck got blown 100 miles away,” White reported. “People’s personal information is getting scattered and we have to take special precaution to protect our members’ accounts.”
White says the CU always pays close attention to identifying members when they call or come in to access accounts, but now it’s time to be especially vigilant. “When any type of disaster strikes there are always going to be individuals trying to make a buck off someone’s misfortune.”
With phone lines still down in some areas of town and members’ homes damaged, connecting with them to check suspicious account activity has been difficult. “Some members we simply can’t reach,” White said, adding that the CU believes it has not experienced any cases of fraud following the storm.
The credit union didn’t suffer any damage, but the storms interrupted Internet access. “We’re still down,” White said at press time. “It’s been hard getting the direct deposits in. We’re doing everything we can to get them posted.”
Members who have Internet access and do home banking are complaining, “wondering why their balances aren’t accurate,” White said. “We’ve been getting calls like crazy.”
New account openings have also stopped since the CU can’t get online to verify information, White pointed out.
The good news, White explained, is that no members were injured, and not many suffered a great deal of loss.
“The storm was bad. It flipped cars and brought enormous-sized hail. Cars had dents that looked like they were made by baseballs... We’re still checking on the status of our membership. Some cars were destroyed and some homes lost, but we don’t believe the storm physically harmed any of our members.”
