Online Scams Target CUs

BEDFORD, Mass. – Credit unions were the most frequently targeted financial institutions in the U.S. by online scammers during July, according to the RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center. The Center, a unit of online security provider EMC Corp., reported 39% of the phishing, pharming and other scams perpetrated against financial institutions were targeted at credit unions during July, versus 33% against regional U.S. banks and 28% versus nationwide U.S. banks. The percentage of attacks hosted in the U.S. continued to rise during July to 66%, according to RSA. RSA also is reporting what it calls an ‘interesting’ development in the underground community of fraudsters who create ‘phishing kits.’ It reported seeing an increase in the distribution of so-called Man-in-the-Middle kits that are created by a scammer and then distributed free to other scammers. The kits typically contain a backdoor, or string of code embedded into the kit that sends the phishing ‘results,’ usually stolen card numbers and credentials, not only to the user of the kit but also the creator.