Regulators Force Shutdown Of PhishingBid

BOISE, Idaho - (01/31/06) -- A cease and desist order issued bythe Idaho Finance Department has closed down a phony website usedto phish credit union customers even though regulators weren't ableto serve the anonymous perpetrators. Still, the regulatory ordersent last week to John and Jane Doe, appears to have scared off theperpetrators, who had the gall to send a phishing request to thestate supervisors office. The suspects had been sending emailsasking for personal account information and purporting to directrecipients to a website for Credit Union 1, the name of legitimatecredit unions in Illinois, Alaska and Kansas, according to MaryHughes, credit unions bureau chief for the Finance Department. Sofar, no one in Idaho appears to have been taken in by the scheme.The regulatory order was sent to the email address on the boguswebsite, which was shut down immediately afterwards, so the FinanceDepartment can't be sure the perpetrators received the order, saidHughes. But the Cease and Desists apparently had an effect. "Ourhope is to get the word out before anyone actually losesmoney,¡¨ the regulator told The Credit Union Journal. Thescheme is reminiscent of a broad phishing scam in 2004 and 2005operated out of Toronto in which phony websites purporting to befor 'Heartland CU,' and 'Century CU,' duped hundreds of Americansout of more than $1 million.