EUGENE, Ore. - The theft of laptops from auditors on a job at Oregon Community CU here has not resulted in suspicious activity on members' accounts, a credit union spokesperson said.
Cherie Kistner, Oregon Community CU's corporate communications manager, said laptops were stolen after auditors left the credit union for the day on Oct. 29.
"The auditing firm cannot confirm what was or wasn't on the laptops, as they obviously don't have them, so we chose to take the proactive step of notifying all of our members of the incident," Kistner told Credit Union Journal.
OCCU had provided the auditors with some member account information, including names and addresses, account numbers and account balances. However, Kistner noted, it did not provide members' Social Security numbers, credit or debit account numbers or PIN numbers.
"We have not heard of any suspicious account activity, which is great news," she said, nearly three weeks after the theft. "We routinely encourage our members to monitor their accounts and review their statements and notify us if there is anything suspicious. We will continue to be diligent about implementing the security procedures we already have in place.
"With the help of our members and the diligence of the staff, we believe we will get through this," she added.
Oregon Community CU posted an "Important Message for Oregon Community Members" on its website in response to the theft, stressing the security of data and apologizing for any inconvenience. The message notes no member debit or credit card numbers, passwords, PINs, phone numbers or e-mail addresses are included. It also did not include birthdates, Social Security numbers, or other types of information typically used for identity theft."
Kistner said Oregon Community CU believes that the risk to members from the laptop theft to be "minimal."
"It appears to be a random theft, and there is no reason to believe the people who stole the laptops were after anything in specific, or even know what they have," she said.
