DECATUR, Ill. – Members of Land of Lincoln CU were the target of a phishing scam that piggybacked off of a previous phishing scam. The emails were disguised as an effort to improve online security because of the phishing scam of previous weeks. The latest email states, “To enhance the security when accessing your online accounts, Land of Lincoln Credit Union has implemented an additional layer to our online security system. You may be requested to answer security questions in order to complete your log in to land of Lincoln Credit Union Online Banking.” When the member clicks on the address given, they are asked for an account number.

HARRISBURG, Pa. – State lawmakers have introduced legislation to sell 47 acres of state-owned land near the former Harrisburg State Hospital to Pennsylvania SECU where the $1.8 billion credit union plans to build one of the largest credit union complexes in the country. The complex would include the credit union’s new headquarters and would provide more than double the space of its current 180,000 square-foot headquarters at the State Farm Complex in downtown Harrisburg. Plans call for up to three buildings encompassing 400,000 square feet of space and parking for as many as 1,600 cars. Under the deal, the credit union will pay the state $2.7 million for the property, which will require a zoning change to facilitate the project. The project will generate property tax revenue for Dauphin County because the state does not pay property taxes.

PIERRE, S.D. – The state Supreme Court last week rejected a suit by a former First Century FCU executive who claimed he was forced to resign after reporting allegations the CEO was stealing funds to finance a gambling habit. Chad Anderson, who was executive vice president of the credit union, resigned July 1, 2002. He had informed other credit union officials of unusual activity involving the personal accounts of Jill Handel, who was the president and CEO, and her boyfriend, Jarrod Haacke. Had Anderson waited one more day before resigning, he would have learned that the board of directors decided at a special meeting to request a special audit into Handel's account activities, which led to her dismissal. But the state High Court ruled that Anderson could not prove that he was being singled out at work for his purported whistleblowing. "Anderson was unable to show that Handel singled him out for ill treatment," wrote Chief Justice David Gilbertson. Handel was eventually fired in December 2002, after more than 20 years at the credit union. But she never was charged with any wrongdoing. Handel and Haacke died six months later in a propane explosion at their home in Crooks.

HOUSTON – A telephone company worker found $120,000 of Harris County FCU currency after it fell off the back of a truck heading to replenish credit union ATMs Thursday morning and promptly returned the wayward cash. Six cash canisters, which were being transported by two off-duty Houston police officers, fell off the back of a pick-up truck around 8:30 am. When they arrived to their destination, the off-duty cops realized the money was gone. Luckily, an AT&T worker found the containers by the side of the road and saw them labeled, so he brought them to authorities. The AT&T worker, who was unidentified, will be paid a reward for his honesty. Credit union officials said they are reviewing their method of transporting cash.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Equifax reported that is has acquired its office headquarters complex for $30 million from a company it had been leasing it from. The complex includes almost 20 acres of land, a three-story 205,000 square-foot data center, and a five-story 198,000 square-foot office building. Equifax had leased the property from First Chicago Leasing Corp. since 1994.

SAN FRANCISCO – Companies that process credit card payments for Internet sites featuring pirated content are not liable for copyright infringement, a U.S. appeals court panel ruled on Tuesday. The Ninthth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Perfect 10, a Beverly Hills-based adult magazine and Web site publisher, against First Data Corp., Visa, MasterCard and affiliated banks. The suit alleged that the financial companies contributed to copyright infringement because they helped consumers to download pirated images. However, the court's three-judge panel dismissed that contention. The credit card companies cannot be said to materially contribute to the infringement in this case because they have no direct connection to that infringement, Judge Milan Smith Jr. wrote in the court's majority opinion. The decision struck a blow to Perfect 10's efforts to cripple Web sites that sell access to its collection of erotic photographs without permission.

McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates continued to decline this week, for the third week in a row, according to Freddie Mac. The average for the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan slipped to 6.63% this week, from 6.67% last week; while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 6.30%, from 6.34%. ARM rates were mixed, with the average for the five-year ARM declining slightly to 6.29%, from 6.30% last week; and the average for the one-year ARM rising to 5.71%, from 5.65%. Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower for a third consecutive week, in part reflecting a moderation in core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac.

MONTICELLO, Fla. – Jefferson County Teachers CU said it has contracted with Gila Corp. to provide it with collection and repossession services. The contract was arranged through a Gila deal with CURE LLC, which has arranged three other collection contracts with credit unions. Gila is based in Austin, Texas.

DUBLIN, Ohio – BMI FCU will break ground this morning on a new headquarters project that will provide the $275 million credit union with 43,000 square-fete of office space. Construction is expected to take around 11 months. The city of Dublin will provide the credit union with as much as $85,000 in incentives for the project, including a $10,000 facility acquisition grants and up to $75,000 in job and payroll incentives. The 71-year-old credit union plans to lease its current offices in Columbus, possible to Ohio State University.

RIDGECREST, Calif. – Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker and other Star Wars characters helped employees and members bid farewell to Desert Valleys FCU’s olf headquarters and welcome the new one, as part of a fundraising effort for Make-A-Wish Foundation. The celebration, which included a screening of Star wars: Episode IV–A New Hope, in the old office, raised more than $2,800 for the children’s charity. As part of the event, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalekr, Princess Leia and Boba Fett walked the city streets greeting children and Star Wars fans. Donations were raised by letting people have their photos taken with characters and from pledges of local businesses. The $18 million credit union was formerly known as Serles Lake Community FCU.

BILOXI, Miss. – A team of cash-strapped thieves withdrew an ATM–the whole machine–from the wall at the local shopping mall late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. The machine belonged to Keesler FCU and contained an undisclosed amount of cash. Police were still searching yesterday for the machine and its cash.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Retail giant Wal-Mar Stores has been quietly expanding its own co-branded ATM network, at the same time it is expanding its MoneyCenter branch network to 1,000 of its stores. The Minnesota Department of Commerce recently approved Wal-Mart’s application to place 24 ATMs with its own Wal-Mart Money Center logo in its Sam’s Clubs throughout Minnesota. In December the state approved more than 50 other Wal-Mart branded ATMs. The company stunned the banking industry last month when it announced plans to issue its own Visa debit card as part of an expansion of financial services offerings that includes the construction 1,000 of its own MoneyCenter branches inside its stores by the end of 2008. The company already operates one of the country’s biggest chains of check cashers and also offers bill payment and wire transfer services at 250 MoneyCenter branches. The plans stunned representatives at hundreds of credit unions and banks who offer many of the same products at branches in Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart officials did not return several calls seeking comment.

WALL STREET – The nation’s biggest banks, who earned billions with last year’s initial public offering for MasterCard, are looking to score again with the impending IPO for cards competitor Visa USA. The same banking giants that controlled MasterCard stand to make billions more if they sell some of the shares they will receive in Visa International, which will represent the roll-up of Visa USA, Visa Canada and Visa Europe, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The current owners of Visa USA will end up with a 34% controlling stake in Visa International. The biggest shareholders of Visa USA are: JP Morgan Chase (23%); Bank of America (11.5%); Citigroup (5%) and Wells Fargo (5%). Those four banks also owned more than 25% of MasterCard when it went public last year. Other major owners of Visa USA are: National City Corp. (8%) and U.S. Bancorp (5%). The banks earned billions of dollars in MasterCard shares with last May’s IPO, which was one of the most successful in recent years. Since going public at $39, MasterCard shares have more than quadrupled in price to more than $160.

HOUSTON – Cardtronics Inc., which has emerged as a major provider of EFT services for credit unions, plans to raise $125 million to finance the company’s planned acquisition of ATMs in 7-Eleven convenience stores with an offering of junk bonds, the company said yesterday. The funds from the offering of 9.25% senior subordinated notes will be used with available cash and borrowing under the company’s revolving credit facility to finance the $135 million 7-Eleven deal, which is scheduled to close in the third quarter. The purchase of the 5,500 7-Eleven ATMs will make Cardtronics one of the main providers of electronic funds services for credit unions because those machines are connected to the credit union-owned CO-OP Network, and almost 2,000 of them are about to be added to Financial Services Centers Cooperative’s shared branch network. Hundreds of credit unions also have access to Cardtronics’ 28,500 existing ATMs in the U.S., through either the Credit Union 24 network or Cardtronics’ Allpoint subsidiary.

NAPA, Calif. – Redwood CU celebrated its entry into the local market with a flare. The $1.5 billion credit union footed the $25,000 bill for last night’s July 4th fireworks to help mark its arrival after acquiring Napa FCU last month. The credit union agreed to pay for last night’s show after city fathers had trouble finding a corporate sponsor. Because of financial problems, the city hasn’t paid for the community celebration since 2003.

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Triton Corp. said Tuesday it has introduced a through-the-wall ATM for the credit union and bank market. The company’s FT7000 ATM features an envelope depository and expansion bay for future upgrades such as check scanning. The machine is fully XFS compliant and run’s Triton’s ATM software with Diebold 912 Emulation support, allowing for seamless integration and compatibility into existing networks. The machines come with 15-inch color displays, the largest available in the industry, and Internet functionality, and allow for customization of ATM screens with advertising and marketing messages.

MONTROSE, Calif. – Glendale Area Schools FCU will push ahead with its civil check-fraud charges against a well-known public figure, even though she has paid back more than $21,000 they alleged she stole. Stephanie Mines, a director of the Glendale Educational Foundation and former president of the Chamber of Commerce, announced the restitution Tuesday of $21,323 in a public statement, but the credit union said it plans to proceed with the civil charges to recoup almost $2,000 in legal fees and costs, and to file criminal fraud charges against Mines. Credit union officials said Mines engineered a kiting scheme between her credit union account and Citibank, and bounced $21,323 worth of checks.

SAN DIMAS, Calif. – Financial Service Centers Cooperative, the shared branching network, said Tuesday it has signed with Piggybanc to offer the company’s children’s savings accounts through its credit union participants. Piggybanc allows parents to open online savings accounts for their children and add to it any time of the day or night. FSSC, which operates more than 2,100 outlets around the country, is poised to add as many as 2,000 more outlets with the addition later this month of self-service Vcom kiosks at 7-Eleven convenience stores.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – iQ CU said it plans to take down the city’s former Citizen Service Center and build a new headquarters at the site. The $375 million credit union bought the property and the adjacent site from the city in May for $3.2 million. The credit union plans to renovate the adjacent site for either office space or an athletic training facility.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – VyStar CU announced Tuesday it has acquired the former call center for AmeriCredit on Fleming Island. The 85,000 square-foot building will become the credit union’s call center for North Florida. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The six-year-old building was originally an AmeriCredit call center for up to 500 employees. It sold for $14.4 million in 2005 to Lexington Jacksonville LP and became a temporary call center for First Coast Service Options, a unit of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida.