The bad news is my CCCU debit card was recently “compromised.” That’s the official term for my account being used without my consent. I do a lot of online shopping, so I’m guessing a merchant somewhere had their system hacked, but you really never know. The good news is I got to experience what happens here at the credit union when this happens to our members. And I have to say, I was very impressed. I thought it would be good to share my story so others can learn what to look out for in the same situation. I know I learned a lot from the experience.
My first clue that something was going on happened on my CU Online account. I tried to log in one day and, after I entered my login ID, the screen said something about advanced authentication being needed and I would receive an email with a temporary security code. I got the code from my email and logged into my account. It asked me to change my password, security photo and questions. I did all that and moved on. I didn’t think much else of it. Then a couple of days later I tried to log in again and the same exact thing happened. That’s when I knew something was up. I called Megan in our Member Contact Center to ask her about it. After looking into it, she found out that someone was attempting to access my CU Online account and couldn’t get past the security questions, so it was locking them (and me) out.
At this time, I didn’t realize that my debit card number was also being accessed. I received a call at home from CCCU’s fraud detection service. Unfortunately, because I didn’t get home until after 11:00 p.m. that evening, and I didn’t check my messages at that time (no one calls my home phone but politicians anyway), I didn’t see the message until the next evening. When I did call back, they were very nice and professional, asking me to verify specific charges to my account. It turns out there were two charges from Norway (the country, not the city) that were obviously not mine.
So to make a long story short (well, at least not as long as my first draft), after the entire incident was over CCCU credited my account for the entire amount and I visited our Wiley branch to get a new
instant issue debit card so didn’t have to miss a beat on my shopping.
What I learned from the experience:
- My CU Online log in ID should be something difficult to crack (it was just my name before).
- I decided to update my contact information for the fraud alert so they will call my cell phone instead of my home phone. That way I can be sure to get the call right away and stop the fraud before the charge hits my account if it ever happens again.
- I added Verified by Visa to my account, which adds another layer of security for online purchases.
- My credit union really is looking out for me. Pretty cool.
