http://spyglass1.sjmercury.com/breaking/docs/072573.htm Computer-savvy crooks steal cards, charge up WASHINGTON (AP) -- High-tech thieves rang up international charges of almost $1 million on the debit cards of members of a Washington-area credit union by using computers to guess account numbers, The Washington Post reported today. Sophisticated computer programs apparently analyzed sample credit card numbers, then generated ones that turned out to be valid about half the time, said Mark Cis, vice president of corporate property and casualty for CUMIS Insurance Society, a credit union insurer that has investigated the case. Officials told the newspaper they have corrected a security oversight that allowed charges to be made to accounts at the Alexandria, Va.-based Transportation Federal Credit Union. It serves retired and current employees of the U.S. Transportation Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and Blue Cross-Blue Shield of the National Capitol Area. The Post report that a source close to the investigation said an Asian organized crime group, which has hit other credit unions in the United States, appeared to be behind the fraud. Security experts minimized the threat to national banks and other large institutions with large staffs and budgets devoted to protecting accounts. Credit unions tend to be smaller, with fewer resources. ``The crooks have gone (after) less secure installations, and those tend to be credit unions,'' Cis said. The credit unions said fewer than half of its 2,600 card holders were victims of fraudulent charges; none will be held responsible for the charges. The fraud involved Visa check cards, a kind of credit card allowing merchants to deduct funds directly from a cardholder's account for a purchase. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: New Dimensions International [www.newdimensions.net] -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: New Dimensions International [www.newdimensions.net]
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