MANCHESTER, N.H.—The oldest CU in the U.S. has been victimized by one of the newest crimes: cyber-thieves have forced it to reissue 5,000 debit cards.
The $856-million St. Mary's Bank here discovered more than a week ago that a number of its members’ debit cards may have been compromised when crooks apparently began using the stolen data and running small-dollar transactions as tests, WMUR reported.
Authorities said that only a small number of accounts were actually compromised, noting that approximately $26,000 was taken from members' accounts and was immediately replaced.
The CU’s Shirley Bhutto told the news station that purchases from $99 to $100 began appearing following what St. Mary’s believes were test transactions by the crooks.
Officials said the CU was able to identify the compromised cards and shut them down. Credit union authorities said the debit cards were originally hacked at a large national retailer and the numbers were sold online.
“Beginning last weekend until now, it's been about 160 different cards (with) multiple transactions on the cards being attempted and completed,” Bhutto told WMUR.
The breach has been reported to local and federal authorities and an investigation is underway.