Banking department warns of fraudulent credit union

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Apr 02, 2004

The New York State Banking Department recently issued con- sumer alert to the New York State press corps and consumers warning them about a company calling itself "First Rate Credit Union," which is believed to be a front for an identitytheft scam.

Over the last six months, deceitful advertisements were placed in newspapers in California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington State by an entity/person representing itself as First Rate Credit Union. This company is not a licensed credit union. Thus far, the Department is not aware of any New Yorkers who may have been defrauded. Anyone who has responded to a solicitation from First Rate Credit Union or sported one of the advertisements should call the New York State Banking Department at 1-877-NYS-BANK to file a report. Consumers who have contacted First Rate Credit Union also are encouraged to contact the National Credit Union Association's Fraud Hotline at 800-827-9650.

The Department Suspects this to be an identity-theft or advance-loan scam that could possibly be operating from a foreign country via a toll-free number and/or pre-paid cell phones. The department believes the advertisements to be a ploy to lure consumers into giving personal financial information for a nonexustent loan application or debt consolidation form that is in turn used to steal the consumers' money and assets.

The scam, which offers to assist customers with credit problems, is driven by advertisements giving a Middletown, N.Y. address. Not only is there no such credit union at this location, there is no credit union by this name chartered by New York State, any other state, or the federal government. Further, it is not insured by the National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency responsible for chartering, regulating, and insuring deposits.

The Banking Department urges all media in New York State not to place any ads from First Rate Credit Union and to contact the Department's Criminal Investigations Bureau at (212) 709-3540 if solicited to place an ad in any form: print, broadcast, radio, or Internet.

The New York State Banking Department is the regulator for all statechartered banking institutions, including nine of the State's 10 largest banks, and 80 percent of the United States offices of international-banking institutions. The aggreagate assets of the companies and institutions supervised by the Banking Department are more than $2 trillion.