Indiana Members Credit Union debit card information compromised

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By Whitney Lee, April 29, 2009

The letter said that a merchant had compromised the cards, but Habig said the incident is tied to the Heartland Payment Systems’ security breach that occurred earlier this year.

 

Heartland Payment Systems is a payment processor that allows merchants (online or in a traditional store) to receive the actual money from a debit or credit transaction. When Heartland’s security was breached, every person who had been to a store that used Heartland became vulnerable.

 

Heartland announced in a quiet January 20 - Inauguration Day - release that malware, a type of software designed to infiltrate a computers system, had been used to get the card numbers, expiration dates and internal bank codes according to PC World. In a few cases, the names of the cardholders were also stolen.

 

While ICU knew about the breach, the institution didn’t alert members until the April 23 letter.

 

“We monitored the cards and felt that it was an inconvenience for members to receive new cards.” Habig said.

 

Habig said Indiana Members Credit Union didn’t want to alert members before it was a problem. Once they found the first fraudulent charge, they sent out the letters.

 

“We thought we were through the woods,” Habig said.

 

Claire Moorman, a 20-year-old student at Franklin College, said her Indianapolis Credit Union branch told her that the numbers on the cards themselves had been compromised – not the PIN numbers or any other personal information. She’s been a member of ICU for about 10 years with her parents.

 

“They just decided to cancel all of their members' cards until new ones are sent,” Moorman said. “I think it’s being handled fine.”

 

The credit union will cancel the cards on May 7 and replacements should reach members by then. If a customer wishes to cancel their cards before then, they he or she must call member services.

 

 

**If your Indiana Members Credit Union card has experienced fraudulent activity, please contact The Franklin at thefranklin@franklincollege.edu**

 

 

Jenni Searcy, Matt Muncy, Carey Shea and Robin Connelly contributed to this report.