At approximately 9 pm on Saturday, June 4^th we began to discover a serious increase in suspicious activity on a number of our debit card holders accounts. Over the course of the next twenty-four hours those numbers increased, and it became very clear to our Card Services Department that we were experiencing what is known as a “BIN attack”.  

A “BIN attack” is a type of debit card fraud where fraudsters take the first six numbers of a debit card series and then use software to generate a series of debit card numbers that fall within that “BIN” of numbers. These types of brute force attacks collect the subsequent card number data and then rapidly use the stolen debit card numbers to begin processing payments.  These attacks are on the debit card numbers and merchant internet facing systems and not on any Homeland Credit Union owned system or network.  No personal or private information was at risk or lost in this attack.  The debit card numbers were the only information that was compromised.

Homeland Credit Union is happy to report that our Card Services Department has diligently worked with our providers to address any member charges and concerns as timely as possible. This attack effected 7% of our card base or roughly 950 members. Shayne Poe, CEO stated “Rest assured, no Homeland Credit Union member who has been subjected to the bin attack will lose any money. All of the fraudulent charges and fees will be reimbursed in full by Homeland Credit Union.  We are also working to replace the compromised cards in a timely manner.  We are proud of the way our team established security measures and worked to mitigate the losses and charges well into the night and morning hours this past weekend.  We are sorry for the inconvenience this incident has caused and appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to deal with the matter going forward.”

A few things that members of Homeland can do to protect their cards include downloading SecurLOCK Equip® this free app allows all members to control their credit and debit cards in the palm of their hands. SecurLOCK Equip® allows members to turn on and off their debit cards, setup location tracking, and even limit spend amounts. SecurLOCK Equip® helps not only in situations like this BIN attack but in everyday fraud situations as well.

If you are a member of Homeland Credit Union and have questions or concerns about your account, please call 740-775-3331 or send a secure message via your online banking. Please note that we are experiencing high call volume at this time, and we appreciate your patience as we work to address every member concerns.

To learn more about a BIN attack please visit https://blog.co-opfs.org/bin-attacks-are-rising-heres-how-your-credit-union-can-fight-back-against-card-fraud/

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