EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University (MSU) Federal Credit Union is warning its customers of "suspicious transactions" that may have recently shown up on their accounts, according to the company's Facebook post.
However, they say customers will not be liable for these "fraudulent" transactions and will be contacted on Thursday, Jan. 2 to be reissued new cards.
According to the Facebook post, if a credit union member's account was breached, they will receive a notification from the credit union via phone, email or text warning them of the suspicious activity. The message will ask if the suspicious transaction was authorized by the account holder, and if it wasn't the company is advising them to respond no.
MSU Credit Union said they are working with their card processors to block these suspicious transactions before hackers attempt a security breach. Customers are also able to lock their credit cards on the credit union's mobile app.
Attorney General Dana Nessel was made aware of the fraudulent activity on Wednesday and said in a press release that her office is looking into how many Michigan residents have been affected because it's unclear.
She said there is no state law that requires her office to be notified when banking customers become victims of cyber hacking, so she has to rely on social media reports.
"I am determined to get information quickly and accurately to take more proactive measures to protect our residents," Nessel said.
She is urging customers of MSU Federal Credit Union to take the following steps if they believe their banking information has been compromised:
- Find out what information was compromised and act accordingly.
- Pull your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.
- Put a fraud alert on your credit file. The Federal Trade Commission provides a checklist for this.
- Consider a security freeze on your credit file.
- Be alert to unsolicited calls or emails appearing to be from Capital One. Hang up, do not reply, and instead call the number on your card. “Phishing” scams—calls, emails, or text messages that appear to offer protection—may actually be trying to get more data from customers.
- Take advantage of any free services being offered as a result of the breach. In this case, free credit monitoring and identity protection will be made available for everyone affected.
- Use two-factor authentication on your online accounts whenever it’s available.
“This is another example of how fragile our information infrastructure is, and how vulnerable all of us are to cyber hacking," Nessel said.
If MSU Federal Credit Union's customers notice unusual activity on their accounts, they can report it by calling 888-393-1172 at any time of day.
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