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January 12, 2006
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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU) officials today reacted to a "phishing" e-mail that was sent to random Purdue University email addresses on Wednesday evening, January 11, 2006. The fraudulent e-mail appeared to be from an address at the credit union (service@purdueefcu.com). However it was not connected to PEFCU in any way. The content of the e-mail suggested that the security of online accounts at the credit union had been compromised. The e-mail contained a link asking for financial information. All the information in the e-mail was untrue. Although the link can still be accessed, PEFCU officials have disabled the webpage which requests financial information. PEFCU is asking all members to delete this information and to never respond to e-mail requests asking for personal or financial information. Evelyn Royer, vice president risk management at PEFCU, made the following statement. "Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union has been a victim of a sophisticated and illegal internet scam, although our own security systems were not compromised. This was a random phishing operation using PEFCU’s name and logo. One first priority is protecting the security of our members." She emphasized that PEFCU will never request personal or financial information through e-mails. PEFCU members’ who may have responded to the fraudulent e-mail and provided personal information, are urged to contact any PEFCU office or e-mail cardservices@purdueefcu.com. Credit Union officials are working with our current security partners to track down the perpetrators.
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