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http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/530331.html
By BILL BOWEN
Star-Telegram staff writer
March 15, 2008
FORT WORTH -- The apparent ATM hacking of local bank accounts has spread
to Naval Air Station Fort Worth, where as many as 200 service members
have had money surreptitiously withdrawn from their accounts.
The scam may be a continuation of an ATM breach at OmniAmerican Bank,
investigators said. Last week, employees at Lockheed Martin and Bell
Helicopter with accounts at Fort Worth Community Credit Union saw their
accounts tapped.
Naval air station officials have sent out e-mail alerts, and department
leaders are warning their military members to watch their bank accounts
carefully. The victims have accounts at financial institutions such as
Bank of America, USAA and the Navy Federal Credit Union. The common link
seems to be that all had used a OmniAmerican ATM on the base.
An OmniAmerican executive said that the bank has alerted Visa, through
which the transactions seemed to have been accomplished.
"Even though our investigation is still ongoing, we have been in touch
with Visa so that they can notify other financial institutions so that
they can notify their customers through alerts," said Randi Mitchell,
vice president of marketing at OmniAmerican.
Randy Noell said he was surprised when the Navy Federal Credit Union
asked whether he was making purchases at a Victoria's Secret in
Maryland.
"The credit union canceled my card, but not before it cost me about
$830," said Noell, a petty officer first class with the base's military
police.
About 30 people had been affected when authorities first became aware of
the problem last week, said Don Ray, public-affairs officer for the
base.
But that number has grown in recent days, said Noell, who has been
taking statements from victims as he helps with the investigation. The
matter has been referred to the Navy Criminal Investigative Service,
base officials said.
None of the victims will be out of pocket, the credit union said.
OmniAmerican had its database hacked in January. The hackers, apparently
operating from Eastern Europe, poked into "fewer than 100" accounts but
prompted the bank to reissue 40,000 debit cards. The gang got account
numbers and PINs, then created fake debit cards.
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