Protect Yourself from Fraudulent Calls Targeting Maine Financial Institutions

While this scam has not impacted Dirigo Federal Credit Union, we want to alert all our Members about a recent phone scam targeting people in the financial community. Fraudsters are pretending to be representatives from financial institutions and using sophisticated tactics to steal card information. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself and your family.

How the Scam Works:

Fraudsters have been calling Members, claiming they need to verify suspicious or fraudulent activity on their accounts. These callers are very convincing and even spoof (fake) phone numbers that look almost identical to the credit union’s official number, making it hard to tell it’s a scam.

When members answer, they’re asked to confirm details about their debit or credit cards — including:

In some cases, members also unknowingly provided information about other cards used by family members, such as their children’s cards.

What Happens Next:

Once fraudsters have your card details, they enroll the card in a digital wallet service like Apple Pay or Google Pay without your knowledge. They then perform a test transaction at an ATM to confirm the card is active and usable. This has been reported at ATMs in Westbrook, Scarborough, Yarmouth, Saco, and Sanford.

After the test, fraudsters continue by making multiple purchases in-store at locations such as Hannaford Supermarket and Target, using the digital wallet.

What We Are Doing:

These fraudulent activities have been reported to the U.S. Secret Service and are currently under investigation. We are working closely with law enforcement and security experts to protect your accounts and prevent further incidents.

How You Can Protect Yourself:

Stay Safe and vigilant