Northeast Credit Union warns members about bitcoin scam: Here's what to know
PORTSMOUTH — Northeast Credit Union is cautioning its 144,000-plus members about a cryptocurrency scam that has allegedly targeted the financial institution.
This week, Northeast Credit Union reported some of its members have been contacted by fraudulent actors, who have posed as representatives of the institution and told members to withdraw money from their accounts.
“They are then instructed to deposit their funds into a bitcoin machine,” the financial institution shared in a notice on Tuesday. “Some members have also had their computers hacked and compromised from a fraudulent Microsoft pop-up link.”
No members have lost money to the scam, nor has the credit union itself, Northeast Credit Union spokesperson Diane Carragher said Friday.
Carragher said the false phone calls mirror a national bitcoin scam and urged anyone with a bank account to be vigilant for similar scams, regardless of the financial institution.
“We take an active approach in educating our members with every scam scenario we hear about and communicate it to them for their own protection. General education on scams is part of our fraud loss and mitigation strategy where we inform and protect members through website fraud alerts, blogs and newsletter articles,” she said. “Due to our educational approach, some members reached out upon receiving a fraudulent call from an imposter claiming to be a company representative.”
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What feds say about digital currency scams
Cryptocurrency like bitcoin is a digital currency that only exists electronically, and values can change quickly, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
In 2023, there were roughly 2.6 million reports of fraud in the United States and more than $10 billion in reported losses due to fraudulent activity, both of which were year-over-year increases, per the commission.
Imposter scams were the most frequent type of fraudulent schemes last year. The Federal Trade Commission reported losses to business imposters in 2023 tallied approximately $752 million nationwide, soaring up from $438 million two years prior.
“Ranked by number of reports, imposter scams were at the top of the list – and by ‘top of the list,’ we mean the bottom of the barrel – with reported losses of $2.7 billion,” the commission’s Feb. 9 summary of last year’s fraud statistics states. “The most frequently reported form of this scam is the business imposter – scammers who falsely claim to be affiliated with a well-known company or a financial institution.”
Northeast Credit Union offers advice to members
Northeast Credit Union was founded at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1936. The company states it has expanded to more than $2 billion in assets, more than 144,000 members and has 17 branches throughout Maine and New Hampshire. The company is in the process of relocating its headquarters from Portsmouth to 100 Education Way in Dover, a renovated space that is expected to be fully operational by early 2025.
More: Northeast Credit Union to transform old Measured Progress site in Dover
Northeast Credit Union advised members to ignore or hang up on suspicious callers who claim to be an employee of the company. Members who are uncertain about the scam or believe they fell victim to it can contact Northeast Credit Union at 888-436-1847.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Bitcoin scam: Northeast Credit Union warns members
