Navy Federal Credit Union Data Breach (2013)

From January to March, 2013, the ring of five conspirators allegedly obtained the personal information – Social Security numbers, date of birth and credit union account information – from lease applications filled out by NFCU members at the North Shore Garden Apartments in Norfolk, Va., according to court documents. Federal prosecutors allege the conspirators used the lease agreements to identify individuals with Navy Federal accounts. The conspirators would then impersonate and assume the identity of those account holders over the phone or Internet to steal funds. What’s more, the conspirators recruited individuals who had Navy Federal accounts to serve as “hosts” for fund transfers, authorities said. The conspirators would steal money from the victim’s account, cash advances or loan proceeds from fraudulent loan applications and transfer those funds to a host account, according to court documents. The hosts would agree to accept the cash transfers, withdraw the funds and hand over the money to conspirators. “After obtaining such monies, the conspirators sometimes gave the host a portion of the money for assisting in the transaction,” the indictment states.