Dearborn-based Communal Credit Union Out of Business

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2009
Contact:  Jason Moon 517-335-1700

LANSING - The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) today announced that an entity that claimed to be a Dearborn-based credit union called " Communal Credit Union" had its website, www.communalcreditunion.com , shut down. OFIR worked closely with the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a federally-funded non-profit organization that specializes in the prevention of identity theft, who contacted the Atlanta, GA host for Communal's website. The ITRC informed the website host of OFIR's recent order for Communal to stop doing business and the host shut down service to the site.

Communal was posing as a legitimate credit union and may have attempted to steal consumers' money and identity. The fraudulent financial institution encouraged customers to apply for loans by providing personal information including social security and financial account numbers.

"I want to thank the IdentityTheftResource Centerfor helping us put this fake credit union out of business and ensuring that no one else was lured into this scam," OFIR Commissioner Ken Ross said. "We will remain vigilant and innovative in our effort to protect consumers from fraudulent financial institutions."

Consumers can contact OFIR toll-free at 877-999-6442 to find out if a bank or credit union is a legitimate financial institution.

The IdentityTheftResource Centercan be reached at www.idtheftcenter.org

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