Malahide & District Credit Union: Voluntary Positions – Board of Directors and Board Oversight Committee.

Have you got a background in

1. Marketing
2. IT Strategy
3. ESG strategy
4. Lending Underwriting
5. General Financial experience

As a credit union we like to have representation from all areas of our common bond.

We would welcome any interested person to contact us.

Please note you must be a member, or become a member of Malahide & District Credit Union in order to serve on the Board or Board Oversight Committee.

Malahide & District Credit Union (MDCU) is a not for profit entity and is dependent on the voluntary contribution from within the common bond to make up our Board and Board Oversight Committees.  The Boards role is to set the strategy for our credit union and its members. As a not for profit entity, we provide savings, loans, FX and insurance products, where all the surplus that is generated is returned to members: sponsoring our community clubs and groups, by setting a side in reserves for the future, & paying out a dividend and rebate to savers and borrowers.

In addition to helping your community, serving on our various sub-committees and/or board will give you exposure and experience in a wide variety of business disciplines from formulating strategy to understanding risk in a regulated environment. It will also provide you with opportunities for training and development, all of which will stand to you in other areas of your career. All volunteers are subject to the normal fitness and probity regimes for credit unions as outlined by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Please get in contact today at info@malahidecu.ie

Going to, or returning to, college is an exciting time for students, however, it is also an opportunistic time for fraudsters who try to trick students out of their money. Many cases have been reported to FraudSMART where deposits have been handed over for properties that don’t exist, have been rented to multiple tenants already or even cases where fraudsters have hired properties to use for viewings to trick you into handing over the deposit.

Our advice to students and parents is:

1.    Familiarise yourself with the average rent price in your search area. If the rent is unusually low and it seems too good to be true, it usually is!

2.    Technology is your friend. We recommend students use online maps to double-check that the property being advertised actually exists and is at the stated address.

3.    Check short-term rental sites to ensure the property is not being used by a fraudster for “viewings” who will take your deposit money.

4.    It is crucial to keep copies of all correspondence between you and the advertiser, including bank details and the advertisement itself. The best approach is to use legitimate well-known rental agencies. If this is not possible, don’t hand over any money until you have seen the property and are happy with its condition.

5.    Don’t make payments until you have been given the keys and signed the rental contract.

6.    Always check that the keys fit in the lock. 

7.    Remember, don’t transfer any money unless you have carried out all the relevant checks and you are absolutely sure that the listing is genuine. 

8.    Don’t be embarrassed if you have been scammed. Report it to your local Garda Station and contact your bank.

Remember! If it seems too good to be true it probably is.

Malahide Credit Union have  been advised of an emerging fraud trend. We kindly request that you read the below carefully to help prevent fraud scams affecting our wider community.

A typical scenario –

• Fraudsters create apps on the Google Play store, which contains certain malware, frequently PDF readers or File Manager software.
• Users download the app from the Google Play store.
• The app will look for and be granted permissions during the download.
• The malware will frequently give the fraudster remote access control over the phone or access to mobile bank log in details.
• When the user logs into their mobile app, a screen cover appears and the log in details are captured via different methods.
• The fraudster takes control of the phone and logs into the banking app and commence making payments to mule accounts.
• Any one time passcodes (OTPs) that are pushed out to the mobile phone to authenticate payments are visible to the fraudster who has taken over control of the phone and the payment is executed.

Scam alert – Beware of scammers pretending to be a relative asking for help

Beware of text or WhatsApp messages appearing to be from a relative, in most cases a son or daughter, asking for help because they lost or broke their phone. It is likely to be a scam.

The messages often begin with ‘Hi Mum’ and could provide several different reasons why they are using a different phone number.

These scams are designed to trick you into handing over money or financial information to a fraudster. If you respond to these messages, the fraudster will eventually request help for some kind of emergency, such as needing a new phone or paying an urgent bill.

If you get a message like this:

1. Contact your child or relative through an alternative communication channel such as a phone call, video chat, or another messaging platform on a number that you always use for them.
2. Confirm their safety and ask if they indeed lost their phone. It is essential to have direct confirmation from your child before proceeding with any assistance.
3. Take your time and do not be rushed, fraudsters are using your emotions to make you fall victim.
4. Report the account immediately to WhatsApp and An Garda Siochana.
5. Block the suspicious account to prevent further attempts at communication.

We have been recently contacted regarding a new type of Smishing fraud that credit union members have been a victim of.

The key features of this particular fraud are:

• Member receives unsolicited messages from an unknown number
• The messages typically claim to be sent from a son/daughter of the member
• The messages state that the sender has lost/damaged their mobile phone, their bank cards have been cancelled, have no access to funds & request an urgent payment to be sent to a 3^rd party (in this context the Payee name and the IBAN is provided in the message)
• The fraudulent payment transfers were undertaken both online and over the counter in the credit union

Please ensure all your staff/volunteers are briefed on this emerging fraud.

Reminder: The BPFI FraudSMART website contains useful information relating to all types of fraud that may assist you with staff training and member communication.

FIU Ireland has been notified of a “vishing scam” whereby persons are receiving calls from mobile phone numbers with a recorded message stating the caller is from the “Garda FIU” and that “suspicious transactions” have taken place on “your account”. The recorded message requests the person to “dial 1” to rectify the issue.

The calls, which are obviously not from FIU Ireland, are coming from different mobile phone numbers including 086-7652500, 087-2742110 & 089-9412301.

Please do not to follow any instructions in the recorded message, which could ultimately lead to you being the victims of deception and at a financial loss.

🚧 ONLINE MAINTENANCE 🚧

Due to essential maintenance our Online Banking (cuOnline+), Mobile App (cuMobile) and Online Membership Applications services will be unavailable this Sunday 19th February between 8pm – 8am.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

#MCU 📱💻

💖 VALENTINE’S DAY COMPETITION WINNER 💖

Congratulations to our Valentine’s Competition winner Lisa Byrne who has won a €100 voucher for a local restaurant.

Well done Lisa and enjoy your prize 🥰

#MCU #Valentines #Competition #Winner

We have been made aware of a scam text, purporting to be from ‘Credit Union’, claiming that accounts have been ‘placed on hold’ and asking the recipient to click a link (to a cloned credit union website) to verify their account. Your credit union will never contact you by text or email asking you to click a link to verify your account.

If you get such a text or email, please do not click on the link. Similarly, if you receive a phone call masked to appear that it is from the number 01 614 6700, please do not answer, or hang up immediately.

If you are in any doubt about any message you receive in relation to your credit union account, please contact us directly.