When a local television producer went looking for experts in fraud prevention, he talked to people from the Secret Service, the FBI, the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies.
And he came to STCU.
Jim Fuher, the credit union's fraud analyst, is among the few people in "The Badge" who doesn't wear a law enforcement badge. The hour-long program will air for the first time Sunday night on Spokane's KXLY television. It will be rebroadcast on KXLY and affiliated cable stations several more times this fall.
"We talked to badge people, as well as experts in the field like Jim," said producer Aki Peterson. "It was a matter of getting the best information we could" to help people avoid becoming victims of fraud.
Fuher works with Craig Brenden, a retired Spokane Police detective who is STCU's security and fraud officer. Together with front-line staff at the credit union, they helped prevent an estimated $1.1 million in member losses in 2008.
In his portion of the show, Fuher talks about ATM fraud, including methods used by scam artists to obtain victims' PINs; about "secret shopper" scams in which victims think they're being paid to shop; and about bogus lottery scams.
Producing the show "was a real big collaborative effort by the different law enforcement agencies, getting together to inform the public about all these scams," Fuher said. "It's something that should have been done a long time ago."
KXMN Spokane Channel 29
