Alabama man arrested for allegedly stealing credit union account info
A north Alabama man was jailed in Florida after authorities there claimed he accessed dozens of customer accounts at the credit union he used to work at and provided the details to others through the dark web.
Wade Hampton Helms, 34, of Arab, is facing several felonies in Florida in connection with the scheme: one count of offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices; eight counts of criminal use of personal identification information; 34 counts of unlawful possession of personal identification information; and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which announced Helms’ arrest Tuesday.
Helms was arrested by Arab police on the FDLE warrant, the agency said, and then taken to Pensacola, where he was booked in the Escambia County, Fla., jail on $47,000 bond.
The FDLE began its investigation in September after internal fraud investigators at the Pensacola-based credit union reported possible fraud related to Helms, who was living in Pensacola and employed by the credit union at the time.
FDLE agents found Helms misused his employee access to compromise dozens of accounts.
Helms alleged took the members’ personal identification information and provided it to others over the dark web.
The Arab man also allegedly helped others gain access to the accounts, resulting in those funds being stolen.