VINELAND —

Several members of a local federal credit union found themselves the victims of golden state scammers Sunday.

A man came to the police department Monday morning and showed an officer a text message he had received Saturday. It read: “MEMBERS 1st FCU ALERT: Your CARD has been DEACTIVATED. Please call: 856-332-1454.”

The man did so and an automatic machine prompted him to change his PIN code for security reasons, which he also did.

On Sunday he saw that there was a significant amount of money, $591, missing from his account.

He went to the Members First of NJ Federal Credit Union, located at 37 West Landis Avenue, to investigate the charges.

There were two withdrawals from 6972 Warner Avenue, one at 18501 Beach Boulevard, and one at an Exxon Mobil on Beach Boulevard, all located in the city of Huntington Beach, California.

He deactivated his debit card and initiated an investigation through the credit union.

The officer tried to call the provided number but the mailbox there was full.

As the man was reporting his troubles another woman came in and showed the officer she had received the exact message on Saturday.

She had also provided her pin and similarly found her debit account short the following day, to the tune of $120 that had been withdrawn from an ATM at 8472 Indianapolis, also in Huntington Beach.

Another man then arrived, showing that he had received a more demure text message reading: “Members 1st F.C.U. - Call 818-534-5399.”

At this number a machine had prompted her to enter her PIN number, which she did.

On Sunday there were three withdrawals from her debit account, all at an ATM located at “*Wilshire-Berkley” in Santa Monica, California, totaling $286.

She had deactivated her debit account on Monday and like the other two customers initiated an investigation through the credit union.

When an officer tried to call the number the telephone simply disconnected.

A Vineland officer said that because the amounts were so small, the cases were not referred to the FBI or any other federal agency.

Rather, she said that the customers would be reimbursed by the credit union, which would in turn pursue the complaints with whatever authorities they thought appropriate.

She said that larger amounts being stolen would have warranted contacting a federal authority.

Police did not name any suspects Thursday.