The ringing began at 6:30 Wednesday.

Many Coquille residents woke up to the automated calls informing them their Oregon First Community Credit Union credit cards had been suspended.

This was a surprise, especially for people in Coquille who don’t own such cards.

Many called the credit union. Others the Coquille Police Department.

But a few dutifully followed the message’s instructions and called a Southern California phone number, giving out their personal account information.

They were scammed.

Denise DeWald, regional vice president for Oregon First, said the credit union believes the calls were made by someone targeting people through the phone book. She said only credit union members with Coquille’s 396 prefix have indicated they received a call.

Such scams can originate when credit union information is stolen and, in fact, the message suggested there was a security breach at Oregon First. But DeWald said the scammers do not seem to have gotten any sensitive information from the credit union.

“Our system is safe and secure,” DeWald said.

She noted some people who are not credit union members called to say they had received the message. A Coquille Police Department spokeswoman said even the police department got a couple of messages from the scammers.

DeWald said more than 50 people have contacted the Coquille banking center to report receiving the call. She suggested the scammers targeted Coquille because it is home to the credit union’s main office.

Oregon First operates 22 banking centers in the state, including six in Coos County. Chartered in Coquille in 1957, the credit union was headquartered on Central Boulevard for more than 40 years before moving into its new offices on North Adams Street in 2004. Coquille’s City Hall is located in the credit union’s former offices.

DeWald said she is aware of Oregon First members experiencing online scams in the past, though not anything like what happened Wednesday.

Some members told credit union staff they provided the scammers with their account information, she said. The credit union immediately blocked those accounts.

DeWald offered this reminder to people: Oregon First would never ask members to call in with account information.

“If anyone gave out their account information, they should definitely call us immediately,” she said.

The credit union can be contacted at 396-2145.