'Nuther Bank Scam (OT)

[JerseyHarold]

The phone rang this morning at 7:10 AM and my wife got a recorded message saying our account at a local bank was compromised. The recording went on to give a telephone number for us to call to secure our account. I told her it was B.S. and not to be concerned. It turns out that the calling number and the call-back number are both unlisted land-lines in Colorado within a few digits of each other.

Later this morning she stopped in to the bank and they told her they're aware of this scam and are looking into it.

It was pretty sneaky for the scammers to call before business hours so that the 'scamees' couldn't verify anything with a bank representative.

I wanted to share this so others would be aware of it.

Harold

[TodFitch]

Just goes to show that phishing for information is not an Internet only activity.

[PatS....]

Takes guts to use a phone line, they are traceable unless they have figured out how to hijack an internet phone.

This is the kind of scam my late mother would have fallen for. She would answer any question anyone would ask over the phone and I was never able to get her to stop. I think people of her generation (b.1932) were just too trusting.

It must work. They wouldn't do it otherwise. Sad.

[oldmopar]

Harold

That is kind of scary considering how many banks are near us that they knew which bank you use. I gave up my home phone about a year ago only use the cell phones. Best thing I ever did no more annoying calls and saved the extra bill

Ed

[JerseyHarold]

Ed,

I've gotten a lot of phishing emails from banks that I don't have any accounts at. I think the scammers use a 'shotgun' approach and keep contacting people without actually knowing what bank they use, hoping for a scare then a score.

Harold

[JIPJOBXX]

That's part of the reason I hid all my money in tin cans and bury them in the back yard. Now where did I bury that last can????

[Norm's Coupe]

My mother got the same scam on the phone in Louisville, KY about a month or so ago. Think I mentioned it here then. She didn't lose anything, but her bank changed all of her accounts anyway when she told them about it.

We get calls every now and then asking for information. Also calls from places that say they are conducting a survey of some kind. We simply say, we don't give do surveys or give any information over the phone and hang up. Every now and then we also get a call saying they are from the city/county census office and need our info. We simply tell them to mail it and hang up. Even if someone from the census office knocks on our door, we won't tell them anything or accept their form to mail back. We tell them to mail it. If we do get it in the mail, we verify the return address before mailing back.

Some people don't give up though. My wife keeps getting literature that is from some college. They keep saying they want the info for their year books etc. No matter how many times we tell them she didn't attend that college, we still junk mail and calls from time to time from them.

As for all those emails from banks, we junk them without opening even if they are from our own bank. Our own bank doesn't have our email address and we don't use the internet to check on accounts, so they have to be phishing emails.