Fraud Prevention for Phone Scams - Money Tip Tuesday

Dangerous fraud scams are all around us. In fact, they are getting more sophisticated and convincing by the day. If you get suspicious phone calls from your bank, stay calm and don’t panic, because you just might be getting scammed. 

Links:

• If you believe you've been scammed, you can report it right away to the authorities. Visit usa.gov for more information.
• Did you know? Triangle's Better Checking account offers ID Protection that monitors your identity for fraud. 
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Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast. 

Scammers are using more sophisticated technological tricks to get you to hand over your sensitive information. 

Some latest scams appear to be convincingly from trusted financial institutions.  

Here’s a story about someone who recently faced a scammer claiming to be from their bank. Let’s call this person Jack.  

One day Jack received a phone call.  

The caller claimed to be from Jack’s bank and the caller ID even showed the bank phone number.   

The caller said they were from the fraud department and was calling about Jack’s debit card ending in... and rattled off the correct last four digits of Jack’s debit card.  

The caller then asked if Jack had been traveling recently and then stated that there were reports of suspicious card activity in some out of state stores.  

Jack is a little alarmed and stays on the line to find out more. 

He confirmed he didn’t make any purchases at those stores and the caller then said they could get him a new card if Jack could confirm his address and phone number.  

Then the caller reads off Jack’s correct home address and phone number, and even sends a verification code to Jack’s cell phone.  

Then the caller asks for Jack’s PIN to deactivate the debit card.  

This set off a red flag and Jack refuses to give out his PIN. 

The caller pushes back by pointing out that the caller ID number matches the service phone number on the back of Jack’s card.  

But, because things seemed too suspicious and Jack didn’t trust the caller, he said he would hang up and call the bank back himself.  

At this point, the caller abruptly hung up the phone, further confirming Jack’s suspicion that the call was a scam.  

Calls like these can happen to anyone. To keep your information secure you must remain on guard and aware of the threats. Question everything and brush up on your bank’s communication policies. Many will provide a list of things they will never ask you for over the phone, or in any email or text message. 

Here are a few key identifiers for fraudulent messages to keep in mind in case you ever come across a scam like this.  

1. Usually if the message has an urgency to it, it’s fake. Messages that alarm you and then immediately ask you to act prey on your emotions and get you to impulsively hand over all kinds of sensitive information without stopping to think about it.  

1. If the message asks for you to provide sensitive information like login information, PINs, social security numbers and bank accounts it’s most likely a scam. 

1. If the message is offering you a special prize or tells you you’ve won a lottery or sweepstakes and then it requires you to pay a fee to get it, it’s a scam.  

Stay on guard with every message, be it a phone call, text or email. Scammers can be very convincing so make sure you stay aware of their tactics so you can keep your personal information safe.   

If there are any other tips or topics you would like us to cover, let us know at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org.  Like and follow our Making Money Personal FB and IG page and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union on social media to share your thoughts.  

Thanks for listening to today’s Money Tip Tuesday and be sure to check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.  

Have a great day!