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New Scams & Threats
Telephone Scam
A local bank received hundreds of telephone calls the day after a holiday worried about a scam targeting their accounts. Thousands of area residents received automated phone calls on the holiday telling them their accounts were suspended. Recipients of the calls were asked to respond via a toll-free number and verify their bank account information to have their accounts reinstated.
The criminals running this scam were looking for debit card information and credit card numbers. Bank officials reported the scam to local police and the FBI but said it was unlikely that the source could be traced. It was an Internet operation that hacked into a legitimate toll-free phone number and used it for criminal purposes.
Scammers such as these go for debit cards and personal indentification number. They can make fake ATM cards and use them anywhere. Calls ostensibly from credit card companies, claiming to question a charge, can be fraudulent too. And since voice-over Internet telephone numbers can be nearly impossible to trace the scammers are rarely caught. They like to use the angle that they're from the 'security fraud department' and are trying to protect you. Some consumers get emails linking them to a phony web site designed with a bank's logo.
Bank representatives will never send an unsecured e-mail or phone their customers asking them for personal information, such as card numbers and personal identification number. Anyone who believes they might have been scammed should contact their bank immediately. They should cancel their debit card if they gave out that information and they should change their personal identification number if it was compromised.
Common Phishing Scam Characteristics
Phishing scam emails are created to give the illusion that they have been sent by a legitimate institution. The email may arrive in HTML format and include logos, styling, contact, and copyright information virtually identical to those used by the targeted institution. To further create the illusion of legitimacy, some of the secondary links in these bogus emails may lead to the institution's genuine website. However, one or more of the hyperlinks featured in the body of the email will point to the fraudulent website.
Links in phishing scam emails are often disguised to make it appear that they lead to the genuine institution site. The sender address of the email may also be disguised in such a way that it appears to have originated from the targeted company.
American Bank will never request personal information via email from its customers. If you receive an email from someone purporting to be American Bank and requesting personal information, please notify us immediately.
FDIC Phisher Scam
A fraudulent email claiming to be from the FDIC is attempting to trick recipients into visiting a bogus website to "verify" their identity.
Unlike phisher scams that target specific banks or financial institutions, this one endeavours to target as wide an audience as possible by pretending to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC is a US government agency that insures bank accounts, so most people who have a bank account would be indirect clients of the agency via their bank. The phisher scam attempts to trick recipients into visiting a bogus website to "verify" their identity. If people follow the link in the fraudulent email, they are taken to a site designed to look like the official FDIC site.
The email tries to scare people into supplying personal information on the bogus site by telling them that they are under investigation by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security "due to suspected violations of the Patriot Act". This frightening claim may be enough to entice naive individuals into supplying information at the fraudulent website in order to clear their name and stop any further investigation.
IRS Refund Scam
A scam email, purportedly from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), is currently targeting Internet Users. The message informs recipients that they are eligible for a tax refund and directs them to follow a link to fill out a refund form. The email claims to be from "tax_refunds@irs.gov". However, the message is a phishing scam and does not originate from the IRS.
If recipients access the link provided in the scam, they are asked to enter sensitive personal information into a bogus web form. The scammers can collect any information entered.
The IRS does not send unsolicited emails to consumers. If you receive one of these emails, do not follow any links provided or supply any information. Do no reply to the email.
In fact, be wary of any email that asks you to provide sensitive personal information such as banking or credit card details. Legitimate government agencies or private companies are highly unlikely to request sensitive information from customers via unsolicited email.
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