“Text, email and phone scams are on the rise nationally,” said Tracy Szarzi-Fors, vice president of marketing and business development with Wright-Patt Credit Union Inc. “Whether you are a customer of a bank or a member or a credit union, everyone needs to beware of these types of scams.”
2022 data
The FTC last year received 407 bank fraud complaints from the Dayton metro area last year, which was up 42% from 2021.
The agency also received 61 complaints from the Springfield metro area (+69% from 2021).
The Dayton metro area includes Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties, while the Springfield area consists of Clark County.
The Dayton region also saw a 35% increase in credit card fraud complaints (577 reports), while Springfield saw a 15% increase (77 reports).
The Springfield metro area saw the largest increase in bank fraud complaints in the state, while Dayton’s increase was the third largest. The federal agency recorded more than 9,100 complaints about credit card fraud from Ohio consumers and about 5,525 complaints about bank fraud.
Officials say many other victims of fraud do not report the incidents to the FTC.
Scams look legit
Wright-Patt Credit Union earlier this year sent out notices and alerts to warn its members that they are being targeted by scammers.
Credit union members, like other customers of various banking institutions, have been receiving bogus text messages that say their accounts have been temporarily suspended and instruct them to click on a link to restore their access.
But the links take people to fake websites that are meant to look legitimate.
Credit union members are instructed to provide personal information such as their names, account numbers, Social Security numbers and banking usernames and passwords.
Wright-Patt Credit Union said it will never text, call or email its members to ask for personal or account information.
The credit union says its members should not to click on any links in texts or emails that purport to be from the organization even if they look authentic, and members should not enter any personal or account information.
Wright-Patt said members should only provide this kind of sensitive information when visiting the credit union’s official website (WPCU.coop).
Scammers often pose as representatives of financial institutions and claim they have an urgent account matter or other issue, said Szarzi-Fors.
“For phone calls, in some instances, they can patiently convince consumers to provide personal account information so they can take over their account,” she said. “Scammers can be very nice and may stay on the phone for over 30 minutes or more convincing a consumer to aide in the help of their account takeover.”
Consumers who receive these types of texts, emails or calls should not respond or should hang up and call their financial institutions back using phone numbers they can find on their official account statements, cards or the official websites, she said.
PNC Bank also issued an alert that said its customers have been targeted by cybercriminals who use trusted channels of communication to perpetrate sophisticated scams.
Scammers are using text messages, emails and phone calls to try to get PNC Bank customers’ personal and account information.
“We encourage customers to be vigilant about new types of financial fraud,” said Craig Friedman, PNC Bank’s regional communications manager for Dayton.
The numbers
Bank and credit card fraud are definitely issues in Dayton, said Dayton police Lt. Mark Ponichtera.
Commonly, scammers make spoof calls that look like they are coming from banks or credit card companies, he said.
The callers often claim that consumers have had fraudulent transactions on their accounts and they need to confirm their personal or account information over the phone, Ponichtera said.
Ponichtera also said consumers when possible should use credit cards instead of debit cards to make payments to prevent their bank accounts from being drained if they are victims of fraud.
The Ohio Division of Financial Institutions’ Office of Consumer Affairs says consumers should be suspicious of any call they receive asking for money or personal information, regardless of who the caller claims to be.
Ohioans cannot trust caller ID because it’s easy to spoof phone numbers, the office said.
FTC data show that credit card new account fraud was up 13% in 2022, said Viktoria Jurkovic, consumer affairs manager with the Division of Financial Institutions.
“One of the best ways to prevent criminals from opening new accounts in your name is freezing your credit,” Jurkovic said. “You can add a credit freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.”
Tips to avoid imposter scams
- Be suspicious of any call from a person asking for money or information, no matter who they claim to be.
- Do not let anyone pressure you to act. Take time to do research or hang up and call back.
- Check with the real bank, person, agency or company by contacting a number you know or a number directly from the organization’s website.
- Don’t trust caller ID. These days, it’s easy to spoof a phone number.
- Never pay with a gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin).
- Don’t give sensitive information out such as your Social Security number, bank or credit card information or any other personal identifying information. Your bank and other financial agencies will not call, text or email you and ask for this information.
SOURCE: Ohio Office of Consumer Affairs
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