MILLMONT —
MILLMONT — Scam artists were busier than usual last week trying to steal your money and/or your identity, and the phone seems to be their current method of choice.
Tom Y., 81, of Millmont, is not a Bank of America customer.
But he said that if he were, he might have fallen for a text message he received on his cellphone. The “alert” message contained a number of links he was urged to respond to.
He didn’t bite.
“For one thing, it was from BANK-OF-AMERICA,” he said, not Bank of America.
Many scams use real bank or business names that confuse people into thinking they are legitimate.
However, truth is, scammers are getting more sophisticated — while misspelled words and poor language used to be red flags, signs that a message is fake are becoming less clear.
“For another thing, I don’t use Bank of America but people who do might fall for it,” Tom said. “Luckily, I am knowledgeable enough to know not to click on unknown links.”
Tom is on the Do Not Call registry but, he said, “I don’t think the no-call regulations cover cellphones.”
He’s correct.
Many states are just now starting to look at legislation to broaden no-call laws to cover cellphones as well as residential land lines.
Wesley M. Weymers, president and CEO of The Gratz Bank, which has an office in Herndon, is cautioning people about scam artists calling and representing themselves as members of the bank’s security department.
According to a state police report, the scammers may be using the phone book to randomly call individuals and businesses, then asking if they are bank customers. To those who confirm they are, the scammers are asking for debit-card information — the 16 digit number, expiration date and personal identification number.
“At this time, management of The Gratz Bank believes no information has been compromised,” Weymers said.
Regardless of your financial institution, if you think you may have given personal information to a scammer, call your bank and let them know so they can safeguard your accounts.
“The Gratz Bank would not call any of its customers for information it already has and would not request private and/or confidential information over the phone,” Weymers said.
Don’t be duped
Scammers claiming to be with a local bank or police department are increasing using computer programs that can actually generate a local area code on the victim’s caller ID.
They may also use a real police department phone number or even 911.
“Advances in technology have made it easier for consumers to fall prey to potential scams,” reports The Kansas City Star. “Callers can manipulate the caller ID number that appears regardless of whether the call is going to a land line or a cellphone. It does not require significant technical expertise to change the caller ID.
“That allows overseas scammers to place hundreds of calls through random dialing or send countless emails at virtually no cost in attempts to acquire personal consumer information.”
Particularly on the increase are one-ring scams — the caller calls once from what appears to be a local area code then hangs up. Call back and you might end up being charged for an international call and other “premium service” charges. By calling back, you may also end up with your land line or cellphone number being sold to telemarketers around the world, and your phone will never stop ringing.