SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) –
ArkLaTex residents are reporting receiving unsolicited phone calls and texts on Saturday, telling them their Visa debit cards have been locked and prompting them to enter account information in order to resolve the issue.
Many are reporting the automated calls claim to be from WESLA Federal Credit Union. The sheer volume of calls being reported in the area from people who say they do not even have accounts with the Shreveport-based bank makes the calls highly suspect.
WESLA confirmed on their facebook page Saturday night, the calls are not coming from them.
“Attention WESLA FCU members, anyone receiving anonymous phone calls in reference to your WESLA FCU VISA Debit or Credit card DO NOT give up your personal account information. This is a SCAM . WESLA would not ask for your credit card information,” they wrote on the page.
“This includes text messages . This is a scam and we are currently investigating as well as contacting the authorities,” WESLA leaders said on the page.
According to a notice on WESLA’s web site:
“Wesla Federal Credit Union will never request a member’s personal or account information via email, text message, or other methods of electronic communication. Please be advised that any attempt to contact a member using these methods should be considered a possible phishing scam. Phishing is an internet scam that uses unsolicited e-mail to lure consumers into disclosing sensitive personal information.”
‘Phishing’ has evolved to include attempts to gather this kind of personal information over the phone, or even via text. It’s come to be known as ‘vishing.’
The messages will typically say that there is a problem with your account and in order reactivate or verify the account, you must call the number provided. But the number provided may not be a legitimate and the most important thing consumers need to realize is that banks will never ask you for credit card or bank account information via text messaging.
If something is really wrong with your account, they will call you directly.
We will update with any additional information as it becomes available.
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