Greg's Corner

New scam targets seniors’ bank cards

Through no fault of their own, senior citizens are often the targets in scams. This can often be attributed to the fact that in their day, phone calls were largely important communications. Today, it seems almost unthinkable to answer a phone call from a number we don’t recognize, but back then, people would rush to the answer the phone without even knowing who was on the other line. This could be why two senior Florida residents were taken in a very brazen scam recently.

In Boynton Beach, Florida, two senior residents had their bank cards physically stolen by someone claiming to be a bank representative. In the first instance, a 77-year-old woman received a call from someone claiming to be from Chase Bank telling the woman that one of her cards had been used in a fraudulent transaction. She was then told that a bank representative would come to her house to take her old cards and give her new ones. A woman in a navy blue dress showed up to her home and took her cards. As you can suspect, the cards given to the woman in the navy dress were used in various fraudulent transactions and $2500 was taken out of the woman’s checking account. A similar incident happened to an 89-year-old man in the same area except he was told that it was Wells Fargo who was calling.

A question we get often is who falls for scams like these. Scammers like to cast as wide a net as possible in order to trick a handful of victims. It only takes a small number of victims to make these scams profitable for scammers. We would imagine this scam or scammers called an inordinate amount of people just to find these two victims. While you may recognize this as a scam, not everyone would. We discuss these scams so you could potentially help someone who may be a vulnerable target for scammers.

If you or someone you know receives a call like this, it’s advised that you hang up and report the call to police. If your bank suspects fraudulent activity on your account, they will call you to ask if you made the purchase or transaction. If one of your cards had been used fraudulently, your bank would more than likely cancel your current one and either send you a new one in the mail or have you pick up a temporary card at your local branch. They would also instruct you to destroy your current card. They would not ask to reclaim your old card.

Also, please keep in mind that even though this scam may not have happened in your area, it could show up near you at any time.