Greg's Corner

Victim loses stimulus in bank scam

By Greg Collier

Many taxpayers received their $1400 stimulus payments in the last week or so through direct deposit. Almost as soon as the economic impact payments hit people’s bank accounts, scammers have tried to weasel their way into people’s lives to steal those payments. Unfortunately, one woman from Texas found out the hard way that these scams are going on.

The woman received a phone call that appeared to be coming from her bank. The number on her caller ID matched that of her bank’s customer service number. The caller claimed that there appeared to be fraudulent activity on the woman’s account and that they needed her help in clearing up the situation. While the report doesn’t specifically state it, it implies that the caller asked the woman for her banking information. Before she knew it, her account had been cleaned out. This included not only her stimulus payment but a paycheck as well.

With scam phone calls being so prevalent many of us have stopped answering calls if we don’t recognize the number. How many cars can one person possibly own to have so many car warranties expire. But that’s a post for another day. What we’re getting at is, if the number is not on your list of contacts, you’re better off not answering the call even if it appears to be your bank.

While many banks and other financial services do actually call their customers when there’s possible fraudulent activity on the account, you’re still better off letting the call go to voicemail. If the call is actually from your bank, you can call them back at the customer service number on the back of your debit or credit card or the number that’s on your bank statement. Don’t just Google a customer service number for your bank either as some scammers take out ads on Google posing as customer service departments for various well-known businesses.

If you do answer the call, be on the lookout for telltale signs of a scam. Your bank shouldn’t ask for your account number as they should already have it. They won’t need your password to your online banking account either.