I just got a text from Associated Bank. It said my account has been closed because of suspicious activity and I should call them. Then it gave an 800 number.
A quick check online shows this is a very common thing going on now. They "verify" your information and open your account. But in reality they clean you out.
Fortunately they don't take the time to see if you actually even have an account at the bank they claim to be, so when I got a message from a bank I don't use I knew something must be up.
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A new bank scam has hit West Virginia and it's not targeting the elderly or the oblivious. In fact, it's targeting an entirely new generation and it's all being done through text message.
Linda Hylton is a Grafton Resident and a customer of First Community Bank that recently fell victim to the scam. Hylton says she had recently activated a new debit card when she received a message on her cell phone that said the bank card had been deactivated and she would need to call a phone number to reactivate it.
Hylton called and the number and entered personal information including the account number and debit card password as she was instructed.
A few days later her bank account was wiped out.
"Monday morning [when i checked my account online], I noticed there were about $997 worth of withdrawals made that I hadn't made," said Hylton during an interview Wednesday evening at her Grafton home. "I was hysterical," she later added.
Hylton says she is one of several customers of First Community Bank to be targeted by the scam. Calls made to several local banks indicate that the text messages are popping up all over the state.
Belington-based Freedom Bank has also heard reports of a similar scam from its customers. Bank President and CEO Mike Hudnall says that a bank will never solicit information from customers and never communicate with customers through text message.
"As far as asking for account numbers, social security numbers or any information like that; there is no reason for us to do that," Hudnall said.
Hudnall added that banks already possess all the information they need and that a bank employee would only ask for personal information in order to verify an account when first called or approached by a customer.
Hudnall argues that common sense is sometimes the best defense against bank scams, but warns that scams are constantly changing and becoming more sophisticated.
"They're coming up with new scams all the time," he said. "Each time the scam in a little bit different so people get caught off guard."
First Community Bank Released a statement regarding the text message scam Wednesday afternoon:
" In response to a recent text message that some local cell phone users may have received, First Community Bank wants to assure its customers that its systems are functioning correctly, there are no security issues and no one has had a debit card deactivated by the bank, contrary to the information provided in the false text message.
"We have reacted quickly to ensure customer security by alerting a local phone company to disconnect a number that may have been given in the text message. We have also contacted a local cell phone provider to ask them to block any further incoming messages of this nature.
"In addition we have notified our primary bank federal bank regulator, The Office of the Controller of the Currency, Roanoke Field Office as well as the Bristol Field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Princeton detachment of the West Virginia State Police. We will do everything we can to help authorities track down the criminals responsible for the scam."
