People hit in bank scam
Date: November 25, 2007Source: JS Online
Bank First National officials said thousands of Manitowoc area residents received automated phone calls on Thanksgiving telling them their accounts were suspended.
Recipients of the calls were asked to respond via a toll-free number and verify their bank account information to have their accounts reinstated.
The criminals running this scam were looking for debit card information and credit card numbers. Judging by the response, they were probably successful.
"There are quite a few people who have fallen for it. We really don't know how many, but we are concerned that it's going to be more once people get their bank statements," said bank spokeswoman Elizabeth Phillips-smith.
Bank First National, which recently changed its name from First National Bank, doesn't have a toll-free number. And bank representatives said they would never call and ask anyone to verify their account information over the phone.
"It was very clever that the scammers did this on a holiday, when the bank was closed, but just one day before one of the biggest shopping days of the year," Phillips-smith said.
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