The Federal Communications Commission(FCC) this week published an advisory warning consumers about bank impersonation scams and offering tips for avoiding them.

Bank impersonation scams account for the highest losses of any impersonation scam category, with victims often losing everything in their accounts, according to the advisory. The scams typically pressure consumers to take immediate action to secure their account or protect their money. “Banks will never call or text and ask you to move your money to protect it,” the FCC said.

If you get a call claiming to be from a bank or credit card company, hang up and call back using the customer service phone number on your account statement or card, the FCC said. It also offered other tips, such as never sharing account numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, PINs, or other sensitive information.

Customers from several Banks (big and small) in Michigan have reported receiving phone calls and text messages from fraudsters impersonating their Bank.

These calls/texts may appear to come from a legitimate Bank phone number. Be aware that scammers can “spoof” phone numbers to make them look legitimate, but the incoming call may not actually be from your Bank. Spoofing only impacts the way the phone number looks on incoming calls, calling your Bank’s ‘spoofed’ number is still perfectly safe. Do not respond to a text, call your Bank immediately to verify the request.

Posted in Security Updates