Sophisticated Bank Scam

Do you protect your identity?

A woman in California received a text purporting to be from her bank – Chase Bank concerning an unauthorized debit charge. She responded that no, that was not her purchase. She then received a call with the words “Chase ATM” in the caller ID, asking for permission to issue a new debit card to resolve the fraudulent charge. The caller instructed her to verify her identity by reading back the numbers from a text message that would soon follow – which she did. Now the text (and others that week) were real – part of her bank’s 2-factor authentication system, but the calls were from a scammer who gained confidential information each time, allowing access to her $160,000 account. The scammers emptied it with 6 wire transfers.

Don’t be the next victim! Ruthlessly protect your personal account information, your PIN numbers, passwords, and one-time passcodes. Don’t share information with anyone who contacts you – especially if they claim to be from your bank. Talk to legitimate bankers by contacting the number on their official website or the back of your credit card – or visit your local branch. Never click on suspicious links in a text or email or grant anyone remote access to your phone or computer. Banks will never call, text, or email you to send money to yourself or anyone else. They typically don’t initiate phone calls period. That’s your responsibility. We should plan and protect but ultimately trust God.

I invite you to join us at Crown’s 2023 Reunion. We have a great event planned October 12-15 at Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, North Carolina. For more details and registration, go to crown.org/reunion.