Criminals are disguising as financial institution employees

Financial intuitions around the country are reporting phishing attacks on accountholders where criminals are posing as a fraud team representative from the institution.  These attacks have resulted in as much as $10,000 in losses from a single attack. Thus far, three types of attacks have been occurring:

Type 1:

The fraudster calls, texts, or emails the accountholder to “verify” multiple pieces of private information, so they can then pop into the account and drain it of funds. In many instances, criminals “spoof” the financial institution’s phone number so it shows up as such on the accountholder’s caller IDs. Information requested from the accountholder includes, but is not limited to:

• Online banking user name and password
• PIN number
• Security codes
• Account number
• Card number

 

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