New Robocall Scam Warns Of Bank Account Shutdown

Scamsters are capable of a lot of things, but now it seems the latest ploy they’ve cooked up finds them accurately predicting the future!

I read about this latest scam in The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Because of Internet telephony, scamsters have a way to place calls that costs them essentially nothing.

That cheap technology has been the genesis of 2 of the most popular scams I told you about recently: The denial of service attack scam that crippled a sheriff’s office and the “one ring” scam that bilks you out of $30.

Using robocalling machines, criminals can literally place millions of calls each day. It’s just a numbers game to them; like throwing spaghetti at a wall, they just throw out those calls and see what sticks.

Here’s how this latest robocall scam works

So in this latest iteration, crooks are calling up and spoofing your caller ID with a string of zeroes. If you pick up the call, there’s an automated message that plays saying your account at such-and-such a bank has been compromised.

They use the names of various banks across the country and if they name your bank, you’re inclined to hang on and hear them through. That’s when the robovoice says you need to talk to a security fraud specialist immediately and tells you to push “1” to do so.

Should you take the bait, you’re then connected with a real live person who does a very convincing job speaking in bank lingo and saying they need to verify your identity and ask you certain questions.

They trick you into giving them the info they need to compromise your account. So all they did was predict the future. Your account was not compromised until you talked to the fraudsters and divulged your info.

If you ever get a call like this, hang up. If you believe your account may be compromised, call your bank back at the number of the back of card, or on your billing statement, or at the number you find at your bank’s own website.