Scammers are getting more sophisticated than ever before, and will now use your bank's name in an email or text message to try to get your attention.
But they may also use a spoofed number to get you on the phone. A call like that ended up costing one woman almost her entire life savings.
Caller ID shows her bank calling
Christy Taylor answered the phone when the caller ID showed her bank's number.
"Of course when it showed up, I answered it," she said.
The caller claimed the bank found a fraudulent withdrawal from her account. So he told her she needed to take action immediately to protect the rest of it.
"He said you need to take your money out and transfer it to another bank," Taylor said.
RELATED STORY | Fears grow about AI scams: How concerned should you be?
It made sense. She listened as the caller instructed her to transfer her funds of almost $10,000 onto a prepaid debit card.
Once there, she says she gave the caller the new card number.
But by the time she took her money to another bank, Taylor says all of her funds were gone.
"$9,600," she said. "I'm like, oh my God, I just got scammed out of a lot of money."
Many people falling for these calls
Zulfikar Ramzan, chief of digital safety and threat intelligence at the digital security firm Aura, says it is easy to fall for these.
"It used to be the case that a phone call had a lot more legitimacy than an email message," he said. "That's not true anymore. They are equally likely to be scams."
Ramzan says the callers are very convincing,
"These messages will often have a call to action," he said, "saying that if you don't do these particular steps, then this bad event will happen."
RELATED STORY | Beware of these 4 scams targeting college students
Instead of engaging with a caller, Ramzan says to call your bank directly, using the number on the back of your debit card, not the number they called or texted you from.
We contacted Christy Taylor's bank, asking if they could possibly reverse the transfer. But after a two-week investigation, the bank told her it was unable to help since it determined that Taylor withdrew the money herself.
Taylor does not have a paper trail proving she was scammed, but she knows the money is gone.
"That's our life savings they took from us," she said.
So don't trust a bank call or text you're not expecting. Check with the bank directly, or visit a local branch, to see if the alert is real.
That way you don't waste your money.
__________________________________
"Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").
Follow John:
- Facebook:John Matarese Money
- Instagram: @johnmataresemoney
- X/Twitter: @JohnMatarese
For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com
