More and more Americans are falling victim to a scam called “spoofing,” which is when criminals call from a number that is the same as their bank’s 800 number or a loved one’s phone number.
The end goal of these calls is to either extract a large sum of money from the victim or gain access to their bank accounts to drain them or open new accounts (bank and credit) using their Social Security number.
These types of scams are growing quickly thanks to criminals’ use of artificial intelligence and their ability to “spoof” legitimate phone numbers to fool their victims. According to a recent consumer survey, more than 70% of people said they had received at least one call in the past three months in which the caller pretended to be someone else.
There are three main types of calls that people should be aware of. Here’s how the scams work and how to tell the call is a scam.
The bank or credit union call
Your bank calls and says your account has been compromised and that you will need to reset the password for your account online or on your bank’s mobile app. The number you see shows up as the same as your bank, and the bank’s name may appear on your phone.
The person calling will offer to send a code to your phone and ask you to read it back to them. If you give them the code, they gain access to your account and drain it quickly by transferring money to their accounts.
How to tell it’s a scam: Your bank will never call and ask you to provide a code or password — ever. Ask to call them back. If they refuse, you know it’s a scam. Hang up.
Call from a family member
The scammer may use a cloned voice (using AI technology) with a loved one’s phone number and pretend to be a family member in distress, often claiming to be in an emergency like an accident or arrest. They might create a sense of urgency, speak fast and urge you to act quickly to transfer funds before you have time to think critically.
How to tell it’s a scam: If you know a nephew or niece well, you can hopefully tell the voice isn’t theirs. However, AI-generated voices can still seem a bit unreal. If it’s a relative you haven’t spoken with for a while, tell them you’ll call back. Your next call should be to other family members who are close to the relative (their parents or siblings). If the person calling says you must act now, hang up. It’s a scam.
Credit card company call
You receive a call from a person who claims to be from your credit card company’s fraud or security department, citing suspicious activity on your account that needs immediate attention.
They say you need to confirm that a transaction was fraudulent and ask you to provide personal details like your full credit card number, expiration date, three-digit security code (CVV) on the back of the card, your Social Security number or even your online banking password.
How to tell it’s a scam: Like your bank, credit card companies generally won’t ask for your full credit card number, security code or your Social Security number, especially if they initiated the call. If the caller asks for this information, tell them you’ll call them back. If they persist, that’s a sure sign it’s a scam. Hang up.
Other tips
As you can see, these scams take many forms. To ensure you don’t get fleeced:
- Be skeptical of requests for immediate payment, especially when asked for payments via unusual methods like gift cards or cryptocurrency.
- Never share sensitive information like your Social Security number or passwords. Legitimate organizations or family members will rarely request it during an unsolicited call.
- If you are unsure about the legitimacy of a call, tell them you’ll call back and ask for a number. Then call family or a friend to tell them about the call.
