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Be Aware – Phone Scams

Every year, thousands of people lose money to telephone scams — from a few dollars to their life savings. Scammers will say anything to cheat people out of money. Some seem very friendly — calling you by your first name, making small talk, and asking about your family. They may claim to work for a company you trust, or they may send mail or place ads to convince you to call them.

Please visit the Federal Trade Commission bulletin on phone scams here:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams

Please keep in mind Coastal Heritage Bank will never contact you without you first initiating a request.

Scams in the name of charity

Scammers are creative, cunning and cruel — and they often mix in a little truth to spice up their big lies. This scheme shows just how low they can go.

Government imposters claiming to be with the FTC, or another agency like the fictitious “Consumer Protection Agency,” are calling to inform people they have won a huge sweepstakes from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a well-known charity for very sick children. To get the money, the callers say, the “winner” must first pay thousands of dollars to cover taxes or insurance on the prize. The call may even come from a 202 (Washington, DC) area code to appear credible — since the headquarters for the FTC and most federal agencies are in DC.

This is just a scheme using the well-known names of Make-a-Wish and the FTC to rob thousands of dollars from people. Once you wire money or send banking information, you will never see your money again.

Here are a few facts and tips to protect yourself and others:

  • If someone asks you to wire money or provide your bank account information over the telephone, it’s a scam.
  • Anytime you have to pay to get a prize, it’s a scam.
  • The FTC doesn’t oversee sweepstakes and no FTC staff is involved in giving out sweepstakes prizes. We do, however, go after sweepstakes scams.
  • If an FTC case results in refunds, you can find the details at ftc.gov/redress.
  • The Make-a-Wish Foundation has information about this specific scam on its fraud alerts page.
  • If you encounter this or other scams, report it to the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP or ftc.gov/complaint.
  • Talk to your friends and family about scams. Visit FTC.gov/PassItOn to find out how.

Lisa Lake
Consumer Education Specialist
Federal Trade Commission

Beware of Fake Amazon.com Scam

This is an important message regarding potentially harmful scam. Cyber criminals are targeting Amazon.com users with a phishing campaign that falsely claims a small number of accounts have been hacked. The email starts with an “Important Notice” and you are required to “verify” your Amazon account by providing payment card information and security details. The email threatens that if you do not comply with the verification process, restrictions may be placed on your account.

The email is a scam to try to trick you into revealing sensitive information.

If you see an email like this that has not been caught by any spam filter, delete it.

You may also receive fake shipping notices asking you to “click to cancel your order” or “click to contact customer service”.

Likewise, delete shipping notice fakes as well.

ATM Skimming Devices Are Still a Big Problem

Earlier this month an alarming figure emerged from FICO that indicated ATM skimming was up 546% when comparing 2014 to 2015. In light of these figures Coastal Heritage Bank wanted to pass along some tips that can help keep your debit card out of the hands of counterfeiters.

  1. Eye Check. Always check the ATM for any physical irregularities. This can be colors that don’t quite match between the rest of the ATM or on screen graphics that are not properly aligned with buttons.  In most cases the card reader and keyboard should be firmly attached. If you can move them easily this is an indication that either a keyboard or card reader overlay has been placed on the ATM.
  2. Location.  According to the report 60% of the skimming incidents occurred at non-bank ATMs.  A simple way to help mitigate your risk is only use ATMs that are on Bank property.

atm-skimming
(Example of a keyboard overlay designed to steal debit card PIN Numbers)

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