Phone Scam Targeting Banner Bank Customers
Addressing recent, wide-spread phishing phone scam attempts in the Northwest, Banner Bank continues to receive reports of fraudulent phone calls to both clients and non-clients regarding their debit and credit cards. The robo-calls are not from Banner Bank. These fraudulent calls, which may appear to originate from the bank, alert the recipient that their “Banner Bank card has been compromised” and to “press one to speak with an operator.” At this point, the fraudsters ask for card information. Quite a phone scam.
“These robo-calls are part of a phishing phone scam attempting to obtain bank account and personal information,” said Dianne Larsen, senior vice president at Banner Bank. “Banner Bank has not been compromised and these calls are not from Banner Bank. Banner never asks for clients’ personal or account information by phone, email or text message, and advises to never provide personally identifiable information via the phone, text message or email.” Do not give any phone scam caller any information at all.
Banner Bank has alerted the proper authorities of the fraudulent robo-calls.
The following security tips from Banner Bank will help protect personal information:
- Never give personal or account information to anybody over the phone, by text message or email; especially Social Security numbers, account numbers, usernames, PIN’s, or other login credentials.
- Beware of phishing emails—these emails look like they are from a bank or other reputable companies and provide a link to verify or change an account in some way. DO NOT CLICK on the provided link.
- Beware of suspicious text messages requesting account information via a mobile device (e.g., cell phone, smartphone, tablet).
- Keep passwords secret, do not share passwords, do not leave passwords in an unsecured area, and change passwords regularly.
For any Banner Bank clients that may have provided debit or credit card information to the fraudsters using this phone scam, please call Banner Bank’s client services at 1-800-272-9933. Additionally, if anyone mistakenly provided bank account and personal information, or believes they are a victim of identity theft, visit www.idtheft.gov or call 1-877-IDTHEFT to report the crime to the Federal Trade Commission. The ID Theft website is a one-stop national resource to report and learn about the crime of identity theft. For tips about the phone scam, Internet security and password safety visit bannerbank.com/advice-center/internet-safety.