How To Tell If a Phone Call Is Really From Your Bank

It's 3:00 on a Tuesday. Your phone rings. The caller says they are from your banks fraud department. They know your name and the last 4 digits of your card. They tell you that there has been suspicious activity on your card and they need to verify a few things before they proceed. It sounds legitimate. It feels urgent. That's exactly the point. Bank impersonation is one of the most common scams targeting older Americans right now. It works because it exploits your first instinct when you hear "fraud": act fast Here is everything you need to know to protect yourself. The first thing to understand: your bank will never ask for this over the phone Real bank fraud departments do not call asking for your 16 digit bank number, your pin, social security number, or online banking password. They already have everything they need on their end. They may ask a couple of verifing questions such as your full name, date of birth, mailing address, or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. Never use a number the caller gives you This is where a lot of people get caught. They hang up (which is a good start), but then they call back the number the caller provided, or they call a number that was given in a text or email before or after the call. That number goes right back to the scammer. Your real banks phone number is in three places: the back of your debit/credit card. your official bank statement, and your banks website, which you should always navigate to yourself by typing the website directly into your browser, never clicking a link. Scammers will keep you in their ecosystem. They will send you to their "supervisors" and "fraud managers," that are more people trying to rope you in on the scam. Calling your bank directly or using their in-app messaging system is the only safe way to contact your bank quickly. So how do you know if a call is real? Hang up and call back yourself. Find your bank's real phone number, call that number, tell them you just received a call claiming to be from their fraud department and you want to verify whether or not it was real. In most cases, they will transfer you to the fraud department immediatley and they will know about it and help you immediatley. If it was a scam, you have just protected yourself from potentially losing everything in your account. What about if the caller says you cannot hang up? Some scammers tell you that hanging up will freeze your account, trigger an investigation, or cause your funds to be lost. Others stay on the line and tell you that they will walk you through the "process" right now. These tactics are pressure tactics designed to keep you hooked into their scam. A real bank representative will never tell you not to call the number on the back of your card or pause to verify they are who they say they are. A bank representative will only tell you to verify on the back of your debit card or on their official website. The warning signs, all in one place: If the caller: 1. Asks for your PIN, full account number, password, or Social Security number 2. Asks you to transfer money to an account for "safekeeping" 3. Tells you not to tell anybody about the call, including close friends or family members 4. Creates a deadline and does not give a reason for it 5. Gets aggresive or threatens you if you do not do as they ask 6. Tells you not to hang up These are all signs of a scam call, and you should immediatley hang up and call your bank using the number on the back of your card. Enterprise Innovations delivers live scam prevention presentations to senior living facilities, senior centers, and community organizations across Southern California. To book a presentation for your community, visit eisafety.org.