For any bank customer, one of the worst types of calls to receive is one that informs them their account has been locked or deactivated.
This is the message some Oregon residents and Wells Fargo customers have been receiving by text message and calls for the past three months.
“WELLS FARGO ALERT: Your CARD has been DEACTIVATED,” reads the text message version of the alert. “Please contact us.”
Despite large numbers of messages sent out to Wells Fargo customers and to other people across several states, the Oregon Department of Justice and Wells Fargo@@http://www.doj.state.or.us/releases/2011/rel082911.shtml@@ is not blaming the brouhaha on technical issues, but rather on scam artists attempting to “phish” for customer information.
Tony Green, a spokesman for the state attorney general, explained the number of people who have received calls and text messages since the scam first started in late August has reached record proportions.@@http://www.kval.com/news/consumertips/132393738.html@@
“We have received more inquiries from the public than any other scam in the past decade,” Green said. “This scam was just so widespread in terms of the numbers of people who got these calls and text messages.”
Green acknowledged even he and State Attorney General John Kroger@@http://www.doj.state.or.us/ag_bio.shtml@@ received messages from the scammers. However, these calls and text messages from Wells Fargo scammers are not only isolated to the state. In fact, reports of the same scams have surfaced in other states, including Colorado, Iowa, Idaho and Washington.
Despite the deluge of calls and text messages, Tom Unger, a regional Wells Fargo spokesman,@@http://www.kgw.com/news/consumer/Scam-targets-local-Wells-Fargo-customers-128531618.html@@ said people who receive text messages or calls from the scammers shouldn’t assume they have access to Wells Fargo customer data. In fact, Unger said many texts and calls are sent randomly since many non-Wells Fargo customers have also been receiving the same kind of messages. Therefore, Unger said those involved in the widespread phishing scam do not have access to any customer data.
“These scams typically are not sophisticated enough to know where people have their bank accounts, so they hit everybody in hopes that some people will have what they’re looking for,” Green said. “They tend to cast a much wider net, so it’s more of a shotgun approach versus a sniper approach.”
Unger also said Wells Fargo’s size and the number of potential customers makes the bank particularly appealing to scammers who are attempting to target as many customers as possible.
“They target our customers, because they know we have a lot of them, so their chances of success are a lot better than if they targeted customers of a much smaller bank,” Unger said.
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center,@@http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx@@ identity theft is the third-most pervasive type of crime that is being targeted by scammers and represents 9.8 percent of all internet crimes to the organization each year. The state Department of Justice has taken steps to alert people of these types of scams, but Green said it is almost impossible to prosecute those responsible for the scam since many use sophisticated devices and methods concealing their exact location.
To avoid becoming a potential victim in scams, Unger said people should never share any of their personal information, including Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, usernames or passwords with anyone who calls their phone or sends them text messages. Unger explained that financial institutions will never ask for your personal information over the phone because they should already have it on hand.
If you believe that you are a victim of identify theft, Unger says people should contact their bank immediately so the bank can take action against the loss and reimburse the customer for any fraudulent charges.