Beware of New Scam That Asks for Your Bank PIN on Your Phone
How easy is it to fall into the financial phishing trap? Just ask Twitter user Peter Ganst . He faced “the most likely phishing attempt I have ever encountered,” he wrote, describing the steps that nearly tricked him. His test is a reminder that even the most cautious people can be targeted by increasingly sophisticated scammers.
Here’s how it happened: Ganst received a call from someone from his bank and asked if he had used his card in a distant city. When he said no, the caller “blocked” the transaction and asked for Gunst’s member number, which he explained in the thread is a customer number, not a bank account number.
The man on the phone said they sent a “verification PIN” that Ganst read back after receiving it from a phone number that he links to his bank. He later realized that the fraudster had reset his password with a verification number, which they sent to Ganst’s phone. The fraudster read out several more accusations, Ganst confirmed that he had brought them, and the fraudster said: “Thank you! We now want to block the PIN in your account so that you receive a fraud alert when it is used again. What’s your PIN? “
Then Ganst knew for sure that something was wrong. He hung up and called his bank’s anti-fraud department directly. Providing a PIN would allow a fraudster to withdraw money from his account if he did not realize that something was wrong.
These fraudulent attempts are common. In 2018 alone, the FTC received over 535,000 complaints of imposter fraud, in which a fraudster pretends to be someone you trust, such as your bank’s anti-fraud department. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 69% of fraudulent attempts in 2018 were carried out over the phone, and nearly five people who were victims of these fraudulent schemes lost money.
The FTC’s advice to prevent this scam is to never give account numbers or personal information over the phone. If you’re asked to confirm one of these numbers, don’t do it – it’s a gimmick.
In some cases, a fraudster may try to withdraw money from a cardless ATM . But once your information is revealed, no one knows what else they could have done with it. It’s not just your money that is at stake, but your personality as well.
If you suspect you have been attacked by a scammer, hang up and file a complaint online with the FTC .
As for Gunst, he wrote that he had reset all his passwords, filed a report with the police and “received additional fraud detection.”