Oct 27, 2009 10:49 pm US/Eastern
Massive Bank Phishing Scam Targets Through Texts
Tens Of Millions Of Dollars Already Stolen, Countless Identities Hacked In Nationwide Assault By Text Message
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
There is a warning about a new scam that could cost you big bucks. It involves text messages claiming to be from Chase, but they're not.
When Ken Gordon got an urgent text message from his bank he quickly responded.
"Got a message that said respond to this number, your card has been disabled," Gordon said.
Since Gordon signed up for his bank's alert system he called the number and entered his account information.
But when they got to my pin number, I thought, wait a minute this is dumb. Just as I entered the last two numbers and it was sort of too late to do anything about it," Gordon said.
Gordon is among countless cell phone users who have been targeted by scam artists. Posing as banks, they send texts trying to snag personal information like bank account numbers and pin numbers.
It's called phishing and Fred Rica of PricewaterhouseCoopers said the scam is widespread and netting tens of millions of dollars.
"Phishers get a hold of large volumes of either cell phone numbers or e-mail addresses and they just blast out hundreds of thousands of these e-mails or texts soliciting personal information back from people," Rica told CBS 2 HD.
So how do you know it's a scam? All the messages have a sense of urgency to them. Many are amateurish and have spelling mistakes, and probably the biggest red flag is that the account number they mention is not even yours.
"No reputable financial institution is ever going to contact you about an important matter with a text message or with an e-mail. It doesn't happen," Rica said.
Gordon was able to call his bank and close his account before any fraudulent activity was done.
"I was lucky, but it was stupid. I should know better. We should all know better," Gordon said.
So if you get one of these messages, the best advice is to ignore it, and if you feel you need to take action, call the toll free number on the back of your card.
If you've already fallen for the scam, call your bank immediately and also a credit monitoring bureau. They will keep an eye on your account to watch for fraudulent activity.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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