How to recognize telephone banking scams

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When most people think about current banking scams, the first thoughts that come to mind are usually the Internet and email con artists. As most transactions are completed on the web nowadays these kinds of scammers are indeed pretty common. Unfortunately, telephone banking scams are still alive and kicking.

Through the use of  toll-free numbers such as 1-800, 1-866, 1-877, or even other regular phone numbers, scammers continue to use old-fashioned phishing and social engineer tactics with the intent to commit fraud using the telephone as the primary tool.

Receiving odd calls that claim to be from your bank but you aren't sure? The good news is there are ways to help you recognize telephone banking scams:

Caller ID

The first clue is while the actual phone number itself may show up on caller ID, the identity of the caller/business will not be disclosed. Typically, on scam calls, the number will appear as "unknown" or "unavailable". While it is true some businesses choose not to identify themselves on caller ID, very frequently these are scam numbers and it is always wise to be wary of any number that appears to be a business but refuses to identify itself by name. Better to be safe than sorry. The way I see it, if the person on the other end can’t identity themselves, they can leave a message. Most often, of course, they do not leave a message.

Important to keep in mind, today’s technology is sophisticated enough to “spoof” numbers, which means the scammer has intentionally set it up where the call looks to be legit or familiar on caller ID. Which means you also always have to pay attention to caller behavior. I get these a lot and even once or twice they spoofed my own number!

Caller behavior

Other revealing signs of a telephone banking scam are the telemarketer or alleged bank representative will speak very rapidly without giving the recipient of the call a chance to speak. The scam caller will typically also be pushy. Sometimes this pushiness is rude, but other times will be very polite. In either scenario, the caller will typically be firm and aggressive.

Much of the time they will only provide a first name, not a full one, although if they do give a full name, it could be false. If the business is legitimate, they will not be in such a hurry to obtain information, they will take their time to explain their product or concern and be willing to answer lots of questions. If the caller does not seem to be interested in taking his or her time with you, this means something is likely wrong with this scenario.

Enticing deals

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If the caller is offering you a new bank account with much higher interest rates or a promotion that sounds off and not aligned with standard offers, chances are the call is a scam.

Other deals they may offer may not be all that attractive, but nonetheless, a “deal”. Scammers like to present themselves by offering specials, promotions or new products. They know you don't want the product, but in some cases will be persistent enough in the hopes you'll offer them some information just to get them off the phone. Don't fall for it!

Even sharing your address, birth date or other personal information might be just the tidbit they need in order to commit bank or other fraud against you. Between publicly accessible information and data breaches, they might just need just a tidbit to get what they want to commit nefarious acts against their victims.

Scam techniques

Along with enticing deals, many scam artists have devised other ways to get their intended victim’s attention, and typically this involves some sort of scare tactic. This could come in the form of a compromised bank account, ATM card or other claim that your bank information has fallen into the wrong hands.

Other times telephone banking scammers attempt to claim a card simply needs to be reactivated. As they attempt to worry their victims about compromised banking information, they'll often ask for personal information such as an address, social security number, passwords or even something seemingly harmless, such as a birthday.

Other times the call will direct the victim to call another telephone number where they are immediately prompted to enter personal information, or they may ask for debit/credit card information such as account numbers, expiration dates or PIN numbers. Sometimes they'll ask you to push "1" (or another number) to either verify or confirm information; beware of this kind of redirection.

A telephone banking scammer has goals to phish and access as much personal information as possible from their victims so they can use this information to either hack into accounts, steal identity or use for other illicit purposes.

Keep in mind, legitimate banks will never call and solicit personal information. If you ever have any doubt, stop by your local bank branch or give them a call directly from an online or telephone book search. A couple of years ago I got a call from someone claiming to be my bank, after a minute something felt off, I had not given out any info at this point, and I hung up. Next, I hopped in the car and physically drove to my local branch where they knew me, The manager there looked into it and even called the number, confirming it was indeed a scam.

Always be very careful about unsolicited calls that claim to be from your bank. If you do get one that looks to be, get the number online from the authentic website and call them back from there. You can never be too careful these days with the scams, spoofs and impersonations these days.