Scam Alert – Phishing/Smishing
A popular scam trend is resurfacing and making waves among Kansas banks. That scam is known as Phishing and/or Smishing, and the scammers are taking advantage of fraud monitoring and resolution processes.
Phishing / Smishing refers to an attempt to steal sensitive information typically in the form of usernames, passwords, credit/debit card numbers, bank account information or other important data in order to utilize or sell the stolen information. An example of phishing, specifically, is a fake email from a scammer posing to be your bank, asking you to click a link and verify your account details. An example of smishing is identically the same, but it comes in the form of a fake text message.
In today’s environment, there is a lot of debit card fraud that is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by a combination of methods. Anytime a transaction(s) is identified as a potential to be fraudulent, an email, text message, or phone call is placed by our fraud detection service requesting you to confirm whether or not the transaction attempt was legitimate or fraudulent. The scammer poses as the bank, reaching out to the customer (you) to notify you that there may be fraud on your account. That “reaching out” can come in the form of an email or a text message, asking you to click on a link which would direct you to a website and ask for your Online Banking credentials or ask you for your credit/debit card number(s). That “reaching out” can also come in the form of a phone call and ask you to allow the scammer access to your computer, to provide them with your Online Banking credentials, or ask for for your debit card number(s).
Great American Bank will send you a text, an email, or conduct a phone call if we suspect that there have been fraudulent transactions on your account. We will not ask you for your Online Banking credentials (you should never share these with anyone), we will not ask for your debit card number (we already have this), and we will never ask for access to your computer.
If you receive a text message, email message, or phone call that asks for your account information (card number(s), account number(s), Online Banking credentials, etc…), please end the communication and contact your nearest branch immediately. You can locate your nearest branch and contact information here.
