Local financial institutions are seeing an increase in customers reporting and falling prey to fraudsters and scams. The trend follows a pattern seen on the national level and is keeping local bankers busy as they work with their customers to educate, prevent, and in some cases help with recovery of lost funds.
The types of scams are becoming more sophisticated as fraudsters employ technology and scare tactics to try to force information out of their targets. Cyber criminals are impersonating trusted institutions such as local police departments, Amazon, Medicare, Humana, the FDIC, and the IRS. Hacking of computers and email accounts is becoming more common as are phone calls with dummy numbers that mirror the actual organization so the victim believes they are talking to a legitimate representative.
KTLO News reached out to several local banks in the area and Tiffany Stoner, Assistant Vice President for First Community Bank in Mountain Home, says the uptick in occurrences is a concerning trend for the bank.
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Branch Manager for the midtown location of Anstaff Bank in Mountain Home, Brittany Curtis, says these criminals falsely represent an institution and make requests no legitimate organization would ever ask for.
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Curtis recommends checking in with your bank or law enforcement even if the call or correspondence seems real.
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KTLO News spoke with Lieutenant Mike Day of the Mountain Home Police Department and he says that because these criminals are often outside the departments jurisdiction there is little they can do to pursue cases on these crimes. He does say they are more than happy to have a conversation with anyone that may be suspicious of who they are speaking with and to help where they can.
The following tips can help prevent falling victim to financial scams.
– If it sounds to good to be true it most likely is.
– Most major institutions do not communicate via telephone or email. Often communications are sent via written letter.
– Major institutions will not ask for information they already have on file such as social security numbers, account numbers, balances, etc.
– If in doubt tell the caller you are going to hang up and contact your bank or law enforcement to verify the information being presented.
Each year, millions of elderly Americans fall victim to some type of financial fraud or internet scheme according to the FBI. They have reported a doubling of yearly complaints since 2018 and estimated losses reached $10.3 billion in 2022 nearly 4 times the amount reported in 2018 at $2.7 billion. The FBI has created a reporting portal for citizens impacted by scams at www.IC3.gov.
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