Security Center

A guide to the phone scam that's reached our area, how it works, and how to protect yourself.

 

Over the past several days, we've heard from a number of customers who received phone calls from someone claiming to be from our Security and Fraud Department. The caller sounded professional, used our bank's name, and — in some cases — even recited personal details like a Social Security Number.

 

These calls were not from us. They're part of a type of scam called vishing, and it's important enough that we want to walk you through what it is, why it's happening here right now, and what to do if it happens to you.

 

What is vishing?

 

Vishing is short for "voice phishing." It's the phone-call version of the phishing emails you've probably been warned about for years. Instead of a suspicious email, you get a phone call from someone pretending to be from a company you trust — often a bank, the IRS, Amazon, Medicare, or a utility company.

 

The goal is always the same: to scare you or pressure you into sharing information or sending money quickly, before you have time to think it through.

 

Why you may be hearing about this from neighbors and friends

 

One thing that surprises many people is that vishing scams usually don't target individuals. They target regions.

 

Here's how it typically works behind the scenes. Scam operations — often organized criminal groups based overseas — purchase lists of contact information. These lists are usually sorted by ZIP code, age range, or neighborhood. The scammers then pick a well-known local bank, use technology to make their caller ID appear to come from that bank, and work through the list over the course of several days.

 

That's why, when these scams hit, they tend to come in clusters. If you received one of these calls, there's a good chance your neighbors, coworkers, and family members in the same area are getting similar calls around the same time. It's not personal, and it's not because anything specific about you was targeted. Your number simply appeared on a purchased list along with thousands of others.

 

Understanding this pattern actually makes the scam easier to spot. If a "fraud alert" call from your bank happens to arrive the same week your neighbor mentions getting one, that's a strong signal that something coordinated is going on.

 

Why these calls feel so convincing

 

Modern vishing is more sophisticated than it used to be. Scammers today have access to huge amounts of personal information — names, addresses, dates of birth, and even Social Security Numbers — because that information has been exposed in large data breaches over the last decade. You've likely seen the headlines: credit bureaus, healthcare systems, telecom companies, and major retailers have all been hit.

 

This means a scammer can call you and recite real details about you, even though they have no connection to your bank at all. They're working from data that was stolen from someone else, years ago. The goal of reciting that information is to earn your trust — so that when they ask for the one piece of information they actually need (a password, a verification code, or your approval to move money), you'll give it to them.

 

What we will never do

 

Please remember these rules. They apply every single time:

 

• We will never call you and ask you to verify your Social Security Number, full account number, debit card number, or online banking password.

• We will never ask you to read us a verification code we just texted or emailed you. That code exists to keep you in control of your account. If we're asking for it, we're not us.

• We will never ask you to move money to a "safe account" to protect it. There is no such thing — this is always a scam.

• We will never pressure you to act in the next few minutes or threaten consequences if you hang up.

 

If a caller does any of these things, the caller is not us. Hang up.

 

What to do if you receive one of these calls

 

1. End the call. You don't owe the person on the other end an explanation.

2. Don't trust the caller ID — even if it shows our bank's name and number. That information is easy to fake.

3. Call us back directly using the number printed on the back of your debit or credit card, or the number listed on our official website. This is the only way to be sure you're actually reaching us.

4. If the caller claimed there was a problem with your account, we can check it when you call us back. If there's a real issue, we'll see it.

 

What to do if you already shared information

 

First — this isn't your fault. These scams are designed by professionals to fool careful, intelligent people, and the ones who fall for them are rarely the ones you'd expect.

Please contact us right away. The sooner we know, the more we can do to protect your account. You should also:

• Change your online banking password, along with any similar passwords you use elsewhere

• Place a fraud alert or credit freeze with the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) — all three are free and can be done online in minutes

• Report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov, which helps law enforcement track these scam operations

 

Help us spread the word

 

Because vishing scams spread through neighborhoods, the best defense is often a well-informed community. If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with family, friends, and neighbors — especially older relatives, who are often the most aggressively targeted.

 

How to reach us

 

If you ever have any doubt about whether a call, email, or text is really from us, reach out directly.

 

• Call: Your local branch
• Visit: any branch
• Secure message: log into online banking and send us a message

 

We'd much rather answer a hundred "is this really you?" questions than see one customer lose money to a scam. Please don't hesitate.

 

Stay alert, stay safe, and thank you for banking with us.