RALEIGH, N.C. (January 25, 2010) —
Better Business
Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina (www.bbb.org) is warning consumers of a
text message scam that impersonates different banks, including Wachovia, in
order to gain access to consumers’ bank accounts.
This scam is known as "smishing" and is the text message version of
phishing emails, which try to steal personal information from unsuspecting
consumers. The following text message
has been received by Wachovia patrons, and the general public, nationwide in
previous weeks: “Wachovia alert - your
card starting with 4828 has been deactivated please contact us at 804-715-9368
to reactivate your card.”
While similar text message scams have become prevalent in Eastern
North Carolina within the past year, this particular scam seeks to
gain consumers trust by claiming to know the first four digits of the
consumer’s bank card, when in fact many Wachovia Visa debit cards start with
“4828.”
Consumers
also informed BBB that a second text message has been received within the past
two weeks, stating “Customer issue-
Wachovia service frozen please call at 206-905-7795.”
In 2009 consumers notified BBB of similar text message and email scams that
posed as the North Carolina State Employees’ Credit Union, and Bank of America,
respectively. In the case of all three scams, if consumers called the number in
the text or email they would presumably be asked for personal banking
information, which would later be used to steal money from their account.
BBB offers the following advice for consumers steer clear of text message and
phishing scams:
·
Beware
of text messages or phone calls that request personal information.
·
If
you do not know who is making the request, delete the message or hang up.
·
Never
give out personal information, such as your Social Security number, bank
account numbers or credit card numbers, to anyone you do not know.
·
Banks
will never ask for personal account information by text message or email.
·
If
you receive requests for personal information from the phone or email, call
your financial institution to verify that the request is valid.