Northwest Iowa — Northwest Iowa banks are telling us that people need to be careful with calls and emails that appear to be from their bank, especially if they ask for personal information.
One of the banks in the area has sent out an advisory that there are scammers that are looking for people who “like” a financial institution’s social media page. They then go to your profile and find data about you so that when they contact you, they already know some things about you. It’s also possible for scammers to make a fake page that pretends to be your bank’s social media or web page.
We talked to Heidi Brown, who is the Executive Vice President of Citizens State Bank in Sheldon. She says they haven’t seen that particular scam, but the advice for dealing with scammers is pretty universal. She says emails from scammers usually look a little bit suspicious.
She tells us about some of the scams that Citizens customers have experienced.
Brown says that’s just another reason to bank locally with people you know personally. And, she says, it’s unlikely that you’ll get a call like this that’s actually from your bank, but if you get a call that is supposedly from your bank, hang up, and then call the bank on their regular number. If it’s a legit call, they’ll understand why you wanted to make sure it was them.
She tells us the other way that this sometimes works is people can get a call that’s about something else.
Brown also emphasizes that no bank will call you and ask for your username and password. She says at the local bank level, they don’t even have a record of that, and would have no reason to need it from you, as they have access to everything on their end. If someone asks you for those things, just hang up, it’s a scam, says Brown.
She also says if you’re going to hang up and call back to make sure it’s legit, don’t ask the person on the end who might be a scammer for the number to call. Look up the normal number for your bank in the phone book, on your statement, or on the back of your debit card. She also reminds us that Caller ID can be faked, or “spoofed.” So just because your caller ID says it’s your bank, it may not actually be your bank.
Brown also advises that Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, and such services can have their own risks and you need to monitor those accounts as well if you open them.
