Consumer Alerts

The Federal Communications Commission is alerting consumers to be on the lookout for scam callers seeking to get victims to say the word “yes” during a call and later using a recording of the response to authorize unwanted charges on the victim’s utility or credit card account. According to complaints the FCC has received, the fraudulent callers impersonate representatives from organizations that provide a service that may be familiar to the person receiving the call, such as a mortgage lender or utility, to establish a legitimate reason for trying to reach the consumer. The scam begins when a consumer answers a […]

Gmail users are being warned of a new and particularly convincing phishing scam.  Victims of the scam receive an email claiming to be from Google asking that they click on an image attachment that is disguised as a PDF. The attachment brings the victim to a phony Google login page. When the victim enters their username/email and password on this page, their login credentials are instantly transmitted to the attacker.  The attacker then logs in to the victim’s actual email account and searches through their emails and contacts for any information that may help them commit identity theft. The attacker […]

Area residents are reporting an increase in fraudulent credit card interest rate reduction phone calls. According to these reports, the calls appear to be from a local number. Upon answering, a recording is played stating that it is a “final attempt at reaching you. We have been attempting to reach you regarding lowering the interest rate on your credit card. To speak with a representative, press one. To decline, press two.” If option one is pressed, the call recipient is transferred to a representative who offers assistance resolving credit card debt. The caller claims that their company has special relationships […]

We have received several reports of local residents who are receiving fraudulent text messages from telephone numbers beginning with 844. The fraudulent message appears to be a “DebitCard Alert” and asks that the recipient call the 844 telephone number the text message came from.  Individuals that do so are then asked to provide sensitive personal and financial information. Meredith Village Savings Bank does employ a fraud monitoring system that alerts customers by text message when an unusual debit card transaction is detected. These text messages will always come from the text message short code 32874, and contain the last four digits […]