Consumer Alerts

An unfortunate common approach that fraudsters use is to misrepresent that they are selling advertising for local schools, first responders, non-profits and even for-profit businesses. For instance, local businesses and consumers have reported to receiving suspicious solicitations for advertisements in false educational materials from local schools about drug and alcohol prevention. These requests were made by individuals claiming to represent fictitious fundraising organizations, with claims that local schools would benefit from the sales. The local schools did not approve nor were they aware of these efforts. Whether you receive a solicitation at work or at home on behalf of a […]

A common mode for fraudsters to gain access to people’s personal information and money is to offer work opportunities and/or send a large check for them to deposit and then wire some of the money back. Because the checks are fraudulent, the victim loses the money that they’ve wired out – and may put themselves at further risk for identity theft by offering personal information. For example, Local community members have reported to receiving solicitations from “Morningside Digital Media”, a fictitious modeling agency based in California. The company targets individuals who pursue employment in the entertainment, modeling and acting industries […]

A number of consumers have recently reported instances of fraudulent purchases as a result of stolen identification. Authorities have identified that many of these purchases were made by the Felony Lane Gang, a criminal organization which operates across the country, and is now targeting the New England region. The Felony Lane Gang is a sophisticated group that breaks into cars, steals checks and ID’s to make false checks. The checks are then made payable to unsuspecting individuals whose IDs were stolen. The criminals have been known to then disguise themselves to look like the victim based on pictures from the […]

An upcoming change in the way payments are processed will allow electronic ACH debits under $25,000 (excluding international transactions) to go through on the same day you pay them. This processing change, effective September 15, may reduce the time between when you make a transaction and when it clears your account. To meet the needs of businesses and consumers in an increasingly fast-paced world, the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) began a phased implementation of same day ACH transactions last fall. The first phase of the rollout began in September 2016 when same day processing was made available for ACH […]

Equifax, one of the nation’s top three credit reporting agencies, confirmed its systems were recently affected by a cyber security incident, impacting upwards of 143 million people. This incident has potentially exposed sensitive data for those affected, including names, dates of birth, addresses, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. The credit reporting agency has issued a formal warning that consumers may be at risk, whether they are Equifax customers or not. To determine if your personal information was impacted by this incident, Equifax has offered the following steps: Click on Check Potential Impact to provide your last name and […]

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 […]