A call comes in that appears to be from your bank’s fraud department. The caller knows how to sound convincing and may even warn you about suspicious charges on your account.
But is it really your bank?
Bank scams are becoming increasingly difficult to spot as artificial intelligence gives criminals new ways to impersonate legitimate financial institutions.
That’s why the American Bankers Association is drawing attention to common scam tactics through its Banks Never Ask That campaign, which focuses on requests a legitimate bank won’t make.
WATCH the warning signs that a bank call or text is fraudulent:
A fake bank call can look very real
Teresa Maddox received a call that appeared to come from her bank’s fraud department.
“It said across the phone, Wells Fargo,” she said. “I thought, well, maybe something's up. I should answer it.”
The caller told her there were five charges in New York and asked whether she had recently been there. When Maddox said the charges weren't hers, the caller told her to move her money to protect it.
Instead, thousands of dollars disappeared.
HVAC technician Kenny Sumner fell for a similar scam. He said the number that appeared on his phone matched the bank’s fraud department number.
By the time he realized something was wrong, $15,000 was gone from his checking account.
“I checked my account maybe half hour after, and I noticed the funds weren’t in there,” Sumner said.
AI is making scams harder to detect
Technology is giving scammers increasingly convincing ways to impersonate people and businesses.
“They're even going so far as using it to deep fake voices, to make clones of voices,” said Paul Benda, executive vice president for risk, fraud, and cybersecurity with the American Bankers Association.
Even traditional warning signs, such as awkward grammar or misspelled words, may no longer be as easy to spot.
“They send out perfect emails,” Benda said. “They can craft websites that look exactly like your bank website or another retailer website.”
What your bank will never ask you to do
So how can consumers tell when something isn’t right?
The American Bankers Association’s Banks Never Ask That campaign highlights several major red flags:
- Your bank won’t pressure you to act immediately
- Your bank won’t tell you to move money to another account to “protect” it
- Your bank won’t tell you to keep a transaction secret
Consumers can test whether they can properly identify scams by taking the group’s Scam Slayer quiz here.
If you ever receive a suspicious call or message, don’t let a sense of urgency push you into taking action. If you've already clicked a suspicious link or given a scammer personal information, contact your bank as soon as possible.
“Your bank can lock down those accounts, make sure you don't lose any more money,” Benda said.
For scam victims like Maddox and Sumner, the deception can be both frustrating and heartbreaking.
“Somebody that knows what they are doing; they can really make you feel stupid,” Maddox said.
The takeaway: Slow down before moving money or sharing information, even when the caller appears to be your bank, so you don’t waste your money.
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