That Call That Your Account Is Being Hacked? It’s Fraud

Provided by: AARP Fraud Watch NetworkTM

Impostor scams were the most common form of consumer fraud in 2023, according to federal authorities. Many of these attacks involve criminals pretending to be financial institution fraud investigators, who first send a text questioning certain account activity. Read on to see how this plays out.

How It Works

• You receive a text message that appears to be from the credit union or bank you do business with, asking for confirmation that recent activity on your account was legitimate.
• When you reply “no,” you receive a call, ostensibly from your financial institution’s “fraud investigations unit,” informing you your account is actively being hacked.
• They assure you they can help protect your assets, and you comply, given that the earlier text message appeared to be from your financial institution and the caller shared specific information that only they would know.

What You Should Know

• Anytime you get an immediate call from your credit union or bank following a text like this, it is a fraud attempt. This is because the transaction noted in the text message isn’t identified by a human — it is identified through machine learning, algorithms, and other banking fraud controls.
• It seems so real because the criminals have information about you and your account, which they may have bought from other hackers or accessed through data breaches.
• When the criminals convince you there is an active attack and to move the money to protect it, they are actually siphoning those assets.
• This crime can wipe out bank accounts, and because it happened through deception, the financial institution is not responsible for making the victim whole.

What You Should Do

• Do not engage with a call from your “financial institution” following a text questioning an account transaction.
• If you are concerned, contact your credit union or bank in a way you know to be valid — using a number on a recent statement or by logging in to your online account or app access.
• If this happens to you or a loved one, contact your credit union or bank immediately upon realizing it to see if they can halt the transaction.
• Report it to local or federal law enforcement; even if they do not investigate, this is your proof in the event future compensation is available to victims.