Phony Banking Tricks Give False Sense of Security

Although we know we need to be cautious of telephone solicitations, it’s becoming even more important to be skeptical of callers because scam artists are becoming slicker. Some of the latest tricks can even fool the most diligent, by disarming our skepticism with a preamble that identifies your bank’s name, provides feigned “knowledge” of your account information, activity and good credit standing and offers eligibility for better rates or elimination of fees. Once you express curiosity, you’ll be advised that you need to provide security information to verify that you are who you say you are, such as your favourite sports team, or parent’s middle name (common password security questions). Once you show cooperation, the questions become ever more probing, and each honest answer adds to the scammer’s ability to build a profile containing information that can be used towards stealing your identity.