There have recently been reports of an increase in account takeover schemes around the country. Astra Bank would like to take this opportunity to educate our customers on what these schemes are and how to avoid them.

Account takeover fraud is a form of tax identity theft. The scammer attempts to gain access to information about the victim’s accounts or Personal Identifiable Information (PII), which is information that allows a person to reasonably prove their identity when utilizing a product or service.

Many times these scammers’ attempts are obvious. However, these recent reports have noted that the current attempts are sophisticated in nature and combine impersonation and social engineering to trick the victim into giving away account information and disregarding legitimate fraud warnings from their bank.

Reports suggest that scammers are calling account holders claiming to represent the institution’s fraud prevention department. From here they will employ methods to gain trust and gather information. They will also attempt to have the account holder flag fraudulent charges as “No Fraud” so that further fraudulent transactions are not flagged by the bank’s security.

With a victim’s personal information, a scammer can gain access to accounts and make changes that will benefit their fraudulent schemes.

How to Prevent Account Takeover

Scammers rely on deception and social engineering to trick the victim into giving up information. Combat these schemes by spotting the red flags of an interaction with any person claiming to represent your bank:

• You are asked to provide your full social security number, account number, PIN, or one-time-passwords. If someone is asking you for personal identifiable information, treat that interaction as a possible attempt at fraud.
• A representative asks you to respond “Not Fraud” to any activity that you did not perform. Even if you are asked to do so by a bank “representative,” if you did not initiate a transaction, do not respond that it is not fraud. Doing so will allow the scammer to initiate more transactions on your card without flagging the bank’s security.

What To Do If You’ve Given Information Away

If you believe you may be the victim of an account takeover attempt, please reach out to your local branch and inform us of the fraud immediately. Visit our Victim Resources page to learn how to begin taking action to get your identity back.

Giving away personal information can be a costly mistake. Spreading awareness of these schemes can help our communities be more protected against fraud. Reach out to any loved ones you feel may benefit from this information and let them know the risks involved with giving out personal information.