ABA WARNS OF FRAUDULENT PHONE CALLS

WASHINGTON, March 12 – The American Bankers Association has been alerted that someone or a group of individuals making phone calls purporting to be from ABA are actually part of an identity theft scam. These con artists are calling members of the public to falsely report that the receiver’s personal financial information is on the Internet and ABA is calling them as a courtesy.

These fraudulent calls, which have been discovered in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are an effort to obtain personal financial information and are not being made by the ABA. The ABA would never request such information. In effort to further legitimize themselves, the con artists sometimes do not ask for personal financial information during the first call but simply recommend that the person call their bank. The  con artist will then ask for the personal financial information during a follow-up call.

ABA is working with law enforcement to identify the source of the phone calls and to disrupt them.  ABA offers the following advice to consumers:

·         Never give out your financial information to anyone unless you have initiated the contact, and this includes emails;

·         If you have already responded to this type of call or email by providing your personal financial information, contact your financial institution immediately to protect your account;

·         Inform the ABA about fraudulent phone calls and emails that use ABA’s name by sending an email to alert@aba.com.

The American Bankers Association brings together all categories of banking institutions to best represent the interests of this rapidly changing industry.  Its membership – which includes community, regional and money center banks and bank holding companies, as well as savings associations, trust companies and savings banks – makes ABA the largest bank trade association in the country. ABA can be found on the Internet at www.aba.com.

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