Beware of phone scan in the area regarding unpaid debts
Submitted to Sumner Newscow, by the Bank of Commerce — Recently the Bank of Commerce & Trust Co. has been hearing several complaints about phone calls purporting to be regarding unpaid debts. These scam phone calls alert local residents that they have not completely paid payday or cash advance type loans, some from years before. At times the caller has claimed to be from a collection agency on behalf of the loan company.
The customers we have heard from did not believe they owed these debts. They had not received anything in writing from either a collection agency or payday/cash advance company about the particular debt. That gave these customers enough warning to alert Bank of Commerce before the scammers could access their accounts.
In one instance the caller said they could not give an exact amount that was supposedly owed, could not give an exact date of when the loan was past due and would not or could not send information in writing. These are red flags!
If you receive a call claiming you owe for past debt you were not aware of, please be careful. Scammers who get your bank account information or debit card or credit card information may steal from your account before you realize the debt was not real. If you give personal information, such as your Social Security Number, you may become a victim of identity theft.
Bank of Commerce would like to remind you of some tips:
·        Do not give personal information, Social Security Number, or account or debit/credit card numbers unless you made the call in the first place and know who the person or company is.
·        Ask for debt details in writing – exact amount owed, company the debt was originally with, date the debt was incurred, mailing address for future correspondence.
·        Request your free credit report once a year from TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax. (Go to annualcreditreport.com) If there is a debt collection against you, it will probably be on the credit report. If there are items on your report you don’t recognize, you should look into them as may already be a victim of identity theft.
·        If you have given bank account or debit/credit card numbers to someone you don’t trust, contact your financial institution immediately.
