On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, a savvy City of Kent Building Code Inspector notified Kent Police that he received a “very believable scam” text on his phone.

He wanted to save his co-workers and residents from becoming a victim, and here is what he shared:

“Please be aware there is a new bank fraud attempt in play locally and around the country. This is the most convincing scam out there.

“You will receive a text asking to verify a fraud alert on your account about a Zelle transfer. Obviously you will reply no it wasn’t me because IT IS FRAUD. Then you will get a phone call from someone claiming to be from your bank. They will sound very official and will know your name STILL FRAUD. Condensed version is you will receive directions on how to navigate your bank’s app or web Zelle access step by step on how to process a Zelle refund STILL FRAUD.

“I Googled around while I kept this guy on the phone for 20 minutes and found an article from December of last year about someone in California who was scammed out of $7,000 using this scam, everything this guy was saying was in this article. I told him I would handle it directly with ‘My Actual Bank’. He assured me he was with my bank’s Fraud Department and that current wait times were 35 minutes and that if I delayed that the charge could go through and then there was nothing they could do (obviously false).”

Kent Police add:

“The scammers are getting more persistent and creative. If you get a call, text, email, teams message or any other communication from a banking institution, or some kind of pay app, DO NOT RESPOND.

“Call your bank directly.

“There is not such thing as ‘we will immediately punish you in some way if you don’t resolve this right now at this moment’. Banks don’t say that.

“Please share this with anyone you think needs to see it. Someone is getting swindled as we speak. Help each other out Kent.

“Thank you to our sharp eyed City employee.”

An April 2022 article regarding similar scam tactics with helpful hints is here.

#kentpdway #internetsafety #scammerssuck #WeAreKent

Article Source: I Love Kent