Every day, thousands of people fall victim to phishing scams —fraudulent emails, texts, and calls from scammers. The Federal Trade Commission’s report on fraud estimates that American consumers lost a staggering $1.9 billion to these phishing schemes and other fraud in 2019 — and the ongoing pandemic has only increased the threat. Moreover, the online shopping surge during the busy holiday season has created new avenues for would-be thieves.

The good news is you can avoid online scams when you know what to look for. We’ve joined with the American Bankers Association and banks across the country in a nationwide effort to fight phishing—one scam at a time. We want every bank customer to become a pro at spotting a phishing scam—and stop bank impostors in their tracks—especially during the upcoming holidays.

Beware These Three Phishing Scams This Holiday Season

  1. Text Message: If you receive a text message from someone claiming to be your bank asking you to sign in or offer up your personal information, it’s a scam. Banks never ask that. 
  2. Email: Watch out for emails that ask you to click on a suspicious link or provide personal information. The sender may claim to be someone from your bank, but it’s a scam. Banks never ask that. 
  3. Phone Call: Would your bank ever call you to verify your account number? No! Banks never ask that. If you ever doubt the caller’s legitimacy, hang up and call the bank directly at a number you trust.

Don’t unwrap a scam this holiday season. For tips and tools on how to keep phishing criminals at bay, including videos, an interactive quiz, and more, visit www.BanksNeverAskThat.com. And be sure to share the webpage with your friends and family.

Looking for More Protection?

Check out these helpful articles to learn how you can protect yourself from:

Card Cracking, Investment Scams, Student Loan Scams, Job Scams, and More

Millennials Are More Likely to be Fraud Victims Than Their Parents

“This page may contain links to external websites. These links are displayed for your convenience. FirstBank does not manage these sites and assumes no responsibility for the content, links, privacy policy, or security policy.”