Every day, thousands of people fall victim to fraudulent emails, texts and calls from scammers pretending to be their bank. And in this time of expanded use of online banking, the problem is only growing worse. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission’s 2019 report on fraud estimates that American consumers reported losing a staggering $1.9 billion to fraud scams in 2019 alone.

Imagine where we are in 2020.

At FirstBank we’re committed to helping you spot the scams. 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 impostors in their tracks. It starts with these four words: Banks Never Ask That. Because when you know what sounds suspicious, you’ll be less likely to be fooled.  These top 3 phishing scams are full of red flags:

Three Red Flags

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.

Email

Watch out for emails that ask you to click a suspicious link or provide personal information. The sender may claim to be someone from you bank, but it’s a scam. Banks never ask that.

Phone Call

Would your bank ever call you to verify your account number? No! Banks never ask that. If you’re ever in doubt that the caller is legitimate, just hang up and call the bank directly at a number you trust.

You’ve probably seen some of these scams before. But that doesn’t stop a scammer from trying. Prepare yourself and take additional steps to stop the scammers. For more tips on how to keep phishing criminals at bay, including videos, an interactive quiz and more, visit www.BanksNeverAskThat.com.

What’s Your Scam Score?

Take five minutes to take the #BanksNeverAskThat quiz and share the quiz with others on Twitter. The better we are at spotting fraud, the harder it is for phishing criminals to catch their next victim! Each Friday in October – which is Cybersecurity Awareness Month – the ABA will draw 15 winners from those who took the quiz and shared it on Twitter for a variety of prizes. One lucky grand-prize winner will even receive $1,000—will it be you?

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