If your bank calls you, don't give them anything
I just got a fraudulent call from someone pretending to be my bank, so I thought I’d share this tidbit of security wisdom that I hope a lot of people already know, but just in case you don’t: Don’t share personal information with your bank if they called you first.
If they ask you for any personal information, especially “to verify,” this is a very good sign that it is not actually your bank and is actually a scam to steal your credit card number or other personal information.
A bank may ask you to verify personal information if you called them but they should not ask you to verify personal information if they called you. If you think it might be a legitimate call anyway, you should always ask to call them back at the phone number on your card or bank statement (not a number they provide you over the phone).
Here’s the rough transcript of the call I just had, as an example:
CALLER: Hello, I’m calling from Citibank because we noticed some suspicious activity on your account. Can you verify these transactions for me? [Lists a couple transactions ranging from $700–$1,000]
I had actually received a call similar to this from Citibank earlier in the week – though in that case it had been a robot who left me a voicemail. I should have been a little more suspicious, but I was also primed to think that maybe there was something going on with my card.
HARRIS: No, those weren’t me.
CALLER: Okay, thank you for confirming. We are going to stop those transactions and send you a new card with a new number. I just need to verify some information to confirm you are in posession of the card. Can you get your card and–
Now I was pretty sure this was a scam but wanted to be 100% sure.
HARRIS: Can I call you back at the number on my card to confirm you’re actually my bank?
CALLER: Yes you can call me back at this number.
HARRIS: No, can I call you back the phone number on my card?
CALLER: I can give you a number to call.
HARRIS: No, I need to call you at the number on my card to verify you’re my–
[CALLER hangs up.]