Bank Trains Staff to Assist Customers with Fraud
Written by Andrew-Rossi on August 29, 2017
Do you know a senior citizen who is suddenly giving money to someone who called them on the phone?
According to law enforcement and banking officials, there is a huge market for scammers who take advantage of senior citizens that are willing to send money to people they don’t know, often under the promise of receiving in return thousands or millions of dollars.
Bob Golden, chief operations officer for First Bank of Wyoming in Cody and Powell, says they train their employees to look for the signs that a senior citizen might be under the influence of a fraudster. He says that an advantage that they have as a small town bank is that they have the opportunity to build relationships with their customers – that way they can better tell when a transaction may be sketchy.
Golden says that there are precautions that people can take to avoid being duped by scammers. First, protect yourself by being skeptical. If you don’t recognize the phone number that’s calling you, don’t answer it – if it’s important, the person will leave a message.
He says that if you do answer it, and the caller is telling you that you won a contest, or is promising you money in return if you send them funds, it is a scam. If they tell you that they are a family member or friend, that they are in trouble and they need you to send money to help, check it out first by looking up the family member’s phone number or call another relative to confirm the situation.
And in all cases, report the scam to your bank or local law enforcement.
