ELIZABETHTOWN, N.C.–The local sheriff’s office here has a special reason for warning residents about a phone scam involving a credit union—one of its own is among the victims.
The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office is reporting someone is spoofing the phone numbers of State Employees’ Credit Union, the second-largest credit union in the country.
The scam, similar to that seen in other markets across the country, involves the target/victim being notified by phone that fraudulent charges have been made on their account. The target/victim is then asked to verify their account information.
Among those who fell for the scam, according to CBS 17 News, is Bladen County Sheriff’s Office First Sgt. Richard Allen.
‘Verified All My Information’
“[The lady on the phone] advised me that some fraudulent charges had been posted to my account in the sum of $2,500 at Apple in Georgia,” Allen was quoted on the sheriff’s office Facebook page as stating. “She verified all my information address, date of birth, even my secret security answer to which she had all the answers. She sent a text message from State Employees Credit Union for a verification code. She put me on hold to lock my account and never came back. I called the number back and it was the contact for State Employees Credit Union. After the phone call dropped, another phone call came in and it was the real Fraud Department with State Employees notifying me that the first caller was a scam and they had taken $500 from my account.”