The Attorney General of Vermont is warning people in Vermont about a scam that is also turning up around the country in which people receive a call or a text message informing them that the bank account accessible through their debit card is frozen.  The potential victim is then given a telephone number to call to straighten the matter out.  The number is of course phony and not tied to any bank.  If the number is called, the potential victim can be turned into a real victim by providing the asked for personal information that is inquired about by the identity thief who then uses the information to access the victim’s bank account.

TIPS

If you receive such a call or a text message, you should ignore it.  Many people have received purporting to be from banks where the people receiving the calls don’t even have bank accounts.  This happened to me.  Never provide information to anyone who calls or texts you because you can never be sure who they are.  Even if you have Caller ID that indicates that the call is from a legitimate source, you cannot trust the call because Caller ID can be fooled into showing what appears to be a legitimate call through a technique called spoofing.  If you are concerned that the call may be legitimate, merely call your bank at a number that you know is legitimate and you will soon learn that the original call or text was phony