Bank impersonation & fraud

How it works

The bank-impersonation script is the most financially damaging phone scam: a caller claims to be your bank's fraud team, cites a suspicious transaction, and walks you through 'securing' your account — which in reality means revealing your login, approving a transfer, or moving money to a 'safe account' the scammer controls.

These calls often spoof the bank's real phone number and may know your name and partial card number from data breaches, which makes them convincing. The tell is always the same: a real bank will never ask for your full password or PIN, a login code, or ask you to move money anywhere.

If you get one

• Hang up and call the number on the back of your card — never the number that called you.
• There is no such thing as a 'safe account'. Moving money 'to protect it' is the scam.
• Report it to your real bank; spoofed-number reports help them warn other customers.