"Identity thieves will stop at nothing to steal personal information, and now they're targeting our military personnel," said Cooper. "This just shows that anyone can have their identity stolen, even the men and women who protect our country."
The most recent identity theft scam to plague North Carolina targets military personnel. In phony calls and e-mails scammers who claim to be with Bank of America say they have noticed suspicious activity with the consumer's military bank account and that the account may have been compromised. Consumers are told that their account will be deleted immediately unless they provide personal information to reactivate the account.
Do not reply to the phone call or e-mail or click on the attached link, Cooper warned consumers. Legitimate banks would not seek information about their customers this way.
These e-mails and calls are forms of phishing, where scammers try to deceive people into giving up their personal information, often by claiming to be with a bank or another company with which you do business. In reality, these are con artists who want to steal your personal information and then use it to spend your money and threaten your credit.
Consumers who receive a phishing e-mail or call should not respond. Instead, consumers should report the phony pleas to the business that is implicated in the e-mail, Cooper said. Identity theft happens when a criminal steals some piece of personal information about you and uses it to commit fraud in your name. The thief may steal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth and bank account numbers and use it to open up a credit card account, get a cell phone or apply for a loan.
"Keep your credit and your good name safe by never giving out sensitive information to someone you don't know over the phone or by e-mail," Cooper said. "Be sure you know who you're dealing with and why they need the information before you share any important financial details."
