Police warn Pennsylvania residents of ‘complex’ banking fraud scam

ST. MARYS, Pa. (WTAJ) — Residents are being warned of a banking fraud scam that local police called ‘increasingly problematic’ and ‘complex.’

The Saint Marys Police Department said there has been a notable increase of scams where victims are contacted by someone claiming to be a member of a fraud detection division at whatever bank the victim uses.

Law enforcement said these scams are complex and the scammer can even make their phone number look legitimate like your bank’s name and number. These scammers will claim there has been fraudulent activity on the victim’s bank account and convince them to access their account through their phone or computer.

The scammers will then ask for your passwords and logins, or in several cases, have the victim download an app to their phone that allows the scammer to view the victim’s phone. As you log into your accounts, the scammer can view your logins and passwords.

“Unfortunately, these scams are becoming increasingly complex and can be very convincing. If money is stolen the complexity of wire transfers, 3rd party apps, and internet services makes it all but impossible to recover the stolen money,” St. Marys Police said in an announcement to the public.

If you receive such a call or text message, police are encouraging citizens to ask for a callback number, hang up, and call their local bank to validate the call.