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Account Takeover Schemes Reported

We’ve recently been advised of an increase in Account Takeover Schemes – the latest employing a particularly insidious technique – with scammers masquerading as representatives from fictitious Fraud Alert Contact Centers. Security partners relate that the victims of these attacks have received phone calls from imposters posing as the “Fraud Prevention Department.” After soliciting information such as account numbers, PINs, email addresses and other non-public personal information, perpetrators have gained access to online accounts, changed passwords, addresses, made purchases and ultimately withdrawn funds. Sadly, once this level of access had been obtained, fraudsters could even circumvent normal security measures by suppressing legitimate fraud warnings.

As with most online and offline fraud, vigilance and knowledge is always your best protection. For instance, at North Shore Bank we employ EnFact to monitor suspicious debit card transactions. While you may at some point be contacted regarding a particular transaction that you’ve conducted, remember that EnFact agents will never ask you to provide full Social Security numbers, PINs or one-time pass codes. Please visit our EnFact page for more information about the service and to review how the contact process works.

It’s also important to remember that scammers will often seek to fluster, intimidate, or otherwise cajole their victims into providing non-public personal information. It is therefore important to remember, that bank representatives will never call, email or text you with these types of requests. If you ever receive solicitations of this manner, it is important that you do not respond directly and that you contact Customer Support using the telephone number below, or on our website, your account statement, or the back of your debit card.
 

If You Suspect That You’ve Been Scammed

  • File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
  • Contact Customer Support at North Shore Bank — (978) 573-1300.
  • File a report with your local law enforcement agency.