JD Bank warns of fraudulent phone calls

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Spam calls are coming through more and more these days, and scammers will pretend to be anything from a bill collector to a government agent. JD Bank is warning customers that scammers are also trying to get your bank information.

As phone call fraud is on the rise, JD Bank said its number is being spoofed and used to try and trick their bank customers into giving out private information, so the scammers can ultimately steal their money.

“These people are just spoofing numbers to assist themselves to rob you,” John Banks said.

Banks told 7news he received a call from a number matching that of his local JD Bank.

“And the people [on the phone] said ‘okay, you have so many transactions, we need your PIN number to send you a new card,’ and that just threw a red flag up. Like, no,” Banks said.

He said he then hung up and went to the bank in person, quickly finding out that they didn’t make the call.

“So, I advise people to not just to give their information out over the phone like that and if you don’t know come to the bank and the bank can assist you before you get to sending money that don’t belong to other people, that you worked hard for,” Banks said.

He said he hopes other won’t fall for the trap no matter how “legit” a call may seem.

“Scam artists are good at what they do. There’s a reason why it’s as wide spread as it is because they’re convincing. They make a lot of money doing it - it’s the reason why it’s prevalent like it is,” JD Bank security officer Josh Bruns said.

Bruns said no bank will ever ask for your PIN or other personal information over the phone.

“We’re not going to ask for a PIN number, ask for your social security number, ask for those kind of items, cause the bank already has it. Why would we need it? And you know, the PIN number, nobody needs it but you,” Bruns said.

He said another thing you can do to protect your money is by monitoring your balance daily, if you can, through the bank’s app or website. Bruns adds it is also best to not answer a number you do not recognize - if it is important, the caller will leave a voicemail.

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