Fraud Prevention Alerts

Phishing & Smishing are scams where scammers will send you an email or SMS (text) message that appears to be from a legitimate company and the email or SMS is designed to trick you into giving them your personal information or even your money! The scammers often pretend to be companies such as popular streaming services, online payment systems or other large merchants that you might already have accounts with. They will make the email or SMS appear to be an urgent matter and imply that if you do not respond, funds will be taken from your account, or your services will be shut off. Do not fall for these scams; please be wary, even when you receive emails from companies that you frequently do business with.

Here are a few tips to help protect yourself against these scams:

If you become concerned that you may have exposed your account number, debit card number, or other sensitive information to scammers, you should contact Trustco Bank's Customer Service Department as 1-800-670-3110 or visit your local branch immediately.

For more information on Fraud Prevention please visit https://www.trustcobank.com/online-banking/fraud-prevention-alerts/

Vishing or voice phishing, is a non-technical attack that takes place over the phone. In this form of social engineering, criminals will represent themselves as a bank employee, member of law enforcement or government official in order to trick you to provide confidential information. A vishing call can come from an automated machine or a live person.

Scammers will pretend that there is a problem with your bank account then request your confidential information to remediate the issue. If the person called you, you should never tell the caller any one-time code sent to you by text or email. Other confidential information you should not give when a person is calling you include: account numbers, passwords, debit card PIN, debit card number, and/or social security number.

Here is how to detect and prevent vishing attacks:

• Recognize if there’s a sense of frantic urgency in the tone of the caller. A demanding tone will indicate that the scammer is trying to capitalize on fear and panic to push you into complying with their scheme.
• Trustco Bank staff will not call or text message you to ask for one-time codes or your confidential information.
  Be on alert for any unexpected governmental agency calls such as IRS, Medicare, or the Social Security Administration. If you haven’t requested to be contacted by any of these agencies, it is most likely a scam.
• Be extremely cautious of any unsolicited offers you receive by phone, particularly if they appear too good to be true (for instance, 50% off your cable or energy bill)
• Try to avoid answering calls from numbers you don’t recognize. Vishing scammers sometimes leave voicemails with a callback number. Do not call a number back without verifying it belongs to a business or someone that you know.
• Do not rely on your caller ID. Scammers are routinely spoofing legitimate numbers of established companies.
• Do not give any caller confidential information, even if they know some of your personal information already. Scammers can steal personal information from other sources or find it on the dark web and they will use this information to trick you into providing them with more information. Do not trust a caller even if they know some of your personal information.
• Trustco Bank will never ask you for any confidential information unless you call us first.

Customers and non-customers are getting calls from what appears to be Trustco Bank. The callers ask for credit card/debit card and Social Security Number information. The Caller ID and Caller display reads 'Trustco Bank'. The Caller ID is being 'Spoofed'.

If someone claims to be calling from Trustco Bank and is asking for Account/Credit card/Debit card information or Social Security information do not give them such information over the phone. Even if your Caller ID shows the call to be coming from Trustco Bank. We are aware of this issue and are working to get to stop it. Do not give out personal information over the phone. Trustco Bank will never call you to ask for personal information. If you have any questions, contact your local branch or customer service at 1-800-670-3110.

Customers and non-customers are receiving fraudulent calls and text messages about Trustco Bank Debit cards. These fraudulent communications are attempts to take over your debit card. The calls and messages have had spoofed caller ID so that they appear to come from Trustco Bank.

Trustco Bank staff will not call or text message to ask for your Debit Card PIN, debit card number, account numbers, passwords, mother's maiden name, and/or social security number. Always keep this information private, even at home.

If you receive any calls or messages regarding your debit card, please contact Trustco Bank directly at 1-800-670-3110 before taking any other action, or visit your local branch.

Criminals are attempting to exploit the coronavirus stimulus package recently passed by the government to steal your information or gain access to your accounts. Please be aware that government agencies are not sending official stimulus/relief information via text/SMS or email.

Beware of social media posts, emails, phone calls, and/or text messages offering money or claiming you need to respond to claim your government stimulus check. Criminals may impersonate government agencies using spoofed email addresses, caller ID, or lookalike email domains in order to lend an air of legitimacy for their communications.

If you are seeking information about the stimulus/relief program, you should contact the appropriate government agency via its website for guidance and follow the protocol published by that agency's website.

If you believe you have provided your account or personal identifying information in response to this type of scam, you should immediately contact your local branch or call customer service at 1-800-670-3110.

Customers are reporting calls with pre-recorded messages stating their account will be charged a fee. These calls may be attempts by bad actors to collect your account numbers and personal information for the purpose of fraud.

As a reminder, it is important keep your sensitive information private, even at home. If these robocalls should impersonate a company with which you do business, you should contact that company using information you know is good, such as contact numbers from your statements, cards, or the company's website.

If you provided your sensitive information in response to a call you suspect is fraudulent, you should immediately contact your local branch or call customer service at 1-800-670-3110 immediately.

Customers and non-customers are receiving emails which claim they are the beneficiary of money deposited at Trustco Bank. These emails are not from Trustco Bank and the sending email address is not associated with Trustco Bank. Do not respond to these emails.

The senders appear to be attempting to convince consumers to send funds to release the money or to steal information which would allow them to steal your identity. Trustco Bank reminds you that it is unsafe to send personal information or banking information via email.

If you receive a suspicious email which appears to be from Trustco Bank, do not respond to the email. Please report the email to your local branch or customer service at 1-800-670-3110 immediately.