10-17-24 * Update * Police Community Alert - Banking Scam

** Update October 17, 2024 **

Additional information to share from a resident who works for Chase Fraud Department

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JPM Chase provides a free identity theft kit online available 24/7 at Chase.com/identitytheft

Second, Chase Bank and any other bank, will NEVER call you and ask you for personal information, including account numbers, password, social security numbers, etc. The bank had that information in front of them along with your phone number, address, and account information. 

Third, Chase Bank will NEVER give you an account number, new or old, over the phone. Compromised accounts require that the account owner go to a branch and speak with a personal banker. 

These scams are things we deal with daily and as employees we want to avoid the stress and personal loss for our customers. 

If anyone is ever suspicious of a phone call they receive from any bank, including Chase, they should immediately hang up the phone and call their bank using the number on the back of their debit card or credit card, or bank statement. Never Google numbers as they often are changed or updated. 

Hope this is helpful. I’ve worked on fraud cases where customers have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and it is heartbreaking. 

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October 16, 2024, Lakewood Police received a report from a resident who is the victim of a crime. The summary of the incident is as follows:

The resident received a text from Chase Bank and the text wanted to confirm/authorize a purchase being attempted at a Walmart in Salt Lake City. The resident replied "N" (no) to the transaction to deny the purchase. This text reply triggered a response. A couple minutes later, the resident received a phone call from the same phone number of the initial text message which is a phone number out of Vermont. The subject on the phone identified them self as a representative of Chase Bank and stated they needed to begin the process to secure her account as it was now compromised. The subject confirmed, to our resident, the closest Chase location to be at the corner of Randall Road and Acorn Drive in Lake in the Hills, and he was contacting the branch manager "Bill".  "Bill" was now linked into the same phone call and our resident was instructed by "Bill"; she needed to close out her current account which they again stated was compromised. The resident was provided with a new updated Chase Bank card number/account and instructions as to how she should transfer her funds to the new account number. Our resident was overwhelmed with how polite and helpful the Chase representatives were until she realized a short time later, she was a victim of this scam. 

Residents are strongly encouraged to conduct all business related to financial security issues, to be conducted in person and not over the phone if possible. The Branch Manager at the Lake in the Hills facility is not named Bill, and this facility informed our resident she is the seventh victim this week of this scam. 

 A tip to help you from becoming a victim at the start, is to do a search of the originating phone number from the text. If this was done, it should have created a red flag for our resident based on the search engine results. 

In this age of Fraud and Identity Theft, we need to do everything we can to deter ourselves from becoming the next victim.  Please feel free to contact your financial institution to familiarize yourself with their policies, or contact Lakewood Police at 815-459-2151, if you have any questions about this incident or any other concerns/questions in the future.