After disasters hit, scammers strike.
Regions Bank reached out to offer some tips to help everyone stay informed and protect themselves from fraud.
Here's the information they provided to us:
First – disasters take many forms. Consider the images of devastation after the Maui fires, the floods caused by Hurricane Idalia, or the ruins left behind by tornadoes. Natural disasters are bad enough without people trying to take advantage. Among the latest trends are imposters who pose as financial institutions and businesses to try to gain access to accounts when people are vulnerable.
“Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where people try to take advantage of those who need help most,” said Adam Perino, the Cyber Threat Intelligence lead for Regions Bank. “If you need assistance from Regions Bank, please reach out to us. But be skeptical of people claiming to represent financial institutions and reaching out to you to offer disaster assistance by asking for your personal or financial information. Real banks just don’t do that.”
Scammers may use email and text scams, posing as someone’s bank, or another organization, said John Joyce, regional Corporate Security manager for Regions Bank in Tampa. Once the unsuspecting target clicks on a link, their personal information is compromised.
“Never give out personal or bank account information in response to an email or a text unless that email or text came as a response to you reaching out to a real, trusted financial institution and asking for service,” Joyce said. “If something comes in unsolicited posing as a bank or advocate, be cautious – very cautious. If you think it might be legit, call the bank or organization at their real, verified phone number, explain what you’re seeing, and ask them if it’s authentic. More times than not, they’ll probably tell you it’s a scam.”
Those affected by natural disasters will recover, in time. But a few simple steps can help ease the process:
- If you have damage from a disaster, be skeptical of anyone offering you services or free money following a disaster. If you need assistance, you should reach out to trusted organizations for help.
- If you need immediate work done, don’t pay large amounts up front. A reputable contractor will be able to foot the bill for materials.
- Do not provide personal or business information unless you are certain of a person’s authority and need to have the information.
- Scammers will often send malicious emails impersonating aid organizations, news reports or similar groups relevant to the disaster. It is important to review any link in an email. If you do need help from the purported company, reach out to the company directly.
- Do not send sensitive information over the internet until you’ve verified you are using a trusted site. Pay attention to the website address. Malicious websites may look identical to legitimate sites but often use a variation in spelling or a different domain (such as .net, .biz or a non-U.S. country code).
- At work, be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls or email messages from individuals asking about employees or other internal information. If someone claims to be from a legitimate organization, verify their identity by contacting the company directly.
- Moving forward, install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls and email filters to reduce malicious traffic.
- Don’t just throw away electronic devices that have sensitive information. Keep personal information out of the hands of opportunistic data thieves by destroying hard drives, SIM cards and anything else that could potentially hold sensitive data.
- Keep a backup of key passwords, insurance policy numbers and financial accounts in a secure location.
Even if you haven’t been affected by a disaster, you may want to help others. Again, think before you act.
“Be careful who you donate money to, especially for those asking due to a recent disaster,” Perino added. “Know who’s asking for help, and stick with organizations you know and trust, such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way or your local church.”
