Happy Friday American Savings Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Hawaii National Bank, Territorial Savings Bank, First Hawaiian Bank and other members of the Hawaii Banks Association have joined efforts to alert the public of a surge in scams by criminals impersonating local financial institutions.
These new scams are clever, the bad guys using email, text messages and even phone calls to trick victims into giving up access to their financial information. What's most concerning is that there are countless fake banking websites out in the wild that are exact copies of your local banking site. Enter your login info and poof - the criminal is one step closer to your money. They're targeting unsuspecting, distracted or trusting local residents such as our kupuna and getting away with it.
The Takeaway
To protect yourself from phishing scams, remember the following acronym: N.E.R.D! (isn't this fun?)
▪ Never respond to texts or emails to asking you to log into your bank account
▪ Every account statements needs to be reviewed for suspicious transactions
▪ Reach out to your bank directly when in doubt
▪ Don't talk to strangers by phone, text, or email. That's how they first build trust, then rob you blind.
Be a NERD and proud! (I am)
Stay safe out there,
-A
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