Twice bitten: New scam goes after customers of failed banks

Updated

This sort of thing could be a trend, so watch out if you're a customer of a recently failed bank, or if your bank collapses in the near future.

The Las Vegas Review- Journal is reporting that former customers of Community Bank of Nevada were targeted by con artists over the long Labor Day weekend.

The bank failed recently, but consumers still have money in their accounts and will for 30 days after the Aug. 14 failure date. (If the customer doesn't pull their money out of the account, the government will send a check.)

The digital thugs, whoever they are, sent an email, claiming to be from the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), alerting people that their ATM cards were disabled and then asked consumers for their birth date, their Social Security number, their mother's maiden name and other juicy information that you're supposed to keep to yourself.

From the reports I've seen, it doesn't sound like actually anyone fell for this and lost money, but certainly, if your bank has gone under recently, or ever does, be on the alert that the scammers may decide to come out and play.

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