GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Triad woman who fell for a banking scam wants you to learn from her mistake.
Kristin Wrenn, of Lexington, says she got a phone call Wednesday night from a number that appeared to be her bank alerting her to two fraudulent charges pending on her account totaling $700.
The caller says they planned to cancel the card but wanted to verify a few things.
She wrote about the ordeal on Facebook saying they, "Asked for the PIN number that I was canceling and my mother's maiden name to verify who I was."
She says she even looked the phone number up and it led her to the bank's customer service line.
She adds, quote "I gave them everything."
This is a believable scam because banks will try to call you if there's an issue.
In Wrenn's case, the number was disguised to look like her banks.
You should know real banks will never call and ask for your pin or personal information.
Here's what you should do if someone does call claiming to be your bank.
"It's very simple. If you get a call like this, the first thing you need to do is say, 'Thank you very much for calling,' and then hang up the phone then go straight to your wallet. Get out your credit card or your bank card and call the number on the back," Lechelle Yates with the Better Business Bureau says.
Yates says you should call the bank directly, so you know you're talking to the legitimate business.
This goes the same for texts and emails you get about your account.
Never click on any links in those.
"The scammers are learning and they are trying to sound more and more like your bank," Yates says. "They are learning the tone, learning the words to say, maybe shifting the scam just a little bit so it doesn’t sound quite so familiar."
Instead, log into your account using your banking app, or through the bank's website.
Luckily in Wrenn's case, when she called her bank after having an unsettling feeling about the previous call, they were able to change all her information before the scammers got to her money.