In light of October being National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Penn Community Bank is taking action to share some important cyber safety tips and how to protect yourself from falling victim to scammers. In particular, one prevalent form of scamming is spoofing.

And while you may have heard of phishing and smishing, this newer type of fraud is on the rise. Spoofing may sound like a silly word, but it’s a serious issue that can have big consequences. It’s been used by businesses for more than a decade, but now scammers are using it to steal money.

Spoofing is when a scammer deliberately falsifies the information on your caller ID to disguise their identity and mislead you. For instance, the scammer can make it say the name of your bank, a nearby location, or even a phone number you trust in hopes of you handing over the information needed to take over your accounts.

In the first six months of 2023, Americans received a whopping 31 billion robocalls, and 40-60 percent of these calls were caller ID spoofing, according to ASTPP. This scam call trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, either.

Typically, you will receive a text message regarding an alleged fraud against your debit card which often includes a request within the text message to either confirm or deny the transaction. The message is often followed by a fake call from someone posing to be an employee of your financial institution. The caller ID could say something like “Penn Community Bank Fraud Department,” and the person on the line may pretend to be a bank security officer who will ask you to verify if you recently made a purchase with your debit card.

This is where things can go south very quickly.

Some fraudsters are extremely skilled at what they do. They have the ability to take away any shred of doubt a customer may have about the call being a scam through their persuasive tactics and sense of urgency.

Once you’re on the phone, they know they’ve got you hooked. The scammer will advise you to verify and even update your banking information, allowing them to access and take over your accounts. They claim to be sending you an updated debit card, but of course, the new card will never arrive. While your bank’s fraud monitoring will typically kick in and stop the unauthorized transactions, sometimes it’s too late and the damage is already done.

Research shows that cell phone users lost $58 billion to fraudulent robocalls globally in 2023, according to Juniper Research. Those losses are on track to exceed $70 billion globally by 2027. Don’t be a part of this growing statistic. We urge you to stay educated and vigilant of any type of scam that can affect your finances, whether it be through phone calls, texts, or email.

“You’ll never receive a text from the Penn Community Bank Fraud Department or other Bank team member,” said Rick Cimakasky, Fraud and Security Officer. “And you especially will never be asked to provide sensitive information via text message or phone call. Some simple ways you can avoid fraud are by sticking to Bank ATMs, as they have better security and monitoring controls, and by monitoring your bank account daily and signing up for online banking alerts.”

Remember: the best thing you can do is hang up immediately and inform your bank of the incident. If you ever feel that you were just the victim of a fraud attempt, contact Penn Community Bank’s Customer Care Center at 215-788-1234.