SPOKANE, Wash. – Scammers are increasingly using phone numbers to impersonate Spokane Teacher’s Credit Union (STCU) in an attempt to deceive customers. In the past two weeks, there has been a noticeable rise in reports of scammers spoofing themselves as representatives from STCU.
Lindsey McDermott, was scammed by a spoofed STCU call two years ago.
“So, they asked for me… and… just had said that my card was compromised. And asked if I had recently been to a gas station out of town. Which I had. And so, that kind of got me,” McDermott said.
The call appeared legitimate due to her recent vacation. However, minutes after hanging up, scammers charged more than $400 to her STCU account.
Fortunately, STCU was able to reverse the charges and issue a new card.
McDermott received two more calls spoofing her bank’s number in the last week. This time, she recognized something was off.
“They were using my maiden name. Which, it’s now legally changed,” McDermott said.
The caller knew her maiden name and birth-date.
“‘You don’t have my legal name. The name that’s on my STCU account. And if you were my bank, I would think you’d know my actual name,'” McDermott said.
The scammer ended the call. STCU has confirmed an increase in scam attempts recently.
The credit union told NonStop Local that the scams are not new and can happen at any financial institution.
The spoofing scams are more common around holidays.
“The scammers definitely prey on our vulnerabilities as consumers. Travel could be part of it. But also, if there’s a three-day weekend, then the scammer has a chance to make transactions on the account,” Dan Hansen, the VP of Communications for STCU, said.
STCU emphasizes the importance of educating their members and encourages anyone receiving a suspicious call to report it immediately.
