Phone scams claiming bank affiliation on the rise in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - You've no doubt had a run-in with them — Scammers bombarding your phone with texts and calls, often pretending to be someone they are not in an effort to steal your information and your money.

"We’ve gotten the same fake customer service call multiple times in a matter of days. The caller ID said ‘Wells Fargo’ and the number was their actual customer service, so at first, it seemed legit. But red flags soon appeared," one potential victim familiar with the scam told FOX 9. "In order to stop a fraudulent transfer on our account, they claimed we needed to send another Zelle transfer to what they called a 'cancelation number', which was another phone number."

"It’s social engineering… it’s convincing something to do something that’s maybe not in their best interest," explained Mark Lanterman, a cybersecurity expert.

Lanterman notes that it’s easier for criminals to hack a person than a computer. These calls aren’t about stealing bank information directly — they convince people to send money using a sense of urgency.

"There’s something wrong and you need to act on it right now or else, and I’m going to help you with this," a scammer might claim, creating a false sense of urgency to manipulate the victim.

Wells Fargo has clear warnings online about such tactics, emphasizing the importance of ignoring requests to send payment to solve a problem — they will never ask for this.

"You can use an online service for pennies per phone call in order to fake caller ID," Lanterman said, highlighting how easy it is for scammers to mislead victims.

If you receive any suspicious call, the best response is simple and cautious: "Say thank you and say I’ll call you back."

Then call back using the phone number that’s on the back of your card or the phone number that’s actually on your banking statement.