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Did You Receive a Bank of America Fraud Alert?
Have you received an alert from Bank of America about suspicious activity on your account and you want to know if it’s real or not? Read on and perhaps this article will help.
I received a call from 315-724-4022, and a message was left asking me to call 866-242-6289 due to suspicious activity on my account. As someone who spends a great deal of time reading and writing about fraud, I approached this call with skepticism. When I looked at the back of my debit card, however, in fine print at the bottom it reads:
From Outside the US call collect at 315.724.4022
So the number is definitely a legitimate Bank of America number. Of course phone numbers can be spoofed, so I still approached it with some caution. Here’s the voice mail that was left by 315-724-4022 (Xs are used here to replace personal information):
This is the ATM debit customer protection department at Bank of America calling for XXX regarding unusual activity on your ATM debt card ending in XXXX. Please call us at 1-866-242-6289 by July 20th and enter the message code XXXXXX. A temporary hold may have been placed on your account and will be removed upon verification of activity. If you subscribe to online and/or text alerts and have received or responded to an alert in the last 24 hours, please disregard this message. Again that number is 1-866-242-6289 by July 20 and enter the message code XXXXXX. If you are calling from outside the United States, you may contact us at 602-597-2395. Thank you.
After some Googling, I was moderately confident that the 866 number was legit. But I still wasn’t certain. So I called the 866-242-6289 number, still somewhat leery about the whole process. When I was connected to a live operator, she proceeded to ask me about certain charges on my account that only someone with access to my account would have.
Ironically, while I was on the phone with Bank of America, I received a text from from 70650, also claiming to be Bank of America! The text read:
FREE TEXT MSG alert-Bank of America has temporarily limited the use of you Debit Card due to irregular activity. Call 1-866-459-9195 To Opt Out reply STOP.
I’m not sure whey the text message used a different toll-free number, unless it’s for tracking purposes. But that number appears to be valid as well.
What’s somewhat frustrating is that I went through this exact same thing only two months ago. At that time, I was told that I had to cancel my current debit card and get a new one. It’s a slight but necessary annoyance, especially when you use your debit card for auto-pay features for certain accounts, such as car insurance. So to have another “suspicious activity” call only 8 weeks later, barely enough time for me to start using my new card, was a bit surprising. This time, however, they didn’t issue me a new card, but instead verified some recent charges and then lifted the hold on my card.
I should note that the charge in question was for a purchase of the game Minecraft, which was done through Moneybookers in Europe. This apparently raised a flag in Bank of America’s system. The previous “suspicious activity” a couple of months ago was when I purchased some online advertising on Facebook. For that I had to get a new debit card.
I should say that I’d rather Bank of America err on the side of caution, and this is no way meant to serve as a complain against them. I have had real fraud on my account before, and they caught it before I did. I realize that Bank of America has its legion of haters, particularly due to fees and mortgages – and many of those complaints are valid. This article isn’t meant to touch on those topics. (In fact, when the debit fee fiasco happened, I was solidly against Bank of America on that issue, as seen here.)
The problem that most people seem to face with this fraud alert is that they aren’t sure if the 315 or 866 numbers are real, and this article seeks to verify that those numbers are valid. If, however, the 315 number calls you and asks you for personal information, it could be spoofed. Typically that number is only used to alert you to call the 866 number.
We have received some reports that Bank of America has called from 302-731-1166. It appears in some cases this is a legit number, but it is also being spoofed by scammers. So how do you know if it’s real?
Bottom Line
If you receive a similar message and still aren’t comfortable – especially if they start asking for personal information – simply call Bank of America at the number on the back of your debit card.
For a another perspective on this process, I suggest reading this great article.
Further Reading:
Last updated on February 17, 2013
Filed under: Consumers · Tags: Bank of America
Great article. Just spoke with Bank of America and tried to confirm this number as “theirs”. The CSR could not confirm that specific number, as “BoA has a series of numbers to mitigate call overload”, but you could call BoA’s Fraud department directly at (877)833-5617 … confirmed via their website.
Just called my local BOA representative. They have a full history of every call BOA has made to me (and me to them). They confirmed that they NEVER made a call from that number: 315-724-4022. They informed me that their is no flag on my account and that this was most likely a spoofed call though a PBX system. They said I should always call them directly or drop by my local branch.
Did you ask if they every called you from that number (even though you called the number back, since the scammer can’t force your phone to call them back at their number, since they can only spoof caller ID, not actually take over a number).
Anyway. Rule of thumb. Never accept a phone call (or hang up the minute they ask for identifying information). Call your vendor back at a number you can trust (original back statements, or the back of your ATM or VISA card). Ask about recent call history (they log it ALL) and give them the number that called you. They can verify that is was them, or not. In my case 315-724-4022 was not them (even though it’s their number. Beware, phones and the internet run on some pretty old (phones 80+ years old, internet 50+ years old) technology and are easily exploited.
In my case, yes they did call from that number. But as you point out, and as we stated in the article, numbers can be spoofed, so it’s best to call them yourself.
I received a message from BofA – did not ask for a call back, but stated that there has been a compromise and they have issued and sent me a new debit card.
There has been a massive fraud issue here in St. Louis at the Schnuck’s grocery store chain. something like 2.5M cards compromised. I have been monitoring my accounts – but I’m glad that BofA just went ahead and did this proactively.
I got that same message – weird thing is that I haven’t banked with BOA for the past 5+ years… I called them and asked what might be happening and he said it was likely a fraudulent call and to go to my nearest branch to confirm.
Recieved the same call with same message. It is legit -in my case- because I know it is due to the Schnucks incident. BoA had already automatically sent me a replacement of my Credit Card a few weeks ago so I figured the debit card would be following shortly behind. What a mess all that Schnucks business has become. Ugh
received text messages, about my card being lock need to call this number 727 861-7280. Funny thing is i don’t bank with bank of america. called tmobile and they walk e thur how to block and sent a message back to them to stop.
They are also using phone numbers 877-248-6276 and 877-423-9596. My brother-in-law fell for it. They asked for his SS# and DOB so they can cancel his card. I had him place a fraud alert with the 3 credit bureaus.
Received a very good BofA phishing email today. Since I don’t bank with BofA I knew it was a scam. Forwarded it to abuse@bankofamerica.com
Regarding: 315-724-4022 and Bank of America
The phone number that called was the same as the one on the back of their card (used for calling collect from outside the US 315-724-4022). i also got the same “your account has been compromised…and we are sending you a new card.” I just got off the ohone with BA. My account shows that Bank of America never called and my account is just fine. I asked if they were doing something to get some control over their phone system…apparently they just aren’t that concerned. But for what it’s worth, I did tell them that it’s frustrating as a customer to put up with this type of “junk” that seems relatively simple to correct.
If by “relatively simple to correct”, you mean redesign our country’s telcom infrastructure, you would be correct. However, it’s not that simple.