• Tweet
• (3) | COMMENTS
• Share
• Email
• Print

FORT MYERS-

R.V. salesman John Wilson, 59, has worked in retail for 13 years. He knows a scam when he hears one. "It just didn't feel right," he said. "It wouldn't be a normal business practice for anyone."

So, when he received an automated call from his bank, Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union, he knew something was fishy. It said his account was deactivated, and asked him for his bank details to reactivate the account.

"To activate your debit card press one, enter your 16 digit card number," explained Wilson about the call. "That threw up a warning flag so I hung up and that's when I called Suncoast."

But he says a woman at the bank wasn't helpful. "She acknowledged she'd heard there was a problem," said Wilson. "That they'd known it for basically a week prior. And that they were working on it."

Wilson says they could have done more to safeguard his identity. "I think there should have been an immediate response either cancel my card, issue a new one, but my question still is where did they get my information?" he asked.

We called Suncoast VP of Loss and Risk Mitigation, Jim Simon, for answers. He said, "At this point, we've not been able to determine any point of commonality. We have no breach at our financial institution."

How did the scammer get Wilson's phone number? The bank didn't have a clear answer.

But Simon said, "We have messages going out on our website. We are communicating with the members who are calling in, we are again revisiting with them not to provide any financial data."

But for Wilson, those answers bring little relief.

"I'm not really happy with service or with the security," said Wilson. "How did somebody know I'm a Suncoast member? Get my private cell phone number, my name? So, I think probably somebody's hacked into their computers."

Suncoast says it's not the only bank targeted by a phishing scam and advises anyone experiencing problems to contact their financial institution.