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Caller ID trickery: Fraud artist calls victim posing as bank

Call from popular bank turns out to be a scam
Posted at 11:07 PM, Jul 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-28 08:29:01-04

The caller I.D said Wells Fargo and the caller knew her name but it turned out to be a scam. 

"I never knew they could take a caller i.d. number and make it whatever they want, " said Alissa, who asked Four In Your Corner not to reveal her last name. 

When Alissa kept getting repeat phone calls from Wells Fargo she thought it was another fraud alert. 

"It was like four times in a row; like one after the other; after the other," said Alissa. 

After a day of missed calls, and without a voicemail to know why the bank was calling, she decided to answer the next call. She quickly realized the person on the line was more interested in committing fraud than alerting her of it.

"They asked me my name and they repeated my name, as in a question. I was confused," said Alissa. "She goes, oh, so your name is Alissa - my middle name, last name - and I'm like...So I hung up," she added. 

She only gave out her name, but she was concerned the scammer was trying to record her saying "yes" in an attempt to use her voice to approve future bank transactions. 

"That was the first thing that was in the back of my head, like 'do they want me to say yes.' So I just hung up and called Wells Fargo.

She called the bank back using the number on the back of her credit card, and not the number that appeared on her caller I.D. 

"They said this has been something they've heard of where someone can hijack's a caller I.D. with Wells Fargo's name on it so you think it's a legitimate call."

The scam is called ID spoofing, and fraud artist are able to send fake caller information to just about any caller ID device. Alissa says there was one thing about the phone call that gave her a red flag. 

"Well they didn't tell me why they were calling they just straight out asked my name, and they've never done that before," said Alissa.