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Fraudulent calls target Hyannis, Mass.-area residents, businesses
Jan 13, 2009 (Cape Cod Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Even the bank was targeted.
Across the region yesterday, fraudulent automated phone calls asked recipients for credit card numbers and other account information, claiming to be from Cape Cod Cooperative Bank and Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank.
The calls went out to customers and non-customers alike; one was received at the main switchboard of Cape Cod Cooperative, bank president and CEO Joel Crowell said.
Bank officials warn that they do not call customers to ask for credit card numbers, account numbers and other information of that type.
"We are just reinforcing that the bank would never call a customer and request that kind of information," said Bert Talerman, executive vice president for Cape Cod Five.
One set of calls informed recipients that there had been a data breach that threatened the security of their Cape Cod Cooperative MasterCard accounts. The call then asked for an account number and personal identification number, Crowell said.
He said the bank's data have not been breached: "This is an electronic sham by someone trying to get customers to give up key information that can be used to try and access their funds."
Another round of calls claimed to be from Cape Cod Five and requested similar information, Talerman said.
Both banks have placed fraud alerts on their Web sites and emphasized that consumers should never give financial information such as account numbers, passwords or other identifying data to an unsolicited caller.
Consumers should be wary of any call, e-mail or letter that asks for such information, Barnstable police Sgt. Sean Sweeney said.
He also warned of another recent scam in which the target receives an e-mail claiming to be from the U.S. Treasury Department.
The message offers a refund of $189 if the recipient submits credit card information via an online form.
Another scheme promises to release millions of dollars from the Canadian lottery as soon as the recipient wires money to cover the taxes on the winnings.
"Scams are out there all the time," Sweeney said.
At least some of yesterday's calls originated from a number listed to AtLast Fulfillment, a Denver company that offers call-center services.
A man who answered the phone at AtLast Fulfillment said his company did not make the fraudulent calls; an outside party had hijacked the phone number and attempted to place calls to every phone number in the 508 area code, he said.
AtLast had reported the incident to Colorado authorities, he said.
The Cape Cod banks are not the only financial institutions whose names have been used in attempted fraud recently, said Bruce Spitzer, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bankers Association.
"It's all across the country," he said. "They are definitely not alone."
To see more of the Cape Cod Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.capecodonline.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
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