Scam alert: This one's coming in by phone! 'Wells Fargo,' not

mm October 2, 2011 (12:20 pm)

Got a text from 206-913-7695 saying the same thing

Kate October 2, 2011 (12:21 pm)

My husband got that call Saturday night. He does have a Wells Fargo account. Feeling fairly certain that was not how he would have been notified by the bank, he hung up and went to the web site and saw that there was no problem. Pretty blatant phishing scheme!

CMP October 2, 2011 (12:33 pm)

I received the same phone call to my mobile and I don’t even have a Wells Fargo account. I deleted the message, but glad to know I’m not the only person who thought it odd. Thanks for calling Wells Fargo and alerting WSB!

Mike Lindblom October 2, 2011 (12:45 pm)

We got this call too. Just hung up.

JK October 2, 2011 (12:53 pm)

I just received the same call not 5 minutes ago. How irritating.

Kap October 2, 2011 (12:57 pm)

Got the same, voice mail, didn’t spec. my CU.

Thanks for the heads up.

Anna October 2, 2011 (1:05 pm)

Thank you for finding out what that was. I got that message last night at 1:30am and was going to call the bank today. Thank you for letting me know.

Valerie October 2, 2011 (1:08 pm)

Oh! I got this one too, as a voice mail, either Monday or Tuesday night while I was traveling out of the US (and had had my phone turned off so there was no question of pressing “1” at that point).
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I have no Wells Fargo accounts either and thought it was really strange; just to be sure, I still checked with the banks where I DO do business when I got home, just as a “I know this is nuts but please ease my mind” sort of thing.
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It was a little disquieting anyway, since I was out of the country when I got the voice mail, but I’m glad to know what the deal is now. Thanks!

angela October 2, 2011 (1:16 pm)

Me too! They called my cell phone after midnight and left a message. Weird. Figured it was a scam.

Star 55 October 2, 2011 (1:27 pm)

I got the call and followed up by calling Wells Fargo only to be told that they were well aware of the scam. I asked why they had not sent out any kind of notice to their customers and got a well this happens all the time reply. I was offered the following: Call the newspaper/TV stations and have them do a story. Sorry Wells Fargo you did not serve me well.

WSB October 2, 2011 (1:50 pm)

And clearly they have no idea of the media landscape if they are just telling you to call newspapers and TV stations :) This item alone will be seen by at least 30,000 readers over the next week, more West Seattleites than would see/hear any broadcast or print story. Oh well. Thanks again to everybody who shares the info when they find out about things like this – that’s really the magic here; most of the time all we do is keep the lights on and try to keep some semblance of order :) – TR

mookie October 2, 2011 (1:42 pm)

I got that too, to my cell phone, and I do not have any accounts at Wells Fargo. Sounded like robo-calling on spec.

Patrick October 2, 2011 (1:43 pm)

We got text messages saying our wells fargo card has been deactivated and to call a number

nick October 2, 2011 (1:44 pm)

i got one of these too not a wells fargo customer

shihtzu October 2, 2011 (1:59 pm)

I got a text too. Don’t have a Wells Fargo account and it peeves me that someone has my cell phone number!

GarageSaleGuru October 2, 2011 (2:17 pm)

I got a text on friday and just an hour ago got a phone call from a number that was notblocked 877 area code. Like another poster, I asked the WS branch about it and they said it was phishing.

old commuter October 2, 2011 (2:24 pm)

I also got the call last night on my cell. And I’ve never had an acct at Wells. Very weird that they called so many people in West Seattle.

Tbone October 2, 2011 (2:34 pm)

Got a text earlier in the week saying the same thing… The original message was from an Oregon (503 area code) cell phone (according to reverse number lookup), urging me to call a (206) number (also a cell phone). I don’t have a wells Fargo account either, but went into a branch to show them the text message. The person I spoke to said it was the third one he’d seen that day, and wasnt interested in writing down the numbers.

I was less than impressed by their level of concern about it.

Mark October 2, 2011 (2:57 pm)

I got the text, took a picture and emailed it to WF fraud…. They emailed back and said they were working with the FBI to shut down the phone numbers as fast as they had them.

KateMcA October 2, 2011 (3:06 pm)

I just got this call this morning, from a 714 number. Never been a Wells customer. I was pretty sure from the beginning that it was a phishing scheme, and actually followed a couple of the prompts (since I don’t have an account, I figured no harm). I got bored with it before reaching the punch line where they started asking for personal info. I hope no one actually falls for this, but as a former employee of a bank, I must say I was always surprised that people didn’t exercise more discretion over their personal info…

naomy October 2, 2011 (3:11 pm)

I don’t have a wells fargo account and received a text from 206-915-2104 yestday telling me that my card has been deactivated and asked me to contact them at 206-497-7885.

Today I received a call from 978-278-3933 from MA saying Wells Fargo blah blah blah.

TJ October 2, 2011 (3:20 pm)

They called us at 6am today! Scared me that early…we have gotten text messages too, my husband and I, and we’ve never had an account there! They’re all coming from different numbers, the call was 614-something..the texts 206 and 360

Myra Kohn October 2, 2011 (3:25 pm)

I don’t bank with Well Fargo but I received three calls from this number last week, over a period of 3 days (last two being on Wednesday). I answered the first call and hung up immediately and did not answer the following two. I live downtown.

Ruby October 2, 2011 (3:30 pm)

I got the same one. I hung up because I’m sure next question was what is your social…Freaks me out..

Andrea Johnson October 2, 2011 (3:38 pm)

me too…middle of the night.

CJ October 2, 2011 (3:45 pm)

I got it too. I’ve been told to report it to the Federal Trade Commission, so I did.

Jessica bartel October 2, 2011 (3:56 pm)

I got a text today saying that my card had been cancelled. They said it was my card ending in blah blah blah, but those weren’t my numbers. Scammm!

Laura October 2, 2011 (4:01 pm)

I got the same call last night after midnight from an “unknown number”. I don’t answer any calls coming from numbers I don’t know, so I didn’t answer. Could tell right away that it was a scam, so I just deleted the voicemail.

CabanaMom October 2, 2011 (4:12 pm)

Ditto on the txt msg…Crazy that this scam went out to so many people!! Anybody hear what the source was?

Kari October 2, 2011 (4:13 pm)

Got the same call this morning – came from a blocked number.
Don’t have a WF account.
I live in the Arbor Heights neighborhood.
Wierd.

Cindertang October 2, 2011 (4:18 pm)

In the last 24 hours 4 of us in the same house hold all with cell phones all have received this same phone call

cris725 October 2, 2011 (4:26 pm)

These calls do happen ALL THE TIME. Anyone who thinks that their bank should send out some kind of alert for each different scam would be getting the alerts ALL DAY and like most consumers, get annoyed and eventually would not look at the alerts any more. What did you expect when you called and spoke to the customer service rep? That they would form a posse and go look for the person who called you like in a classic western? Logistically speaking, these super-ultra-high expectations of customer service are a little silly and reek of entitlement. Be aware and use common sense. Know and understand your bank’s policy on scams and phishing. Send them any email to alert them of the scam. And most of all, JUST HANG UP THE PHONE.

Tessa October 2, 2011 (4:33 pm)

I just recieved this text as well. First of all, your bank will never send you a text message unless you have set it up with them. I bank with School Employees Credit Union and do recieve texts because I signed up for it. I don’t think any bank would text or call on a Sunday or late at night. Who are these people? They are so annoying!

jennifer October 2, 2011 (4:50 pm)

I received the same call, and an exact replica from a 970 area code. Ugh!

Karissa October 2, 2011 (5:02 pm)

With so many banks now pushing their adverts for doing your banking via text messages I suspect these scams are going to keep increasing. (DON’T bank by text. So not secure or smart!)

Every person that presses *one*, even is only to respond that they don’t have an account verifies their number is a valid one. (Also why you should never respond to spam emails)
and it would only take a very small number to respond with a card number for this scam to be ridiculously profitable.

Banks need to at the very least PRETEND they care or are acting. They should be updating their websites and sending out alerts to news agencies when it’s clear activity is increasing or currently highly active.

WSB October 2, 2011 (5:35 pm)

I just found this on Wells Fargo’s website, after getting this call AGAIN (voicemail on my personal phone, which never rang before the vmail activation, odd):
http://www.wellsfargo.com/privacy_security/fraud/report/fraud
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Will add to the main story. I’m going to send them the number the voicemail came from – Tracy

bsmomma October 2, 2011 (5:04 pm)

I got the same call from a Private # on my mobile at 12:47 am with the tail end of an automated message VM. I woke up and saw the missed call this morning and called everyone I know, freaking out that something bad happened. Not cool.

WestSide45 October 2, 2011 (5:22 pm)

It’s fun toying with these callers, even if they are robots. I try to keep them on the line as long as possible, all the time feeding them bogus information. Or, sometimes I just pick up the call and leave the receiver off the hook until the caller goes away. I then program my phone to block the number.

kel October 2, 2011 (6:10 pm)

Just got this one as well. Been receiving a number of these on both my husband’s, and my phone this weekend.

Admiral Lady October 2, 2011 (6:14 pm)

We got both the blocked call/vm as well as a text from 206.913.7903. Called Wells Fargo to report both.
So sick of these scammers preying on all of us!!!

gayle October 2, 2011 (6:25 pm)

Me too!

Even my BF who has no WF account got a call!

One call to my mobile was from “resticted’ with an automated message, a second from 000-0000 account (I think it was WF
…didn’t answer it)

WSB October 2, 2011 (6:32 pm)

And I just got ANOTHER one on the non-business phone. Quite the prolific phishing going on today/tonight …

A October 2, 2011 (6:53 pm)

Me too. On my cell. The number mine came from was 425.827.7526. I heard something about Wells Fargo (and we do not have an account with them) and I just hung up. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I was surprised to see this on the blog tonight.

fiz October 2, 2011 (7:01 pm)

Received the text messages. So annoying.

Stu October 2, 2011 (7:48 pm)

I wonder if all of us are ATT subscribers??? ATT had a security breach and someone stole a bunch of Cell phone #’s. I got an email from ATT telling me about it. What irritated my wife is she got a Text and she doesn’t have a text plan, so this span will cost her 20 cents.

robin October 2, 2011 (7:48 pm)

I just got this call on my cell phone at 7:45pm Sunday night. Seems like someone in West Seattle has our cell phone numbers. What is going on???

glk October 2, 2011 (7:52 pm)

Got a text from this number as well, but the scary thing was that it was worded:
“Your CARD starting with #### has been deactivated…”

And, they had those first 4 numbers correct.

Figured it was a scam, but a little scary they have that info matched up with my phone number at the very least.

Tim October 2, 2011 (8:14 pm)

Got a call from 978-278-3933 about 10 minutes ago. I also got a text message from “Wells Fargo” a few days ago saying my account had been blocked… Seemed odd since I don’t have a WF account. Anyway, will report to the FTC.

Bunnyfer October 2, 2011 (8:19 pm)

gjk – I got the same text message, plus the Blocked phone call today. both times I sent it to Wells Fargo and followed up with a phone call to make sure my info is safe (it is). I do find it very odd that such a small area seems to be getting hit with this same scam….BTW, my boyfriend got a call too, and we’re both AT&T subscribers….

catlady October 2, 2011 (8:27 pm)

My hubby got the same call last week on his cell in the middle of the night. We don’t even bank with Wells Fargo…

Adam October 2, 2011 (8:52 pm)

My dad was visiting me in WS today and got a call from this number: 7148367667. He picked it up and it was the exact same call (he just hung up). He has never gotten this call before an I think it’s really interesting he just happened to get it while he was in WS. He is using AT&T (which I use as well but didn’t get it). It seems almost coincidental people in WS would get that call today.

westseattledood October 2, 2011 (8:58 pm)

Got the deactivation text tonight about two hrs ago.

I closed my WF acct last year so I was ready to call WF tomorrow and ream them for baaaad mistake. Glad I just caught WF in post title!
And I am AT&T too.

So, can we review who people should contact and how. And what people should *not* do.
That was good info peeps!!!!

WSB October 2, 2011 (9:34 pm)

I added the contact info – from their website – to the story a few hours back. Will be contacting their media-relations folks tomorrow to see if they have more to say. I found some stories around the web from Oregon among other places which indicated WF *has* launched investigations into these. Newest one is from Colorado:
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http://www.9news.com/news/article/222470/188/Wells-Fargo-customers-warned-of-phishing-scam-
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a month earlier, several stories like this from Portland:
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http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/08/wells_fargo_warns_of_phone_sca.html

Cclarue October 2, 2011 (9:58 pm)

I got the text. I have AT&T. I do not haveaWF acct.

westseattledood October 2, 2011 (10:01 pm)

Yup, see the WF email address now. Thx!

Maybe the A$$hats are traveling from state to state – remotely operating computer robots out of hotel rooms?
What?
Me paranoid?
Watched too many movies, maybe…

ttt October 2, 2011 (10:48 pm)

got the call too. Made me wonder how many elderly people fell for it… all they need is one. My 90 year old grandmother fell for one of the phone call scams and in three months was out over 50thousand. We finally found that the calls were coming from Jamaica. There was no way to get her money back.

Karissa October 2, 2011 (11:45 pm)

Earlier up a commenter mentioned the “first 4” numbers of their card matching the scam.

Just wanted them to feel at ease, a little, because the first 4 numbers of a card are NOT unique OR connected to your personal info. They’re what identify the card holder (visa starts w 4, mastercard 5, amex 3, etc) and a regional router to the issuer (bank, credit union, gift card, etc).

My mom, brother, son and daughter all have been “hit” now..and they all have ATT

Que October 3, 2011 (12:14 am)

My husband just got a call on his cell from them too from 732-326-9779. Stupid scammers. We also do not have a Wells Fargo account.

AlkiArea October 3, 2011 (12:15 am)

We got that call this morning about 10am. We do have an acct there, but hung up and called the bank which confirmed there was no problem. Pure phishing. This wasn’t blocked but some odd 877 number….can’t the phone company trace that? Surely they know where it came from….

RG October 3, 2011 (1:41 am)

To Glk: I think the first four digits are the same on every card. Scammers contact people and prove their legitimacy with you by telling you “your” first four digits and then ask you to verify the rest of the numbers. Then, they have your whole credit card number.

Claire October 3, 2011 (3:24 am)

Just got this callbon my cell phone at 2:30 am from a private number. I do not have a Wells Fargo account and I’m not a AT&T customer. Woke me up and startled me. Thanks to the WS Blog, I knew exactly what it was.

cpharris October 3, 2011 (4:45 am)

I work in the fraud department at Wells Fargo. These are, indeed, fraudulent calls. They appear to be originating from somewhere overseas, probably eastern Europe, which would also explain the perpetrators’ “error” in calling in the middle of the night at times. By federal law, we cannot call a cardholder before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm, local time.

***IF YOU HAVE SUPPLIED INFORMATION*** such as your card number and/or PIN, please call the Fraud Prevention Department/Financial Crimes at Wells Fargo: 800-723-5533. We are open 5:00am-9:00pm Pacific Time Monday-Saturday, and until 8:30pm on Sundays. Alternatively, you may call the number on the back of your card or on our website and ask to be transferred to the fraud dept. You may also step into your local branch, and have the banker call us directly.

We *DO* have an automated system that calls to verify activity on cards, but it never states “your card has been blocked” or words to that effect. We will also never ask for your card number on an OUTBOUND call (we already have it). What we’ve seen happen with these fraudulent calls is that people are convinced to 1) enter their card number, and even 2) enter their PIN for “confirmation”. Then, two or three days later, a counterfeit card is being used at an ATM overseas – literally.

Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve fallen for it. Sadly, a number of people have. Just call us and we’ll get that card number changed out for you – and funds reimbursed if you’ve been defrauded.

Me Too! October 3, 2011 (6:07 am)

The are still calling as I just received a call about 5 minutes ago, asking me to press 1. I hung up becausze I don’t have a Wells Fargo Bank Card.

Eaglewatch October 3, 2011 (6:18 am)

To those that get the message identifying the first four digits of their credit card, it is my understanding that these numbers identify a particular financial institution and are not random. Any scam identifying these four digits are picking, for example, a Visa card standard four digits and counting on you not to know this fact.

Dan October 3, 2011 (7:22 am)

My wife and I were each contacted on our mobile phones. My phone says the call came from New Jersey.
I wonder what the common denominator is here – where the numbers were scraped from. It’s not Facebook – our numbers aren’t published on that site.

Stephanie October 3, 2011 (9:01 am)

Got that call on my cell at 11:44 am on Sunday. Figured it was a scam, but called the bank, and they confirmed that they do not notify you like that, and that it is the “phishing” scam that everyone talks about.

Delridge Resident October 3, 2011 (9:04 am)

Yep, I got the same call last night at 10.16pm from (407) 333-7337 (Orlando area code). I hung up because I immediately knew it was a scam because I don’t have a WF account.

Walking the NIMBY fence October 3, 2011 (9:16 am)

I get these every once in a while. I received one on Saturday night and another on Sunday. The banks range from BECU to Wells Fargo. The best was a call from Washington Mutual over a year after it was taken over by the FDIC. If the call does mention your actual bank, hang up and dial your bank directly or check your account online.

LyndaB October 3, 2011 (9:40 am)

I hate that you can’t block unwanted texts. You end up paying for it. I ended up getting an unlimited plan for the family so it doesn’t “hurt” so much in the pocket when I get stupid texts. I’m glad I got it. Positive spin, I guess.

ad October 3, 2011 (10:54 am)

Last night I received a “Wells Fargo” text within 5 minutes of my brother receiving a VM. My mother also got a text around the same time. None of us have WF accounts. Because I figured the bank was closed, had not seen these postings, I called my local non emergent police line and reported. The officer seemed interested in documenting all information and said he would be in contact with WF. Phishing is a serious felony.

How are they getting our phone #’s??

And how do they utilize local phone numbers to do the scam (how will it not trace back to them)?

Elizabeth October 3, 2011 (11:09 am)

Wonder how many of us voted in the king5 best of the northwest contest???? it’s one thing that we all might have in common….just saying.

WSB October 3, 2011 (11:17 am)

Elizabeth, did you have to give a phone number to vote? We don’t usually promote contests that ask voters to provide e-mail, phone numbers, or even that require FB “likes” etc. … so that’s why we haven’t talked about it here. But I didn’t think they’d asked for phone #’s … TR

ad October 3, 2011 (11:31 am)

I did not vote in the King 5 contest. Hmm…

I was thinking our commonality may be our phone carrier? AT&T?

linda October 3, 2011 (1:34 pm)

Bad news, AT&T is not the common denominator. I also received one of these yesterday at at 3:00 p.m. from a 970 area code and one this morning from an 877 number. I have Verizon. Thankfully the automated message started as soon as my voice mail picked up so all I caught was “deactivated, please press 1”. After getting this kind of message about my Washington Mutual account last year when I didn’t have an account, I figured it was the same thing.
@LyndaB: Check with your provider, you may be able to block text messages. When I was getting unwanted texts, I contacted Verizon and was able to block all text messaging to my phone. I don’t have a data plan and was tired of paying for text messages offering me $100 gas cards.

Bogie October 3, 2011 (1:40 pm)

I got the call Friday night on my cell. I have Verizon. No WF account. I did vote in thw Best of WW, but never give my actual phone number online or to anywhere where it might be sold (shhh don’t tell my secret!)

My guess would be that they are just dialing at random and getting more hits than misses.

Renaissance Red October 3, 2011 (3:12 pm)

Just had a robocall voicemail on my cell phone re: my WELLS FARGO account and that my card had been locked…nice phishing if only I HAD A Wells Fargo account!!!

I already let WF know…seems odd that so many folks in West Seattle are getting these calls. hmmmm???

Shane in Ballard October 3, 2011 (5:29 pm)

I got the text (from 206-915-2104) yesterday and a phone call today. Don’t have a WF account.

monchichi October 3, 2011 (8:35 pm)

Both my husband and I received the Wells fargo text message. I knew it was fishy because we don’t own a WF account and noticed that the first 4 numbers didn’t match any of the cc’s we own.

amom October 3, 2011 (8:51 pm)

Thanks, WSB for providing this info. My husband and I have both gotten calls and ignored them. Assumed it was a scam, but still good to hear the official word on what is going on.

Mary Ann J. October 4, 2011 (1:41 am)

i got the same call from this number 866-252-2105..is this it? i reported this to callercenter.org and got similar complaints about this number…

Elizabeth October 4, 2011 (11:14 am)

WSB i don’t remember if i gave my phone number for voting. i do remember that something i did recently required a phone number to proceed. perhaps i can check the voting site.

i was guessing on something that we might have in common. phone carrier is not the common denominator. very strange, the clustering.

Elizabeth October 4, 2011 (11:23 am)

ok…i just checked the voting site and they do not require phone number…just birth date and email addy, as well as name. sorry for my wrong guess and any confusion it may have caused.

Teresa October 4, 2011 (12:45 pm)

I got this as a text to my cell, a call to my cell and a call to my home phone #. One of them had the “your account starting with these 4 #s” and one of them was the press 1 to verify or something like that. Guess I’m just lucky to get all 3.

Margareta October 5, 2011 (9:37 am)

I got a call at 10:32PM last night from an UNKNOWN number saying that my card with Wells Fargo has been suspended and if I wanted to reactivate it I should press #1. I hung up.

Jenny October 5, 2011 (3:04 pm)

just got the same call- automated female voice telling me that my wells fargo card was ‘suspended’ and if I wanted to reactivate it I needed to type in my account number. I don’t have a wells fargo card

timh2o October 5, 2011 (8:43 pm)

I received a call from 317-215-5328 for WF.

urdumb October 5, 2011 (11:10 pm)

You guys, grow a pair. If they call you put in the first four digits of your card and make up the rest – this will ensure they call and get caught using bad information. duh.

Adam October 6, 2011 (1:07 pm)

Just recieved a text from wells fargo telling me my account has been deactivated/asked for credit card #

Scam

Ph # 206-658-5417
Ph # 206-497-7885

Huindekmi October 6, 2011 (1:37 pm)

Just received the same call from 317-215-5328. Various phone searches show this number being used for this exact scam since March, and in different scams dating back to 2009. Unknown if the actual number is being used (as in a remote bot-net style operation) or if the call is just spoofing the caller id with a known number.
.
On one hand, you’d think that if they were spoofing that they’d use a randomly changing number.
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On the other hand, if the actual line was being used, you’d think that Verizon (or whoever owns the CO for that area) would have shut that number down by now.

jen October 7, 2011 (11:35 pm)

.Hi I just received this call its midnight…. apparently its coming from people overseas. I’m in colorado. They asked me for the last 4 digits of my social and my bank card number. Saying hey needed to verify my checking account so they wouldn’t place a hold on checks. Well at first I thought it was strange. I did put in the last 4 and started my card numer and a voice said don’t give some automated service your card number so I finished with fake numbers.. It said the casrd was invalid and to reenter I hung up calling my bank. The guy told me it was fraud and that I should be fine since I didn’t give the card number. People are getting random cell phone number and since wellsfargo is such a large company they randomly call with this message. Some people will definetly fall for it please tell everyone you can!!! Moral of this story never give your banking information to anyone other then if your at the bank or called the bank yoursefl!! When making online purchases make sure they’re a reputable company… and ps. I have virgin mobile

Ramon October 11, 2011 (1:35 am)

I responded to them saying that the white house was investigating them… they have not bugged me in over 4 weeks since.

Edward Hlavacek October 16, 2011 (10:06 am)

My wife is a fraud analyst in Seattle. It is just amazing what I hear from her and at what lengths fraud is committed and also the techniques in which they use. In my business as an electrical contractor I have to double check my customer’s cards with id or I will not process their payment. – Edward H. Tangent Electric.

reversephonelookup October 26, 2011 (3:14 pm)

Seems like these new schemes are becoming more and more intricate – now I also get text messages saying that go to this site to claim your gift. And emails saying that ACH transfer failed, please login to your Well Fargo account. Be careful!