Identity theft scam tracks through KC area

By PAUL WENSKE

The Kansas City Star

Officials are warning Kansas City consumers of a new multi-faceted identity theft scam in which victims are targeted by phone, text messages and emails.

The messages appear to come from Mazuma Credit Union but are the work of sophisticated identity thieves, said Travis Ford, an assistant Missouri attorney general.

“This is unquestionably a scam. What it has in common is someone asking for personal banking account information. That’s a sure sign,” he said.

Officials said thousands of consumers have received the messages and “dozens of people” have been victimized.

The FBI and the Secret Service have also been alerted, officials said.

Particularly worrisome is the use of text-messaging to reach consumers on their cell phones, a scam called “smishing.” It’s the latest tactic of identity thieves, whose arsenal already includes “phishing,” which targets consumers with e-mail messages, and “vishing,” which blasts consumers with recorded phone messages.

Mazuma President Rob Givens said the multiple electronic attacks began escalating last month. “We’ve increased our defenses,” he said, which includes shutting down illegal Web sites and phony 800 numbers.

But he said the text messages are most troublesome because people respond to the messages before anything can be done to warn them.

The messages tell potential victims their accounts are suspended. They are directed to call an 800-number or go to a Web site to provide personal account information, including their ATM PIN.

Givens said identity thieves have in some cases withdrawn thousands of dollars from ATMs as far away as Los Angeles and Mexico within hours of a victim providing their PIN.

In many cases, victims were not even Mazuma members. The thieves apparently are able obtain cell-phone exchange numbers and then blast an area randomly, officials said.

Officials said innovative thieves are making their own ATM cards using a thin piece of cardboard to which they attach a magnetic strip that contains a victim’s account number, which identifies their financial institution.

The thieves then can easily access the account anywhere in the country using the PIN.

“It’s a huge issue,” said Givens, who said consumers not only end up losing money but have to get new account numbers to protect themselves from future thefts.

A similar scam earlier this year hit Central Bank of Kansas City. Some of the scams have been traced to Romania.

Officials Friday warned that financial institutions will never ask consumers for personal information using a test message. Consumers who get the messages are told to ignore them and to contact their financial institution immediately.

Consumers can also report the scams to the Missouri attorney general’s hotline at (800) 392-8222 or Web site: www.ago.mo.gov.

Learn how to reduce the risk of security theft scams.

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