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Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009
Beware text message scam in Merced County
Note seeks personal information from MERCO Credit Union account holders.
A new text message scam has been reported in Merced County -- and sheriff's investigators are warning residents to beware.
The scam, first reported Monday afternoon, has generally appeared in the form of a text message from MERCO Credit Union. Customers with AT&T cell phone accounts have been targeted, according to Sheriff Mark Pazin.
The message states that the customer's MERCO account card has been deactivated. To reactivate the card, the message provides an 800 phone number to call. But the text message is a lure by greedy criminals to obtain the account holder's personal information, Pazin said.
Investigators are urging anyone who receives the text message that appears to be from the credit union to ignore it. "It's a new version of an old scam-artist scheme. And no one should participate," Pazin said. "We're entering the Christmas season, and we don't want anyone to have a bad holiday because they were duped into giving personal information."
Pazin said the 800 number in the text message has been deactivated since the scam was discovered.
No one is in custody. "It's very difficult for law enforcement because these folks could be outside of the country and possibly outside of the continent," Pazin said.
MERCO CEO Mike Malone said the credit union's records haven't been breached -- and even non-members have reported receiving the message. Malone said he knows of two people who called the 800 number in the text message and provided their personal information.
Malone said those accounts have been blocked. Similar scams have been reported targeting credit unions in Arizona, Michigan and Arkansas. "I can't stress enough that there's no legitimate reason for any financial institution to require anyone to disclose that type of personal information over the phone," Malone said.
Anyone with questions about their account or the scam can call MERCO at (800) 273-4993 or (209) 723-4285, Malone said. MERCO has about 12,000 customers.
Pazin said it's unknown how many people may have received the message.
Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com
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