Phone scam targeting Quay County residents

A phone scam is targeting the customers of the First National Bank of New Mexico in Quay and Colfax counties.

There were 20 suspicious calls reported Wednesday to bank headquarters in Clayton, said Craig Reeves, FNBNM president.

This is the second time that FNBNM customers in Quay County have received “vishing scam” calls.

Vishing is a scam that uses social engineering and Internet technology to gain access to private,  persoanl and financial information from consumers.

In July 2008, the Federal Trade Commission issued a warning and took control of a phone number that had been used to make  random calls to numbers in Clayton and Logan.

The calls do not ask for specific customers. They just indicate an account has been frozen because a third party tried to gain access to it. The customer is asked to enter their account number along with additional personal information.

“Our bank would never contact a customer and ask for their account number or other personal information,” Reeves said. “We already have their information on file and we would have no need to ask for that information.”

The calls have been placed to customers in Logan and Raton. Tucumcari has had no reports from their customers about suspicious calls, according to Garret Baker, vice president at Tucumcari’s FNBNM.

“They are really going at it today (Wednesday),” Reeves said. “Last month the same call was being made to Union County customers. Many times these calls come in late at night.”

Reeves said that if the bank had a problem with a customer’s account the customer would be contacted by their local branch.

If customers receive a suspicious call, they should report it to their local bank branch, Reeves said.

‘We are a national bank and have contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about these types of scams in the past,” Reeves said. “A report about these recent phone calls will be submitted to the FBI.”

The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office received reports of a similar type scam targeting the customers of Santa Fe’s Guadalupe Credit Union in December, according to a report on the Attorney General’s Web site.

The report said 200 customers contacted the Guadalupe Credit Union about receiving a text message on their cell phones informing them that their account had been closed.

In the report the text message read, “Dear Guadalupe CU member, your account with us is closed due to unusual activity, call 1 773 527-6557.”

The report said that when the number was called, a recording stated, “Welcome to Guadalupe Customer Service. To re-activate, we need three things from you: a 16-digit credit card number, expiration date and pin number.”

First National Bank of New Mexico branch locations and phone numbers:
l Clayton: 575-374-8315
l Logan: 575-487-5000
l Raton: 575-445-1400
l Tucumcari: 575-461-1100