Bank scam traced to Romania

Somewhere in Romania, a crook is spending money stolen from a Broken Bow, Neb., resident.

More than 50 customers of Nebraska State Bank & Trust Co. in Broken Bow gave out personal and financial information Monday evening after receiving cell-phone calls alerting them to “problems” with their cards, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said Wednesday.

The scammers, who later were traced to Romania, called cell-phone numbers with 880 or 870 prefixes and told the people that their debit cards had been deactivated. To reactivate the cards, Bruning said, the people needed to enter their account number, PIN, security code and Social Security number.

Jami Anderson, assistant vice president of Nebraska State Bank & Trust Co., was one of the estimated 5,000 people who received the call.

Banks never ask for such numbers, Anderson said. “We already have them.”

Bank officials immediately began calling each other.

“We didn't know how wide-scale it was,” she said.

Bruning held a press conference in Lincoln to warn other Nebraskans about the scam and to remind people to never give out personal financial information over the phone, “even if it's your bank that says they're calling.”

The bank had lost at least $5,000 as of Tuesday night, Bruning said.

Anyone who provided information over the phone is urged to immediately contact the bank, close any account that may have been compromised and contact the three main credit-reporting bureaus and place fraud alerts on their accounts.

For more information, contact the Attorney General's Office at (402) 471-2682, toll-free at (800) 727-6432.

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