Local Bank Says Customer Contacted by Scam Artist

A local bank said one of their customers has been contacted by a scam artist.

Angela Brown of First National Bank of Dieterich said the telephone scam works as follows:

--victim receives a call saying their computer is sending a virus or other fraudulent information. The caller volunteers to help them fix the problem

--The caller asks the victim to check the computer event log

--Victim finds a common, standard alert in the computer log identified by the caller

--The victim is asked to allow a remote login to the computer to investigate the damage

--The caller offers to fix the problem if a credit card payment is made

--The caller tells the victim the credit card does not go through and asks for a bill pay payment

--Victim makes the payment.  A second caller asks for payment for the service.

--Victim relays the previous story.  The second caller says the victim has been scammed

--Victim is told to shut down the computer to avoid further damage

As a consequence, the scammer now has all passwords to bill pay, online banking, credit cards and more

Here are the actions you should take:

--If after banking hours, call the number on the back of your debit card and alert them to the situation.  Call all pertinent credit card companies.

--If after banking hours, GO TO ANOTHER COMPUTER and change your online banking password

--Contact your bank to discuss additional identity theft measures.