Phishing Scam Alert

Text and Phone Call Scam claiming to be from Citizens First Bank

Clinton, Iowa, August 11, 2022

Employees were notified by many customers and non-customers of text messages being sent out, from a Fraud Department, claiming to be from Citizens First Bank.  The messages are asking if certain transactions were attempted, mostly Walmart and Target for higher dollar amounts.  Many times these text messages were followed by a phone call from a restricted number.  The caller is very comfortable on the phone and not easily rattled if questioned on who he is. Their goal is to gather information from the caller to hack the customers’ Digital Banking information and get the person to prompt a “forgot password”, then have the customer verify the One-Time PIN.

Sample of phishy text message: FreeMsgAlert: Citizens First Bank Fraud Department-Did you attempt $523.88 at Target on 07/10/22 Reply YES or NO to Opt Out reply STOP

Sample of phishy text message, sent as if it came from Citizens First Bank


 

Recommendations to keep your account safe:

  1. Don’t share your Digital Banking login information (username/password) with anyone
  2. Ignore texts or calls requesting personal information
  3. If you get an alert and suspect fraudulent or suspicious activity, contact CFB immediately
  4. When a One Time PIN is texted to you, don’t share it with anyone

Fraud is unfortunately rampant and we take any incident very seriously.