AARP Hearing Center
Is That a Real Fraud Alert from Your Bank or a Scam?
Criminals send fake warnings about your account that look alarmingly real. Here’s how to spot the fraud
Benedetto Cristofani
About Bank Impersonation Scams
1. Signs to Watch for
- You receive a message about fraudulent activity on your accounts and are told to act immediately to protect your money.
- Someone claiming to be from your bank asks for personal information, like credit card numbers or your Social Security number
2. How to Protect Yourself
- Avoid links and phone numbers in messages that appear to be from your bank, and contact your bank through a trusted website or the number on your card.
- If you feel anxious or upset after receiving an out-of-the-blue communication, take a breath. Scammers use emotional manipulations to prevent you from thinking clearly.
3. Get Help
- Call the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 to speak with trained specialists who can offer support and guidance.
Pittsburgh resident Molly Sinclair recently received ominous-sounding messages from two local banks where she’s a customer. One warned that her account had been locked due to unusual activity and instructed her to click a link to verify the transaction. The other simply said that her account was locked and gave her a phone number to call.
Skeptical but alarmed, Sinclair got on her laptop and went to her bank's website, just to reassure herself that her money was still there. “The first thing that popped up on its home page was a scam alert,” she recalls. It warned about fake text notifications like the ones she had received.
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She’s glad she didn’t click on that link or make that call.
You may have received these messages, too. In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that impersonation scams, including business and government impersonation, were the most commonly reported type of scam. Reported losses through impersonation scams increased to nearly $3.5 billion in 2025 — a huge jump from the $1.1 billion reported stolen in 2023. (These crimes are notoriously underreported, however, so the number of people affected and the amount lost are probably far higher.)
If you have signed up for text notifications from your bank, it’s easy to mistake the scam texts for legitimate bank alerts. After all — as we all know — fraud is rampant.
“People are accustomed to getting texts from banks to prevent fraud,” notes Emma Fletcher, a senior data researcher in the FTC’s Division of Consumer Response & Operations. “There’s a certain irony that scammers are now using this to perpetrate fraud.”
A key tactic? To increase your anxiety, which diminishes your ability to think rationally. (Read more about how scammers manipulate victims’ emotions.)
How bank impersonation scams work
They warn you about “fraudulent activity” on your account. Bank impersonation scammers, posing as bank security departments, send text messages, emails and robocalls warning people about unusual, possibly fraudulent activity that requires immediate action. They’re trying to get the recipients to provide account numbers and login information, or to transfer their funds for safekeeping into accounts controlled by the criminals. In the process, they may also steal targets’ personal information, which can be used to commit identity fraud. (An episode of AARP's podcast The Perfect Scam features a small nonprofit targeted by criminals who impersonated their bank.)
In a new twist, bank impersonators will send a courier to your home — they can easily find your address online — to pick up your money and move it to a “secure” account.
They ask you to verify large purchases charged to your account. Some fake bank notification texts warn the target that an account has been locked, while others ask the person to verify a large purchase that supposedly has been made at a store. “If they reply ‘no,’ which many people might do reflexively, they’ll get a call from someone claiming to be the bank,” Fletcher says.
“The text messages from our bank to verify transactions are generated by the bank’s electronic fraud controls — not by humans — so an immediate follow-up call from the bank is a bright red flag of a scam attempt,” says Kathy Stokes, senior director of fraud prevention programs with the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
They ask you to cut up your card. The FBI has warned of scammers who call and tell you that you need to cut up your card due to fraudulent activity, but ask you to leave the card chip intact. They then say they are sending a “bank representative” to pick up the card. They may try to get you to tell them your PIN number and then use that to empty your account.
How to protect yourself against bank text scams
Never click on links. If you get an email or a text claiming to be from your bank, don’t click on the link it provides (even if you’ve signed up for text alerts). Instead, go to the bank’s website. Use the URL listed on your statements or that you’ve previously bookmarked, and check for any alerts on your account.
Hang up. Then contact your bank in a way you know to be legitimate, either online or by calling the phone number on your statement or debit card.
Never provide account data or personal info. As the American Bankers Association’s banksneveraskthat.com website reminds consumers, banks don’t ask for your account number, PIN or password during a phone call or in a text or email — and will never ask for a one-time login code. Never share such confidential details unless you’ve called the number on the back of your bank card.
Don’t rely on caller ID. Scammers can use technological tricks to display the bank's actual phone number or even the bank's name.
Be wary of a message or caller insisting that you take immediate action. Scammers try to pressure you to act quickly, to make it more difficult for you to think clearly.
When in doubt, seek assistance. If you’re unsure what to do in response to what appears to be an alert from your bank, stop and ask a trusted person — a friend, family member or coworker — to help you.
Join Our Fight Against Fraud
Here’s what you can do to help protect people 50 and older from scams and fraud:
- Sign up to become a digital fraud fighter to help raise awareness about the latest scams.
- Read more about how we’re protecting older Americans from scams and fraud and fighting for you in Congress and across the country.
- AARP is your fierce defender on the issues that matter to people 50-plus. Become a member or renew your membership today.
How to report bank impersonation scams
Notify your financial institution of the occurrence. Include a screenshot of the text. If you lose money to this scam, contact your bank immediately — it may be able to halt the transaction.
File a police report. The documentation may be valuable if there is a means of recouping your loss.
File reports with the federal government. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov uses fraud reports to target its investigations. The more information they have, the better they can identify patterns, link cases and ultimately catch the criminals.
Call the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline. Call 877-908-3360 to speak with trained specialists who can provide support and guidance on what to do next and how to avoid scams. The AARP Fraud Watch Network also offers online group support sessions.
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