Bank phone, text scam targets residents

Residents around the area are receiving scam phone calls claiming to be from First National Bank USA that ask them to "reactivate" their account by giving out their personal information, according to St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne.

The computer-generated messages say that a person’s debit card or account has been canceled. Champagne said that the calls are "spoofing," which means that the caller ID number that appears is fake.

"The scammers are putting out computer-generated calls to many numbers in the 985 area code hoping to come across actual FNB USA customers," Champagne said. "The calls can be coming from any location including overseas locations and are hoping that bank customers will call the number given so that they can elicit personal information to commit identity theft from customers’ accounts."

First National Bank USA officials say they have also been notified by several people that they are receiving text messages concerning the reactivation of their debit cards.

Champagne said that if anyone has a concern about the legitimacy of a call, they should independently contact their banking officer through a number that they know is real.

"This is not the first time this has occurred and the next series of calls could well allege that they are from any local bank," Champagne said. "We have notified federal authorities of this activity."