A most embarrassing moment in Scamville

Full disclosure: This is the most embarrassing column I have ever written, and hopefully the most embarrassing I ever will write. But the truth is I got scammed. 
For years I have written the articles warning against online and phone scams, I have shared all the warning signs of a scam and, in fact, I wrote an article about a presentation local bankers gave at the Aurora Senior Center on avoiding scams back in September. But the truth is they got me! 
Here’s what happened. On a recent Tuesday evening at about 9 p.m. I was sitting at home when my cell phone went off. Looking at the screen, the caller ID said it was from the credit union back in South Dakota where we have been members for years and still have an account. 
I wasn’t surprised because over the years I have periodically received calls from their fraud prevention people asking about charges on my debit card. They usually read off a list of several transactions on the card that appear suspect, and often they are charges I have actually made. But once in a while there are attempted charges made by someone who somehow got hold of my card number and other info. (One I recall was someone using my card to pay for an Uber ride in California.) 
This call was different, however, and should have been all the warning I needed to simply end the call right there. First, the male caller had an unusual accent and the connection was so poor I had a difficult time understanding what he was saying. Then instead of reading off a list of actual transactions on my account as they usually do (which, of course, there were none because I haven’t used that account in many months), he told me that someone in Salt Lake City had attempted to use my card for transactions of over $200 and $400. 
Generally when that has happened, the representative who has access to my account is able to simply deny those charges, but sometimes they have had to actually cancel the card number because it has been compromised. In that case I have been issued a new card in a few days. 
However, this fellow told me that I needed to authorize him to lock the account and that I would need to do that through a “secure” text message that even he wouldn’t see. (Riiiiight!) I was to text my account user name and password followed by /LOCK. 
Red flag No. 2! (I feel dumber the more I write this and think back over the conversation.)
Having been told over and over that a financial institution will never ask for that information, I felt really uncomfortable now and at that point I told him I didn’t think that was wise and that I was going to terminate the call. However, he quickly warned that wouldn’t be good because then my account would be unprotected from fraudulent debits. Now I realize what I should have done was just end the call without another word, and next time – if there is a next time – I will. 
In my dithering around trying to decide what to do, the text message seeking the information came through on my phone and, still nervous, I asked him if he could give me any information to verify that he was who he said he was. That led to red flag No. 3, because in the next few seconds he began to read off a list of my former addresses (funny, he didn’t seem to have my current address) and even told me the names and ages of my brother and sister-in-law. 
This was a bit more convincing for me at the time, but in retrospect I remembered that information is readily available on half a dozen sites on the internet, like Spokeo, that compile such data. (Try Googling your own name and address sometime; it’ll scare you how much information about you is out there in cyberspace!) 
Long story short, I continued to hurdle down the road to Scamville at a breakneck speed, blazing past all the red flags and exit ramps until I had texted the sought after invitation. Soon after that the call ended rather abruptly and within seconds I began to feel like the world’s biggest sucker. 
At that moment I decided to call the credit union first thing in the morning to report the incident and do whatever I could to salvage the security of my account. 
I spoke with a representative named Tana who was extremely kind and helpful, and as soon as I described what had occurred she verified that I had indeed been the victim of a scam call. Once again reiterating the fact that a financial institution representative will NEVER ask for a login name and password, she told me that by looking at my account she could see that the scammers had accessed my account and “snooped around” but there had been no more harm done (This was probably due to the fact that I only had a few dollars in the account). She said it had also helped that I didn’t click on any links they sent because that could have led to malware being loaded onto my phone. 
She then proceeded to help me change the user name and password to restore the security of the account. 
As mentioned earlier, she was extremely kind and sympathetic, and when I told her how foolish I felt, she mentioned that she had just recently helped someone who works for another financial institution in the same town with the exact same issue. When I asked her how often she deals with calls like mine she replied, “all day, every day!” That made me feel a little better. 
So, let my embarrassing story be a cautionary tale which I hope will spare someone else from falling into the same trap. Your financial institution will never – I repeat NEVER – contact you and ask for your user name and password. When you get calls from unknown numbers, simply don’t answer. (If they’re legitimate they’ll leave a voice mail and you can call them back.) 
I also learned you can’t even depend on the caller ID on your phone to give accurate information as to where the call is actually coming from. That’s how sophisticated these fraudsters have become! 
Finally, if someone calls purporting to be from your bank and asks for such information, hang up immediately and call your bank. As the old saying goes, “Better safe than sorry.” 
RON BURTZ can be reached at newsregister@hamilton.net