Are you a SECU member? This phone scam is targeting you and the scammers already have your information

It's a scam targeting anyone with money in the bank. It's scary, as the people making the calls have your information which can make this scam seem so believable and hard to catch right away.

Latty Sanders said he got the call and he only answered as the caller ID caught his attention.

"The Caller ID said State Employees Credit Union, and I said, 'oh shoot what's going on?'" Sanders said.

Sanders said the caller said they were with the fraud department with the SECU.

"We have fraudulent activity going on, on your card. He said, 'have you been in California?' I said, 'no, I'm right here in Durham sir,'" Sanders said.

He said they reported a fraud charge of $364. Sanders was skeptical, so he started asking some questions.

"He gave me my address, he gave me my phone number. I said look you're going to have to confirm something, send me some type of confirmation that I am talking to an authentic person," Sanders said.

That confirmation happened when Sanders got a text message that he thought was from the SECU, with a confirmation code for his account.

"When he sent that to me, and he authenticated, that's what threw me off, and I said, 'well maybe this is legit,'" Sanders said. "He said 'look, we are going to reimburse you, your money, we're going to send you a new card overnight, Federal Express.'"

Sanders was still unsure, so as he was on the phone, he decided to look up his account on his own.

"As he was talking to me, he was taking money out, that's how I knew. I said, 'man,' and I hung up," Sanders said.

It was all a scam. Right after that bogus call, Sanders did hear from the SECU about fraud charges on his account and after an investigation, he was reimbursed.

Sanders is not the only one to get this call. A sergeant with the Bladen County Sheriff's Office also posted this warning on the Department's Facebook page after got a similar call. He said the scammer even knew the answers to all of his security questions with his account.

As for Sanders, he said that's what tricked him, too.

"He had a lot of information on me, that's what got me and fooled me," Sanders said.

A representative with the SECU said the credit union proactively works to educate members on potential scams.

The SECU has this posted on its website: State Employees' Credit Union - How You Can Protect Yourself.

The December issue of their member newsletter Grassroots contains an article regarding Fraud Protection Reminders.

TROUBLESHOOTER TAKEAWAYS

The Troubleshooter Takeaways when it comes to these scam calls is to beware of spoofing -- this is when scammers change the caller ID or email to make it appear it's coming from your bank.

Also remember bank employees will not ask for sensitive information like your full account or card number, PINs and one-time passwords. Lastly, when in doubt, hang up.

This is the time scammers are trying to catch you off guard; instead, take the time and call the number on the back of your credit or bank cards to make sure there is no suspicious activity.