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As your trusted financial partner, Community First Bank believes that open conversations about financial security are essential for keeping our Wisconsin friends and neighbors safe. Today, we’d like to share some important tips about protecting yourself from common phone and text scams that could put your financial well-being at risk.

At Community First Bank, your security is our top priority. We’re dedicated to helping you stay safe from financial fraud, and today we want to alert you to a concerning online scam known as "pig butchering." While the name might sound unusual, the threat is real, and protecting yourself starts with understanding how it works.

Every day, thousands of people fall victim to fraudulent emails, texts and calls from scammers pretending to be their bank. And in this time of expanded use of online and mobile banking, the problem is only growing worse. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission’s report on fraud estimates that American consumers lost a staggering $10 billion to phishing scams and other fraud in 2023—an increase of 13.6% over 2022. 

In today’s “digital world,” online dating websites have become a popular way to meet new people. However, many who participate may not realize that using these websites can pose some risks. Online dating scams are becoming more prevalent and can range from people posing as someone they are not to serious financial fraud activity.

Unfortunately, criminals who specialize in scamming and the people who fall victim to their tactics continue to increase in frequency. With each occurrence, scammers learn how to evolve their methods to successfully prey on innocent victims.

We have seen recent situations where several businesses received an email from a vendor to change the way that they get paid. The email included a new account and routing numbers; however, this was a fraudster attempting to re-route the ACH payment. Verbal authentication of any payment change is highly suggested. Here is a great resource from NACHA with additional Fraud that is popular currently.

We have been made aware of customers receiving phone calls in which the caller claims to be from Community First Bank’s Fraud Department. CFB does have a Fraud Center that will contact you if there is potential fraud on your card, and we will never ask for specific personal or account information (including account numbers, names and passwords). 

“If someone sends you money and asks you to send it to someone else, STOP. You could be what some people call a money mule – someone scammers use to transfer and launder stolen money.”