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Cyber crooks resort to calling their victims

Cyber criminals are becoming bolder and are now engaging in direct contact phishing scams in their bid to access individuals' accounts data.

Not satisfied with exposing users to online threats by setting up fake pages on the internet, cyber crooks are now resorting to telephone phishing, a US bank has warned.

According to First Hawaiian Bank, cyber crooks have set up an operation where their customers are being contacted and deceived into revealing their banking information.

"The recorded phone message informs the recipient that their First Hawaiian Bank ATM card has been deactivated. It instructs the recipient to press the number one on their phone keypad and to enter their card number as well as other personal information," said the bank.

The bank has issued a warning to its customers not to fall for the trick and to "hang up immediately" if they receive a suspicious phone call and contact their banker.

A text messaging scam was also recently reported by Cooper State Bank.

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