A calm voice, a polite tone, references to “your account”—it all may feel familiar. But for many customers of Red River Bancshares, such phone calls have become the latest mask used by fraudsters in a rising tide of bank scams.
In its recent alert, the bank warns that scammers are refining their tactics. They often deploy caller ID spoofing, making their calls appear to come from the bank itself. They may propose urgent actions like “verifying your identity” or “suspending your account” to pressure victims into blind compliance.
What makes these scams particularly dangerous is their professional veneer. Scammers may cite partial account balances or recent transactions to appear credible. Once they gain a customer’s trust, they request one-time codes, passwords, or ask to guide the customer through steps that enable them to hijack accounts.
Red River Bancshares is pushing back with education. Their guidance includes:
- Hang up first, then verify: Customers should not follow instructions from suspicious calls; instead, they should dial the bank using a known, trusted number.
- Never share security credentials: Passwords, PINs, or verification codes should never be divulged over calls.
- Stay alert to pressure tactics: Scammers often use urgency—“Your account will be closed if you don’t act now”—to force hasty decisions.
- Enable alerts and monitoring: Watch transaction notifications carefully and report unfamiliar activity promptly.
This warning from Red River Bancshares arrives in the context of a broader increase in telecommunications fraud. Experts note that voice phishing or “vishing” is emerging as a sophisticated threat vector in the arsenal of financial fraudsters.
For customers, the message is clear: a real bank will not request sensitive data over an unsolicited call. When in doubt, vigilance—and a quick check using trusted contact methods—can stop a scam in its tracks.
