Phone Scam The following information was shared with The First National Bank of Talladega by the Community Bankers Association of Alabama. Due to the proximity of FNB to the Calhoun County area, we are forwarding this information on to the visitors of our website.
"Over the weekend, there was a telephone scam that targeted people of the Calhoun County area. The telephone calls were computer generated calls that were allegedly from Farmers & Merchants Bank. During the calls a computerized voice warns that the recipient’s account has been suspended due to suspicious activity. The person is then advised to call another number and is asked for their credit card number, expiration date and PIN. The Caller ID also has shown multiple numbers that the calls supposedly came from. One of the numbers on the Caller ID says Farmers & Merchants Bank with our actual phone number. This scam affected customers and non-customers in every city with a Farmers & Merchants branch (Piedmont, Anniston, Jacksonville and Oxford). Farmers & Merchants Bank in Centre also had customers and non-customers calling them. For more information, contact Greg Rosser at F&M in Centre or Kay Pope with F&M in Piedmont."
The First National Bank would like to remind our customers that we will never contact you and request any type of information inclding, but not limited to: account numbers, passwords, personal information such as date of birth or tax ID information, credit card or debit card numbers, security codes, PIN numbers, or expiration dates. If this information is ever requested of you via postal mail, e-mail or phone, immediately contact your nearest branch and do not give out any information.
Nationwide Cashier's Check Scam
Cashier's Check Scam
As of March 30th, The First National Bank of Talladega has been contacted by several banks throughout the continental United States concerning an alleged scam involving Shadow Shopper letters and Cashier’s Checks drawn on The First National Bank of Talladega.Our investigation has concluded that these checks are indeed counterfeit checks.
If you have received one of these letters and checks, do not attempt to cash or deposit the check.If a fraudulent or counterfeit check is deposited by you and is routed to our bank for payment, it will be returned to the bank of deposit and the individual depositing the funds will be ultimately responsible for any funds drawn on these counterfeit checks.It is strongly recommended that you contact your local law enforcement officials and the U.S. Postal Inspectors office immediately.
The counterfeit checks in question have the FNB logo in blue on a check with a light blue grid pattern background. The Routing Number is the correct routing number for FNB, and should not be used as the only verification that the check is valid.The majority of the checks to date have been in the amount $4,955.00 and are made payable to the individual presenting the check.
If you are a bank and would like to verify if a Cashier’s Check on hand is valid, please contact our office at (256) 362-2334.
The check is accompanied by a cover letter detailing instructions for the person to follow as well as a Customer Service Evaluation Tool (CSET) for the person to fill out upon completion of their transaction.A sample of both documents are displayed below.
Investigation of information included with the letter have revealed that there is an actual Shadow Shopper website (www.shadowshopper.com) but efforts to reach their management have been unsuccessful to this point. The email address listed on the CSET form does not match the email address given for www.shadowshopper.com.The email address was actually created on an anonymous mailer system.Efforts to reach their management have been unsuccessful to this point.
As a reminder, it is recommended that people always be on the lookout for these types of scams.In many cases, the individual being preyed upon has the most to lose.It is recommended that you investigate any offer that is “too good to be true” or offers of large sums of money for very little work.If you are in doubt about the validity of information, or if you receive any type of unexpected check, contact your local bank for assistance.Never, under any circumstances, should you cash or deposit a check given to you by a person or organization you are not associated with or were not expecting money from, especially if instructions with the check advise you to immediately wire or purchase another guaranteed money instrument to be sent to another person or organization.
This information is being released as a public service announcement to individuals and other banks.If you have information or questions concerning one of these counterfeit checks, please use the contact us link at the top of this website.
