You Gave Them Your Account Number?

One day last week, Mom told me someone had been calling and bothering her. She didn't know who it was, but they said she had some money coming to her and they needed to deposit it directly to her checking account. They needed her account number. She told me this non-challantly as she continued to focus on her Bejeweled Blitz computer game.

"Mom, tell me you didn't give them your account number!" I will admit my volume and tone wasn't necessarily sweet.

"I didn't know what to do."

"Did you give them your account number?" I persisted.

"Yes."

"Your checking account number?" I felt my voice getting louder and could feel the blood rushing to my face.

"Yes Donna. What was I supposed to do? They said they needed it so they could give me the money." Her voice was now whiny and defensive. she still didn't take her eyes off her computer screen.

"Mom, please show me where you got the account number that you gave them."

She pulled herself away from the computer, walked into the living room and took her checkbook out of her purse. She opened the checkbook to an unused check and pointed to her checking account number on the bottom. "This is what I gave them."

I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm sure I screamed at her that I have told her and told her to never, ever give out that kind of information. She insisted she told them they needed to call me, but they called back several times and she didn't know what to do, so she finally gave it to them. I asked her if they wanted her password. "Yes, they asked me for my password and I told them I didn't have a password. They didn't believe me, but I told them over and over I didn't have one and they could call my daughter if they didn't believe me."

I breathed a little lighter, checked the caller ID and saw only one suspicious phone call. I wrote the number down, went back to my house and immediately called the bank's 800 number. I talked with a helpful young man who Googled the phone number and discovered it was listed in blogs where people had posted warnings about it even in the past 24-hour period that it was someone who lived in Brooklyn, NY scamming elderly people. He reassured me they wouldn't be able to do much without a password and if money was stolen, FDIC insurance would allow Mom to recoup her losses.

In the days since, I've kept a close eye on the account and it seems safe enough. It begs the question how such criminals know phone numbers of elderly people. Have they hacked into AARP's databases or work for AARP or some other organization that would give access to birth dates and phone numbers? It's a scary world and very confusing for someone like Mom.