STATESVILLE, N.C. (WHKY) – The Statesville Police Department is warning residents about recurring scams involving individuals who impersonate bank employees in an attempt to gain access to victims’ financial accounts.

According to police, victims receive unsolicited phone calls from people claiming to represent their bank or financial institution. The caller may claim that suspicious or fraudulent activity has been detected on the victim’s account and then request personal information, account details, passwords, PINs, or verification codes under the guise of helping secure the account.

These scams can be convincing. Scammers may already know some of the victim’s personal information and may use caller ID spoofing to make an incoming call appear to be from the victim’s bank or another legitimate telephone number.

Police are reminding residents to take the following precautions:

Never provide personal, banking, login, password, PIN, or verification-code information to an unsolicited caller.

Do not assume a caller is legitimate simply because caller ID displays the name or telephone number of your bank.

If someone contacts you claiming there is fraudulent activity on your account and asks for personal or account information, hang up and independently verify the claim.

Contact your financial institution using a telephone number you already know is legitimate, such as the number printed on the back of your debit or credit card or listed on the institution’s official website.