Verdict · At home · Reviewed October 2026 · 5 sources
A call or text says it's my bank's fraud department
Treat it as a scam until you've called your bank yourself. Hang up, then dial the number on the back of your card or open your bank's app; a real fraud team will still be there.
The next two minutes
Hang up, or stop replying. You don't need a reason, and you don't need to be polite.
Call the number on the back of your card, or use your bank's app. Don't use any number from the call or text.
Tell the bank what happened. If there really is a problem, they'll see it on your account.
Already moved money, read out a code, or shared a password? Say that first, and ask the bank to stop or recall the transfer right away.
Who to tell
- Your bank's fraud line
The number on your card or in the bank's app. Ask them to note the contact on your account.
- ReportFraud.ftc.gov
Tell the Federal Trade Commission, even if you didn't lose anything.
- Anyone at home who answers the phone
Share the rule below so they hang up and call the card too.
Say this
“If someone calls about fraud on my account, I'll hang up and call the number on my card.”
One line to repeat, so the whole household (or team) answers the same way.
The step that stops the next one
Make sure it can't happen again
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Start my path from hereWhy this works
The figures behind the verdict, each with a dated source.
Copycat bank fraud alerts topped the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) list of text scams for 2022. Reports of texts impersonating banks were up nearly twentyfold since 2019, and the median reported loss was $3,000.1
The usual pattern is a text about a large charge. If you reply, a fake fraud department calls, and people believe the bank is protecting their money while they are the ones moving it out.1 Fake fraud alerts were still among the five most reported text scams in 2024.2
Bank impersonators often tell people to move money to keep it safe.3 The FTC's advice is to ignore unexpected requests to move or send money, and to check the story using a phone number, website or app you know is real.4
Caller ID can be faked, so a familiar name on the screen proves nothing.5 Why the rule holds: the call you start is the only one you can trust, and that stays true however convincing the caller sounds.
By the numbers
Common questions
What if it really was my bank?
Then calling the number on your card reaches the same fraud team. Hanging up costs you a minute and nothing else, and a real bank expects you to check.
The caller knew part of my card number. Doesn't that prove it's real?
No. Scammers often have pieces of your information from old data breaches. Knowing a few digits is not proof, and a real bank never needs you to read them a code, move money, or install an app.
Keep going
- ThreatHomeBusiness
Voice cloning and deepfake scams
Criminals can copy a voice from a short clip and fake faces on a video call, then use them to ask for money in a hurry. In 2025 the FBI logged 22,364 complaints that mentioned AI, with losses near $893 million, most of it in investment scams; voice-cloned 'distress' calls alone cost victims more than $5 million. The defense is low-tech: pause, hang up, and confirm through a number or channel you already trust.
Read - GuideHome
Help an older relative stay ahead of AI phone scams
Older adults report losing money to fraud less often than younger adults, but when a scam works it tends to cost them more, especially when it starts with a phone call. People 60 and older reported $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI in 2025, including $352 million in complaints that mentioned AI. This guide helps you set up call screening, bank alerts, and a trusted contact together, as partners, and plan what to do if something gets through.
Read - GuideHome
The family safe word and callback rule
Pick a private word your family uses only to prove who's really calling, and agree that any urgent request for money gets a hang-up and a callback to a number you already have. The FBI recommends the secret word, and the FTC and FCC recommend the callback. Setting it up takes one family conversation.
Read
Sources
Every figure on this page links to where it came from. We favor government, standards, and methodology-backed sources, and we take no money from anyone we cite.
- 1IYKYK: The top text scams of 2022 (Consumer Protection Data Spotlight) · Federal Trade Commission (FTC) · June 8, 2023Government · accessed October 26, 2026
- 2Top text scams of 2024 (Consumer Protection Data Spotlight) · Federal Trade Commission (FTC) · April 14, 2025Government · accessed October 26, 2026
- 3Protecting Older Consumers 2025-2026: A Report of the Federal Trade Commission · Federal Trade Commission (FTC) · October 19, 2026Government · accessed October 23, 2026
- 4Did someone tell you to move or transfer your money? It could be a scam · Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Advice · January 19, 2024Government · accessed October 26, 2026
- 5Deep-Fake Audio and Video Links Make Robocalls and Scam Texts Harder to Spot · Federal Communications Commission (FCC) · June 8, 2024Government · accessed October 23, 2026