A Lakin man, Tom Grauberger, was the recent victim of an elaborate scheme. And if not for the alert employees at a local Ulysses bank, it might have been much worse.
Margaret Nightengale, President of Grant County Bank, was one of several employees there who assisted Grauberger.
"There were some irregularities (with his account) that made us a little suspicious," Nightengale said. "If there is a transaction that doesn't look like a normal transaction for a particular customer, we tend to go a little bit slower and take our time and ask more questions about it, to make sure it's legitimate. We generally do that for all our customers when we see something. Because we have seen so much fraud lately, we are trying to be more proactive in helping our customers and keeping them from becoming a victim."
According to Nightengale, they are familiar at Grant County Bank with what is "normal" for their customers.
"We know our customers very well, and we know what is normal for them," she said. "So that is what it comes down to - what is a normal transaction for them. We are going to look at the transactions and the recipients of those transactions that don't seem to be normal for our customers. Also sometimes if our customer's body language is a little bit off - that will sometimes trip a red flag for us. There are so many things we look for."
What happened to Grauberger is not anything new.
"I would say we have at least one case a week we are looking at, investigating and trying to help customers mitigate," Nightengale said.
"Every single one of them is just a little bit different, because the fraudsters are realizing people are sharing stories and they have to tweak it just a little bit to make sure people aren't going to just immediately realize it is a fraud."
Grauberger lost $30,000 in the scam he was targeted in. However, it could have been worse - they were going after his $200,000 retirement money. Grant County Bank employees questioned Grauberger on where the money was going and what for. He had already been having doubts about the legitimacy of the transaction and the bank questioning it helped convince him to say "no".
Losing $30,000 is a large amount; however, he's not the only one. When asked how much money has been lost to fraud, Nightengale said "it is a staggering amount." That is why employees there are diligent in trying to keep their customers safe.
"I have denied transactions of $500, because they just didn't feel right," Nightengale said. "I told the customer I'm sorry if it's legit and I'm in the way of this, but I just don't feel good about it. I wouldn't let it go through if it was just one dollar if there was a red flag. We would not participate in a transaction if it just doesn't feel legit and just has too many of the red flags we are seeing."
It comes down to "paying attention".
"Most of it is paying attention to our customers' spending habits and looking for anything out of the ordinary," she said. "We are also paying attention to the trends out there on the national side ."
According to Nightengale, they watch what is happening on the national level so they will know what to watch for here locally.
"If something new is coming up we want to make sure we are aware of that," she said. "We started doing Cyb er security minutes in our monthly staff meeting to talk about other potential things, and talk about the new scams that are out there and how they are impacting customers. Even if they haven't hit our customer base we are trying to pay attention to that on a national level to stay on top of it."
And that's not all they do.
"We are also doing a Friday post on our social media which deals directly with fraud," she said. "We are just doing some of those things for people to be aware of, so they can share with their family members and their friends, and to make sure they understand the current trends that are out there. We trying to be proactive."
Nightengale said there are a few things people can do to protect themselves.
"If you receive a phone call and they are asking you for what we call PII - private identifying information - don't give it to them unless you've initiated the transaction and the phone call," she said. "Nobody should be asking you for that information unless you initiated it."
Nightengale said she thinks scammers are targeting certain people.
"I think the current scams are preying upon people who have a good trust in other people and don't think bad things happen - that there are bad people out there," she said. "If it's sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true - that's almost always the case. Your mom told you that for a reason. Verify before you do anything."
One thing scammers have started doing is telling people to not trust their local bank.
"One of the latest scams is they tell people it's the people at the bank who are involved in (defrauding you) and don't go to your bank and talk to them about it," Nightengale said. "Realize you know your bank employees. You know the people you deal with every day better than you do somebody on the phone, who is a random person who has just called you. Don't let them make you distrust the people you have trusted for years and who have your best interest at heart."
Another thing to keep in mind is to not automatically believe a caller who says they work for the government. The scammers who contacted Grauberger claimed to be with the Federal Trade Commission.
"Don't believe it's a government official just because they tell you that's who they are," Nightengale said. "Don't believe the government is always in there to protect you, because in this case these 'government officials' are saying that, because they are doing everything they can to defraud people. They were not government officials. That's not how the government works. Don't not trust your bank just because someone random on the phone tells you somebody at the bank is involved in trying to scam you."
There have also been scams involving a person's social security number.
"One of the recent things I have also heard is someone calling and saying, 'hey your social security number has been compromised. Let me help you get a new one.' I've never heard of getting a new social security number, because of one being compromised. I've heard that several times in the last couple of months, but that's not how the government operates."
There are ways to protect yourself.
"There are protections out there for you if your social security number has been compromised," said Nightengale. "Come talk to us about them and we will help you. We can put blocks on your credit report. We will help you with all of that, but we aren't going to issue you a new social security number."
Nightengale says she has also never heard of the Federal Trade commission calling someone out of the blue.
What are the chances someone will be able to get the money back after being scammed?
"Slim to none," Nightengale said.
"Whether someone is a customer of Grant County Bank or not, I want them to know they can come here and we will help them mitigate if we need to, to help them with any of these things that are going on," she added.
Scammers are successful because they are smart. Victims should not feel bad about being a victim.
"Unfortunately, the scammers are very successful and they just keep doing it," Nightengale said. "They are really good at it. Don't feel bad if you have fallen victim to one of those, because there are lots of people who have fallen victim to it. There have been lots of really intelligent people who (scammers) are preying on. Scammers use psychology, fear and all of that - that's how they are getting thousands of dollars with little work whatsoever."
In Grauberger's case, the scammers used a daily barrage of fear and intimidation. They even went to so far as to instruct him to keep his cellphone on at all times - not ending their call with him.
"They always tell you don't hang up, don't hang up, but the reality is - hang up and don't answer the phone again if they call back," Nightengale said. "I've had instances where they say they are law enforcement. I've encouraged people in those situations to take their phone to law enforcement and let them talk to them. They hang up every single time, because they are not law enforcement. Think about how did they get your phone number? How did the Federal Trade Commission get your phone number? People don't think about those things, but you've never had any filings with the Federal Trade Commission, so how could they get your cellphone number? It's just thinking and applying a little common sense to the situation."
Nightengale said she understands how they could draw someone in.
"I get it - you're in the middle of them threatening you, threatening your family potentially, but you have to step back from it and get a third party in there, because then sometimes we are able to help you see the irregularities in that transaction," she said.
Grauberger was compromised when a notice popped up on his screen when he was trying to file his taxes. The notice claimed to be from Microsoft and told him to call the number on the screen.
"When you have those situations, don't always use the number on the screen because that is the design behind it," Nightengale said. "You think, 'oh, it's a Microsoft product. If I call this number...' (Scammers) are so good at that. Google a number instead and do a little bit of additional research before you call those people, or call someone you trust to work on your computer and say if it's legit."
Grauberger is not even close to being the only one something like this has happened to.
"It's happening every single day," Nightengale said. "In one of our staff meetings (recently one of our employees said) a new scheme is that scammers are doing a layover on a QR code. They are creating a new QR code and putting it over the top of a legitimate one. It then takes you to a fraudulent site. It's especially rampant in big cities (such as where there are) parking garages. You pay to park and take a picture of the QR code. Those places are unsecured areas where it is easy for them to put a whole different (fraudulent) QR code. It directs people to their site instead and then the (scammers) are getting your debit card or credit card information. They (scammers) are thinking of new things every day to scam people with."
It's safer to trust an entity with roots in a community that you already know rather than a stranger on the phone.
Grant County Bank has been in business in Ulysses since 1907.
"We were at the old Ulysses site," Nightengale said. "Our building was put on skids and we were pulled to the new Ulysses site. We are part of that history of Ulysses moving. We've been in this building we have now since 1975."
Grant County Bank also has a branch in Garden City. Between the Ulysses and Garden City locations they have 55 full time employees, many of whom have been with the bank long term.
"We have an employee retiring soon who has been here 27 years," Nightengale said. "Our CEO will retire at the end of the year and he has over 30 years - I think closer to 35. We had an employee who retired after 40 years, so we have a good core of officers who have been here for a long time."
Nightengale, herself, has been with Grant County Bank for 29 years. The bank's philosophy was apparent in Grauberger's case.
"We understand our customers are the cornerstone of our business," Nightengale said. "We wouldn't be here if not for our customers. We need to earn the trust, confidence and good will of our customers every single day. We are here for the community and it's important for us to be involved in the community."
Nightengale said Grant County Bank is a "great place to work" and they "take care of each other." That care extends to their customers.
"If there is anything people have a suspicion about or doesn't seem right, please call somebody and ask for help," she said. "I hate to see anybody lose any more money to these people (scammers)."
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