Description

Received a phone call on Oct. 10, 2025 approximately 12:45pm, caller stated he is with the Wire department with FNBO First National Bank of Omaha, someone placed a wire transfer on my account of $17,421.98 and was calling to check and see if we initiated this wire transfer. I replied I did not know anything about it. He asked if any employees were in the Houston, Texas area at Helget Gas Products that may have authorized this transaction, I said no, our employees do not go there. I called my husband and asked if he knew anything about this and he said no, I said no problem, I got it handled, I am talking with the bank. I asked which account was it placed on and he said he could not verify that until I verified my credentials. I asked what phone # did he call and he told me and it was my cell #. I said I could not verify credentials over a cell phone and gave him our home phone # to call me on. He called our home phone and then he said he texted me and I needed to click on the link and enter the online banking user name and password, I did and we were waiting for the verification code to be texted to my cell phone, we waited and waited and he asked a few times if it came and I replied no, then the call dropped, thank god! I looked up a customer service phone # for FNBO customer service and called and explained what happened, the gal thought it was a scam and did verify with the wire transfer dept that no wire transfers had been placed on our account. Our banker called me while I was on the phone with them and asked a lot of questions as to what information I had given out. Soon after I called the real FNBO and was talking to customer service, I received two calls to our home phone and one to our cell phone from a California # 805-236-0629 which I did not answer, I know it had to be the scammer wanting the verification code. Our accounts were shut down immediately as a precaution and are now licking our wounds and moving forward. As you can see I had never received a call like this ever before and took it hook, line, and sinker. Thankfully no money was lost. What we have learned about this is, if ANYONE calls you stating they are from a bank or credit card company, HANG UP ON THEM! There is no way for you to confirm who called you even if you ask a million questions! Caller id can be spoofed and the caller can give you the customer service phone # just like this caller did (the caller was an adult male with no accent). Call the bank or credit card company with the phone # on the back of your debit card or credit card, DO NOT GOOGLE IT! We also have stopped answering the phone, if the caller wants to talk, they have to leave a message and we will call them back with our trusted #. Also, DO NOT click on any links in a text or email! The scammers are getting very good at panicking, fooling, tricking people! Please learn from this BIG mistake I made, had it gone a little farther, I could have lost all my money in my bank account and no one would help get it back because I helped the scammer.