Scammers Always on the Prowl

Scam artists are now attempting to use the name of one of West Michigan's largest banks. An e-mail asking for personal information was sent to many of the bank's customers. This is a scam called phishing and while it's not new, it can still cost you, if you're not careful.

Velma Lee Ragsdale has boxes full of letters she's received. They are all scam letters.

"I've been getting them for years," Ragsdale says. "There's just no stopping. From the same people over and over and over again."

Ragsdale says many of the letters ask her to deposit a check, keep a portion of the money, but send the rest back.

"When I first got them, I was really excited," Ragsdale said. "Especially when I got those checks telling me to deposit them and everything. If they would have took them, I would have deposited them."

But, Ragsdale's bank recognized the scam and didn't let her deposit the fake checks. Similar scams, called phishing, can also be found online.

"Scammers will send out millions of unsolicited e-mails to unsuspecting people," said Jennifer Ranville of Fifth Third Bank. "They are designed to look very legitimate so they look like they're coming from a trusted source, but actually it's a computer scammer who is trying to steal money."

Some people in West Michigan recently received an e-mail that looks like it's from Fifth Third Bank, but it's not. Ranville says the bank has an investigative team fighting the fraud, but you must be careful to protect yourself as well.

"I think the key is just staying very skeptical of unsolicited e-mails," Ranville said. "No reputable institution, banking or otherwise, would ever send an unsolicited e-mail. So, if you get one, you should never ever respond to it."

She says other indicators that an e-mail may not be legitimate include if the e-mail says "dear customer" instead of your name. If the graphics or grammar are incorrect, that may indicate it's fake. Also, be careful of e-mails linking you to another website asking for personal information.