Scammers are beginning to impersonate banks and send accomplices to call and have victims pick up what appears to be a broken debit card

Most scams involve tricking victims into installing malicious apps on their smartphones or sending gift cards as a payment method, but this new tactic goes a step further, and those who fall for it may end up having their homes called by one of the scammers!

Here's how

Here is everything you need to know about this new bank impersonation scam and how to avoid falling for it yourself Keep in mind, however, that the scammers behind this new scheme may target your friends as well as your elderly family members

In a new warning from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the FBI explains how this scam works and what to watch out for if you receive a suspicious call

To make this scam more credible, the scammers provide some personal information during the initial call, including the victim's name, address, and bank account information; the FBI is not sure how they obtained such sensitive data, but the government agency now believes that certain groups of people stated that they do not believe they are being singled out

Normally, most people do not answer when they receive a call from an unknown number However, these scammers have figured out how to spoof the caller ID of the victim's bank to ensure that the victim answers the call

When the call is answered, the fraudster pretending to be a bank employee asks about recent transactions, leading the victim to believe that some fraudulent activity involving the account has taken place This is just a pretext to get you to chop up your debit card, leaving the chip intact, and return it to the bank

This should stand out as a major red herring because no legitimate bank would ask their customers to do this, but so many people have fallen for this scam that the FBI deserves a warning

If the scam goes this far, the phone scammer sends an accomplice to the victim's home to receive a mutilated debit card chip If the scammer does not yet know the victim's PIN, the phone scammer or accomplice uses social engineering to get it from the victim

With the debit or credit card chip and the victim's PIN in hand, the fraudster can withdraw money and steal funds from the bank account Because this is done in person rather than online, it is likely not to alert the bank's fraud detection system, allowing the scammer to take your cash and run

The best way to avoid falling for such scams is usually not to answer the phone or reply to messages or emails from unknown callers However, the whole situation is a bit trickier because the scammers behind this campaign have spoofed the caller ID to make it look like they are actually calling from the victim's bank

There are a few things you can do if you answer such a call to spot the scammer For starters, pay close attention to the person's language and the way they speak on the phone Do they speak professionally, as someone who works at a bank would? Is the call quality clear or is there a lot of noise? Usually banks are very quiet, so this may be another indication that you are talking to a scammer and not a banker

From here you can ask the person to answer a few questions What state did the person call from? When was your account created? What was the last transaction you saw in the system? The answers to these questions may or may not tell you if the person is really you Likewise, you could hang up and call the bank to see if the caller is really who they say they are

Even if you find yourself talking to a scammer, be careful with this particular campaign because the scammer has access to your address Be careful with this particular campaign because the scammer has access to your address If this is the case, you want to make sure you turn on the lights, lock your doors, and let someone close to you know what is going on

If you are exposed to this or a similar scam, you would report it to the FBI's IC3 hub so that they can alert others who may also be targeted