January 24, 2014 – The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, commonly referred to as CID, is warning the greater Army community about a new phishing scam where criminals are targeting U.S. Government Travel Card holders.
Over the last few days, Citi, the Government Travel Charge Card provider, has received calls informing them of a new phishing scam where cardholders have reported receiving suspicious text messages from 19014140142@VTEXT.COM.
The false text messages state that the cardholder’s account will be suspended unless certain information is verified such as the full account number, the Card Verification Value number on the back of the card, the last four digits of the cardholder’s social security number, and the four-digit PIN.
This text message is not a legitimate or official message and cardholders are advised not to respond to the request for information.
As a precaution, the suspicious phone number where the text messages originated from has been disconnected by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and now has a pre-recorded message informing callers that they may have been involved in a phishing attack.
The message also informs callers about the specific type of scam that was employed, what steps to take to see if their account has been compromised, and how to prevent themselves from becoming a potential victim.
Additional information regarding phishing and other internet scams, as well as general online safety information can be found at www.onguardonline.gov.
If you are a victim of a phishing scam, the following actions should be completed as soon as possible to assist law enforcement:
Report the crime to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (FBI-NW3C Partnership)
Online: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
Report the crime to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
Online: http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft
By phone: 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) or TTY, 1-866-653-4261
By mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580
CID strongly recommends that Soldiers, civilians and family members who have information of any known crime committed by a Soldier or a crime that occurred on their respective post, camp or station to report the incident to their local CID office or email CID at Army.CID.Crime.Tips@mail.mil.