Swampscott cops warn of recent ID theft emails

SWAMPSCOTT – Swampscott police are urging area residents who bank online not to respond to emails or popup messages that claim to be from their bank.According to Detective Ted Delano, several Swampscott residents contacted the police department on Wednesday regarding a pop up message on their computer, which claimed to be from Bank of America.Delano said the pop up message stated their Bank of America account has a sign in error. The message instructed the account holder to call Bank of America at a 1-800 number.”Once the resident calls this number, the person on the other line states he is from Bank Of America,” Delano said. “And he states he will assist the party in clearing up the error message.”At least one resident gave very sensitive personal information including their date of birth and social security number to the individual on the phone.”The resident thought the matter was cleared up until this morning when she contacted the bank,” he said. “Her identity has been severely compromised.”Delano urged residents to be aware of the scam and never to call a number they are instructed to call in an email or pop up message, regardless of what site they are on. He suggested residents look up the telephone number for their banking institution in the phone book or call their local branch during regular business hours.”We spoke to one bank that has been contacted by numerous account holders regarding this pop up message,” he said. “It looks very legitimate and when you call the number the phone is answered Bank of America.”