Criminals trying to use the name of a local bank to defraud the public moved to a new tactic this week with cellphone text messages.

Denton police say they’re not sure how the criminals acquired the cellphone numbers, but they believe the operation is based in Guatemala.

Detective Brandon Hobon, who handles financial crimes at the Denton Police De­partment, said the department has re­ceived numerous calls from people who have received text messages, e-mails and automated telephone calls purporting to be from Point Bank. The message is that the recipient’s bank account has been closed. The recipient is instructed to log onto a Web site or input debit or credit card information to update or verify information.

The calls appear to come from local num­bers, but the numbers have been “spoofed,” he said.

This is a scam designed to acquire information used in identity theft, he said.

“The e-mails came from Eastern Europe, but the text messages are coming from Gua­temala,” Hobon said. “The federal government shuts down these Web sites, but they can open another one in a matter of two or three minutes.”

No one should divulge any personal iden­tifying information to an unknown person, specifically not in response to text messages, e-mails or automated telephone calls, he said.

“Any citizen who is concerned about the status of their Point Bank account should contact their local Point Bank branch directly and verify their account status only with an authorized agent of Point Bank,” he said. “They should call their local bank, rather than the police.”

This is only one of a proliferation of scams targeting local people, said police spokesman Jim Bryan.

“This one is unique because the caller ID is showing a local number. But with today’s technology, you can’t depend on it actually being local. As always, you should not give out any personal information that could be used to access your accounts unless you initiate the phone call. The best bet is to do it in person with your financial institution.”

 

Other reports

600 block of Londonderry Lane — A man grabbed a woman’s purse from a bench where she was sitting Tuesday and ran away with it, she reported to Denton police.

The victim said she was sitting on a bench in front of a laundry waiting for her clothes to wash. She was writing in a book and her purse was next to her on the bench.

Suddenly, a man appeared and grabbed the purse. She said, “Please don’t do this,” and the man paused and looked at her, according to the report. Then he ran behind the building and disappeared.

100 block of South Avenue G — A man reported Tuesday that he received a bill for $239 from a Visa credit card company. He has never applied for nor received a Visa card, he said, and does not know how someone applied for one in his name.

 

Roundup

From 7 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday, Denton police handled 416 calls for service and officer-initiated calls, including three thefts, four burglaries, one criminal mischief, two reports of identification theft, one vehicle burglary, three assaults, one suicidal person, one harassment and one deceased person.

From 7 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday, Denton County sheriff’s dispatchers handled 237 calls for service and officer-initiated calls for agencies they dispatch. Forty-six people were booked into the county jail. Deputies took reports of one recovery of stolen property, two frauds, one burglary and one assault.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com .

 

Denton County Crime Stoppers will pay a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests in these or other crimes. Callers will remain anonymous. Call 1-800-388-TIPS (8477).