Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATCHEZ — Delta Bank, a Mississippi and Louisiana chain that originated in Ferriday, La., in 1973, warns of a new online banking scam where fraudsters are posing as Delta Bank affiliates in an attempt to defraud unsuspecting customers.

“Everyone needs to be aware that fraudsters are at it again and with a vengeance,” the bank warned on its social media site. “We have noticed several similarities in the recent social engineering attacks on our customers.”

Delta Bank says that the new scam begins with a text message that asks if they have made a charge of X dollars to an unspecified company. Immediately following that, the person will receive a phone call from 888-757-8601, from someone stating that they are with Delta Bank’s fraud department. This is the legitimate 888 number for Delta Bank, however, is being “spoofed by the fraudsters,” Delta Bank states.

“The fraudsters then use any information that they have to socially engineer our customers into giving up more information,” officials said. “If they receive enough information, the fraudsters then attempt to log in to the customer’s online banking account.

“When a seemingly ‘legitimate’ text comes to the customer to verify the Online Banking Session, the fraudster requests it as proof that they are communicating with our customer.”

Once the customer gives them this text code, the fraudsters then have control of the online banking account and can send transfers, etc.

“The fraudsters have just enough to sound like they are representing Delta Bank,” the company warns. “Please always be diligent. If you question whether or not ANY contact claiming to be the Bank is actually from us, please visit your local branch immediately.”

Delta Bank has branches in Vidalia, Ferriday, Bastrop, Tallulah, and Lake Providence, Louisiana as well as in Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi.

To protect yourself against this and similar phone or internet scams, always be skeptical of unsolicited emails, texts or phone calls.

Never click on links or give out any personal information like a bank account number, social security number, or online login to anyone who contacts you out of the blue, even if the caller or messenger claims to represent a familiar company.

When in doubt, visit your local branch office or consider doing your own research by checking an official app or calling a number you trust to verify if there has been any fraud on your account.

If you receive a suspicious phone call, do not interact with the caller, even if it’s to simply say “yes” or “no.”