Text messages claiming to be from Bank of America are a hoax

Over the past two weeks, text messages have been sent out to El Pasoans requesting personal banking information.

The texts claim to be from Bank of America, and contain phrases such as “attention required,” “card limited,” and and most recently “please call.”

The texts provide a phone number to contact “Bank of America” at, and are sent from emails that end in boa.com.

ABC-7 check with Bank of America, and they said the texts are not from them.

Cellphones at ABC-7 have been affected by the messages.

At the station, the first wave of texts came on Sept. 12. More texts have been sent this week.

These type of texts are called “phishing” messages.

They are sent by people or persons who are disguised as financial institutions.

In the most recent text ABC-7 phones received, we were prompted to call a number.

“You are listening to an important message from Bank of America. Message was sent when format your Visa debit card starting with 4-3-5-6-0-3 has been limited due to an internal security error. To avoid debit card suspension please press 1 to get verified,” a recorded message said when ABC-7 called the number.

When we pressed one, we were asked to “please enter your 16 digit card number.”

So what do you do if targeted by phishers?

ABC-7 hit the streets to ask people if they would hand out their card number.

Cesar Garcia, said he would ask his bank representative first, to ensure the message was real.

When Jose Simental heard about the Bank of America scam, he said he planned on being more careful.

“Check my texts twice. You know, double-check with companies, and make sure everything is okay,” Simental said.

Greater El Paso’s Credit Union gave ABC-7 the following tips to stay safe from phishing.

First, don’t be fooled!

Financial institutions will never call, text or email you for any personal information.

Plus, they won’t ask you to take extra steps like emailing or calling them back.

Second, protect your identity.

Never give out personal information like your Social Security number, or account number if you don’t know who’s on the other side of the line.

Finally, if you do get a phishing message, delete the text or email immediately.

Follow up by contacting your bank to make sure everything is in line.

If you have received a Bank of America phishing text or email, they ask you to send the message to Abuse@bankofamerica.com so they can look into it further.