Belton couple warns about masked numbers after falling victim to scam

A Belton couple is warning others after falling victim to scammers masking their bank's phone number.

Nicole and Mark Woods got a call from what they thought was their bank around 12:30 a.m. Most would assume it's a legitimate call from a bank employee. So, when they ask for your personal information, you don't think twice.

Turns out though, it's actually a scam.

"The thing that was so strange and really scary is that he had my login username. He was able to go in and change all of my security questions," Nicole said.

The call was regarding the couple's account at USAA.

"They were slick, I'll give them that," Mark said. "I want people to be aware that even though you're getting a phone call from the bank, they have software out there that will allow them to mask their phone number."

The scammers ended up getting away with a $1,000.

In order to prevent from becoming victims again, the couple plans to do something different in the future.

"Anytime we get a phone call from one of our banking institutions, we're going to call back and use the actual phone number instead of just taking it at face value," Nicole said.

The couple now hopes their story helps other Central Texans from becoming victims as well.

"That could save you a lot of heartache like what we're going through right now," Mark added

The Woods also say USAA jumped into action quickly and sent their case to its fraud department to try to get it resolved as quickly as possible.

Copyright 2018 KXXV. All rights reserved.