Phones were ringing across the Jefferson City area Sunday afternoon and evening as another mass scam hit Mid-Missouri.
Around 12:45 p.m. many Jefferson City residents reported getting a call claiming to be from Central Bank. The calls continued until well past 10 p.m..
Those who got the call said an automated voice told them that there was a problem with their debit card and if they entered their security code they would be able to resolve the problem.
The call went out to people who were and were not customers of Central Bank.
Central Bank Senior Vice President Dan Westhues said reports of these calls came in from residents throughout Mid-Missouri, including Fulton, Columbia and Holts Summit.
"It was an auto dial system," he said. "The scammers pick everything in certain area codes and start calling."
Westhues said as soon as they get a person's security code the scammers have access to their debit card.
"It's happened before and if we see transactions that are suspicious we can stop them real quick," he said.
Westhues said they won't know where the scam originated from for a while, whether it be from inside this country or overseas.
"Unfortunately, someone will fall for this," he said. "The scammers don't care what bank card you have. The reason they use Central is because we are big and an easy name to use."
Westhues said it has been more than a year since the last big scam call took place.
"We have to deal with some type of fraud every day," he said. "The Feds will take over the investigation. Many times they don't tell us what is going on because if it's going on here it's probably happening in other pockets of the country. We could be part of a larger investigation."
Westhues said if anyone has given out their code due to this call they should call the 800 number on the back of their debit card, no matter what bank they use, and the bank can put a stop on the targeted account.