A scam related to Farmers and Merchants Bank is apparently not over, as bank officials previously said.
The same day an article about the scam's apparent stop appeared in the Leader Times, a text message scam using the bank's name targeted people in California. On Thursday, Farmers & Merchants received 19 voicemails from people on the West Coast who were apparently targeted by scammers, according to bank officials.
The people who contacted the local Farmers & Merchants Bank found the financial institution by searching the name online, according to bank officials. A bank with the same name recently opened in California. Local bank officials said none of the account numbers or people targeted are customers of the Western Pennsylvania Farmers & Merchants.
Several e-mails received by the Leader Times reported that the sender had received text messages regarding a nonexistent Farmers & Merchants account. The e-mail senders said they received a variety of messages, stating that their account has been blocked or been put under IRS review. The texts asked the recipients to call a number to fix the problem, according to the e-mails.
