Hundreds of automated phone scams rang Big Horn Basin phones this weekend. The computerized messages, which continued on Monday, purport to be from First National Bank and Trust, asking for credit card information.The calls were bogus.

“Our bank would never call our customers and ask for that information over the phone,” said Linda Kolpitcke, a First National compliance officer.

An unsolicited phone call requesting any sensitive information should always be a red flag, said Powell Police Investigator Dave Brown.

“Whenever anyone asks for your financial information or personal information, do not tell them over the phone,” Brown said.

The phony recording currently going around tells listeners that their First National Bank ATM or debit card has been deactivated because of suspicious activity. To reactivate your card, the bogus message states, you must enter your card information.

In reality, your account is safe — until you give out the information the automated message is requesting.

Brown said if you have any doubts that a message is legitimate, you should hang up and call your local bank branch.

“Talk to people you know,” said First National Bank Vice President Dave Reetz. “That's one of the nice things about being a local bank.”

Reetz said First National's customer data is secure, and has not been compromised.

The scam has been making its way across the country — recently hitting Louisiana, Hawaii and Idaho, among other locations. The message is customized to each area.

In some of the local calls, the message used the name of a Billings bank.

“It was very widespread,” Reetz said.

The FBI warns consumers that caller IDs are not always accurate. Scammers can make their calls appear to be coming from a reputable source, such as a bank's telephone line.

The recent scams appeared to be coming from various U.S. phone numbers.

“They are probably not coming from what is showing up in caller ID,” Kolpitcke said.

In actuality, they likely originated from foreign sources, said Brown.

If the calls do come from out of the country, the culprits are nearly impossible to track down.

“There's not much I can do,” Brown said.

As of Monday morning, Powell Police and First National Bank had no reports of anyone taken by the scam.

If you did provide information to the scammers about your First National Bank account, the bank requests you contact them immediately at 1-800-377-6909.

Reetz also cautioned bank customers to be wary of emails and even cellular text messages that fraudulently claim to be from First National Bank.

Brown stressed that you should never disclose sensitive information without knowing who you're dealing with.

“Don't be giving this stuff out — call first,” he said.

Brown said if you want help in identifying a scam, you can call the Powell Police Department at 754-2212.