Anderson Loses $4,000 to First Financial Impersonator

James Anderson lost $4,000 from his bank account following a phone call he believed was from his credit union. The incident occurred on the night of Halloween, when a caller identified themselves as part of First Financial Credit Union’s fraud department.

The caller told Anderson that four suspicious transactions of $1,000 each had posted to his account. Anderson said he stayed on the line for approximately one hour while the individual attempted to resolve the issues. During that time, the caller sent text messages and requested verification codes and the password to Anderson’s account.

“I thought it for sure was my bank, but it wasn’t,” Anderson said. He later detailed the breakdown of the theft: “they took first charge was a thousand, second charge was a thousand, third charge was a thousand. And the fourth charge was a thousand. So a total of $4,000 they scammed me out of.”

Doubts arose after Anderson visited his bank in person. While at the branch, he received another call from the same number. A credit union employee asked the caller for their full name and employee details. The caller ended the conversation immediately. “I said, ‘Give her your information.’ He hung up the phone. That was the last I’ve heard from him since,” Anderson recalled.

Paul Mondragón, the Bank of America New Mexico market president, noted that legitimate banks do not ask customers for information they should already possess. “If they’re asking you to put details about your account, whether it’s a card or your personal account, that’s an indicator that there’s probably some fraud behind it,” Mondragón stated. He also advised checking email addresses and URLs for misspellings, such as replacing an "I" with a "1".

Anderson has filed a police report regarding the theft. His bank indicated that he may recover the funds within a few days. The Federal Trade Commission reports that New Mexico has recorded more than 6,000 fraud reports in 2026, with total losses exceeding $35 million.