Pennsylvania State Police at Skippack said a 63-year-old Perkiomen Township woman was scammed out of $1,300 involving fraudulent phone calls from criminals posing as service members from Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union.
On Dec. 27 at 10:30 a.m., the victim, a resident of the 200 block of Oak Street, appeared at Skippack barracks to report the identity theft and theft by deception, which occurred on Dec. 10, police said.
According to troopers, unknown persons called the victim by phone and contacted her via text message, acting as members of the credit union, where the victim has several accounts. Police said the thieves advised the victim of suspicious activity on her account via texts.
The victim then provided her access and PIN information to her checking account and debit card via text, police said.
When the victim followed up with a local branch, she was told that the calls were fake and she found $1,300 in funds were charged or withdrawn from a checking account, police said.
All accounts were canceled and the victim was reimbursed for the stolen funds, per authorities.
Police and the credit union are conducting separate investigations.
