MIDVALE — It's getting increasingly easier for scammers to get our personal information, and once they have it, there's not much we can do to protect ourselves. One Midvale woman is tired of being a target.

73-year-old Norma Hood's story is one that's played out a thousand times. A scammer calls asking for personal information. If we aren't thinking clearly, we may give it out after all they claim to be our bank.

Hood has had four scam phone calls recently, three in the last week alone, "…asking for verification of address, phone number and then they named the bank that I bank at."

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Norma had one response: "I said, 'You do not need my banking information.'"

Thanks to good thinking, she knew it was a scammer all four times. But she's worried others won't be as clever. Many aren't. The Utah Division of Consumer Protection said that every day they get complaints of similar situations. Unfortunately, many fall victim.

"Your first red flag is if it's an incoming call," said Traci Gunderson with the UDCP. "So you're getting a call that is being made initially to you as opposed to you calling out to the institution, like say your bank."

They'll then ask you to verify your information, like address, phone number and social security number. If you fall for it, there's not a whole lot you can do. But you do have a few options before getting to that point.

"You can say, ‘You know what I'm not comfortable giving you this information so I'm going to call back and get transferred to you,'" Gunderson said.

Or simply hang up. "You don't have to be polite to anyone who is trying to steal your identity."

That's one response that Hood is already very familiar with.

Overall, the easiest way to determine a scammer is that legitimate company will never call you and ask for your personal information.

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