Arlington Police Warn Of Bank Scam Targeting Residents

The scammers are pretending to be a bank representative, according to police.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Oct 6, 2026 2:50 PM EDT

ARLINGTON, MA — The police department is warning residents about a scam involving fraudulent text messages from someone pretending to represent their bank and asking for sensitive personal information.

According to Arlington Police, the message may claim that fraudulent activity has been detected on the resident's bank card, provide a reference number, and tell the resident that a representative from the bank will call them. Police said scammers may also use convincing messages and caller ID information to make their communications appear legitimate.

Officials are reminding Arlington residents not to respond to the messages or provide personal, banking, account, or security information, including verification codes or passwords. Anyone who receives a similar message is encouraged to contact their bank directly using the phone number on the back of their debit or credit card to verify whether the bank attempted to contact them and whether there has been any fraudulent activity on their account.

The warning comes after Arlington police have dealt with several similar scams targeting residents in recent years. In June, the department warned that scammers were spoofing its non-emergency phone number in an attempt to obtain personal and financial information from residents.

Police have also previously warned about fraudulent text messages claiming to come from the Registry of Motor Vehicles and Amazon. Those messages similarly attempted to convince recipients to click fraudulent links or provide personal information.