Thursday, July 23, 2026 Issue #335

From Dubois County

Hey Reader,

Today has been a whirlwind of a day. I've got a couple of stories I'm working on right now, but didn't get them done in time for today's newsletter.

And in the midst of about six interviews and other busy moments, I received a call from someone purporting to be with my bank's fraud detection.

I was expecting another call and had set my phone to record. I gotta say, this guy was good — very professional, and he had me most of the way through.

He started with the fear: "Mr. Crane, we see some potentially fraudulent activity on your account." Then he tells me about a $783 charge at a Walmart in Los Angeles.

Side note, as a journalist: I really love the details here.

We work through that one, and then I ask if there's anything else that needs to be assessed. With a reassuring affirmation that he'll check, and after an appropriate pause as he supposedly does, he says the only other thing on there is an electronic transfer to some random name for $2,000.

Oh, he really has me at this point.

"Nope, didn't make that transfer."

Then comes the safety net: "We'll go ahead and put a hold on your account for now." He's protecting me.

But then we move into how he's going to make sure it doesn't happen again. He asks for my login ID for the online account. Admittedly, I gave it to him after a pause where I thought about what that could actually give him access to.

Of course, he told me I'd be getting a code by text or a separate call — and at that point I was sure he was fraudulent. A moment later, the text with the new login code came through (make sure you have two-factor authorization on all your accounts), and he told me not to tell anyone else what that code was — bold move, Cotton — before asking me to read it to him.

I let him know I'd just contact the bank directly to confirm anything else, and he tried to assuage me by saying he could take care of it right now. I told him I'd rather call the bank myself, and he politely hung up.

Here's another interesting piece to this: the person contacted my son first and asked him for my number before calling me. My son texted me during the back-and-forth, letting me know "the bank" was trying to reach me.

I can see how easily some people can be manipulated by these sophisticated scammers, especially when they run this urgency-then-relief structure: fear, resolve one fake charge, introduce a bigger "transfer," offer protection, then ask for credentials. It's a pretty textbook social engineering arc.

And the touch of having my son called first to get my number? That's a nice bit of reconnaissance one would never expect.

From Dubois County with love.

Matthew and Amy Crane

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​Jasper Council takes no action on leaving Mid-States Corridor RDA​

​Bretzville Junction to close next week​

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​Patoka Lake plant ID walk​

We have a community calendar full of great activities and events happening in Dubois County.

If you have an upcoming event you'd like the public to know about, please add it to our calendar.

​See it here.​

​Charles L. “Charlie” Eckert, 77, Jasper​

​William A. “Tony” Mahaney, 69, Bristow​

​Theresa S. Montgomery, 74, Huntingburg​

​Linda K. Russell, 78, Jasper​

Check out all the job opportunities by clicking here: Employment​

Contact Amy at amy@duboiscountyfreepress.com or 812-639-9650 if you would like to list openings on our website.​

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