A warning from Omaha Police that scammers are using text messages, hoping to trick credit union customers into revealing account numbers.

Here's how it works: Customers get a text saying their bank card has been deactivated and are instructed to call an 877 number to reactivate it. That's when scammers ask for private information.

When scammers went fishing for victims, Dawn Bettger got hooked by a text alert she thought came from her credit union. “It said alert, your card has been deactivated, please contact us to reactivate your card."

So she called the automated line listed in the text and read her debit card numbers into the recording, right down to the PIN number that provides ATM access. “After I did all that it hung up so I thought that didn't feel right at all.”

When it dawned on Dawn she had been duped into giving up all the personal information in her account, she went to an ATM and withdrew all her money before the scammers could do it.

A customer at Greater Omaha Credit Union wasn't so lucky, losing several hundred dollars to scammers 2,000 miles away. “Huntington Beach, California and once he changed his PIN somebody went in and withdrew the money,” said Greater Omaha Federal Credit Union president Richard Patterson.

The credit union staff fielded calls all day from customers and others who received the bogus text. “Basically asking why they had been getting this text message and most of them don't even have accounts with us,” said teller Zach Seastedt.

Even the president of the Better Business Bureau received the bogus text warning. “It’s a phishing scam,” said Jim Hegarty. “They send out huge numbers of theses texts hoping they'll arrive on the phones of Omaha Federal Credit Union customers.”

The scammers learn the first three numbers for certain cell phone providers in an area and just dial in remaining digits for mass texting, hoping to catch customers.

Dawn says the phony alert popped up on her cell phone after 6 p.m. Thursday, too late to verify with her credit union so she took it at face value. “Definitely a non-thinking moment.”

Omaha Police say we should never respond to any mail, e-mails or text messages about our bank information. We should call the bank directly if something looks questionable.