According to those contacting our office today, consumers in the Ozarks are getting recorded phone calls supposedly from Empire Bank, a biggie in the area. The call says there is a problem with the account and tells consumers to go to a bogus Web site to enter their banking information.

This is a phishing scam - an identity theft attempt. I won't give the bogus site - but suffice it to say it looks very real. Here is the actual Empire Bank Web site.

Remember, any time you are contacted by someone asking for personal info - online, by phone, doesn't matter - don't give it. Only give that out when you initiate the contact, to prevent ID theft.