Hundreds Targeted In RBFCU Impersonation Scam; Victims Say Claims Denied
By CU Today Staff —
SAN ANTONIO— Hundreds of members of Randolph-Brooks FCU were targeted by impersonation scams during the second quarter of 2026, and multiple victims who lost thousands of dollars say the credit union has denied their reimbursement claims, according to KENS 5.
According to KENS 5, RBFCU said in a June 5 advisory that confirmed impersonation scams involving its members had increased by an average of 100 additional cases per month during the second quarter, indicating there were at least 300 confirmed cases during the period.
Victims said scammers spoofed RBFCU's phone number, posed as fraud department employees and claimed unauthorized transactions had occurred, while already possessing personal information such as usernames, passwords or portions of Social Security numbers that made the calls appear legitimate.
"I said 'hey, you could be a scammer! I'm not giving you anything,'" victim Erik told KENS 5. "They said 'sir, have I asked you for any information? I've got your username, your password.' He had my full social or the last four of my social. All of those things were correct."
According to KENS 5, victims then received text messages appearing to come from the same short code used by RBFCU for legitimate alerts before being instructed to reply "yes" to approve what they believed were protective transactions.
Consumer protection attorney Bill Clanton told KENS 5 he has been contacted by at least 10 victims with nearly identical stories, with some losing more than $50,000 through multiple transfers.
"They have all been very similar," Clanton said. "The person on the line identified themselves as an RBFCU representative and gives them information to these folks. Some people said the scammer told them their full social. Some people said it's their date of birth. Some people said it was their username."
According to KENS 5, the victims said RBFCU denied their reimbursement requests, telling them the transactions were authorized because they were completed using their account credentials. Clanton disputed that interpretation, arguing some of the denials may violate the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA).
"They are saying that the EFTA doesn't cover it when you give someone our account credentials, which is a misunderstanding of the law," Clanton said. "If you are frauded into giving your account access to somebody then that can still be a violation of the EFTA."
He added, "The initiation of the transfer is what counts. And so if it's an unauthorized initiation of the transfer then the EFTA says it's an unauthorized transaction."
In a statement provided to KENS 5, RBFCU said it is aware of the increase in impersonation scams and that its fraud and operations teams are investigating the incidents with law enforcement. The credit union said it remains committed to member education and emphasized it "will never ask you for your username or password or to move funds to 'secure' your account."
Originally reported by CU Today.