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Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / General => Topic started by: AJS on January 25, 2006, 10:08:49 PM
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Just had this sent by our local NHW (Neighbourhood watch)
CREDIT CARD FRAUD: IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ
The following was given to me by a colleague at work, whose husband
works for Barclays and has dealings with Barclaycard.
Quote: This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA
& MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better
prepared to protect yourself.
One of our employees was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was
called on Thursday from "MasterCard". Note, the callers do not ask for
your card number; they already have it.
The scam works like this: Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm
calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number
is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern,
and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card that was
issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device
for £249.99 from a Marketing company based in (name of any town or
city)?"
When you say "No" the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a
credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the
charges range from £150 to £249, just under the £250 purchase pattern
that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be
sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"
You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud
investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 0800
number listed on the back of your card and ask for Security. You will
need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6
digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"
Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says,
"I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to
"turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers;
the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security
Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the
numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have
the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him.
After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I
just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and
that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After
you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to
call back; if you do", and hangs up. You actually say very little, and
they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were
called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a
question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us
it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of £249.99 was
charged to our card.
Long story made short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA
account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is
the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them.
Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for
verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they
will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the
information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3
Digit PIN you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you
get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make,
and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file
a fraud report.
What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from
a "Jason Richardson of MasterCard" with a word-for-word repeat of the
VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a
police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking
several of these reports daily!
They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is
happening. Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By
informing each other, we protect each other.
So People never give out you PIN
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Scumbags. Cheers for the heads up.
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Thanks for that, I'd heard there was a new credit card scam doing the rounds, but no one I know has actually heard the details.
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Very slick indeed....I might just have fallen for that too. Useful warning.
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Hmmn, alarm-bells came up when I read this.
I read about this scam before. This basically seems to be a cut and paste British version (replaced $ with £, replaced Arizona with generic town etc)of an old email that has been doing the rounds since 2003.
The actual story is {bleep}, but the scam is true.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp has all the info on how it works.
The general rule is do not give out information to people who phone you up. It is very rare that a legitmate company will phone you directly. If they do ask them for a reference no. and tell them you will phone the company back through a legitmate number.
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In would think for this particular scam to work that someone has to be either stealing your mail or looking through you rubbish for discarded credit card statements 1. So they know what kind of card you hold and 2. because your card number is generally printed on the statement. They would also need to get a hold of your phone number either from something in you mail/rubbish or from the phone book (being ex-directory should help with that).
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You know when banks or websites ask you for a special security phrase that only you can remember, do you invariably find that the word you choose is 'arse'?