New Credit Card Scam
By
Fred, on March 12th, 2010
This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except
the one piece they want.
Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This
information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA &
MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you’ll be better prepared to
protect yourself.
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 #####. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and
I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by
(name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for R497.99
from a Marketing company based in 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 R297 to R497, just under the
R500 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 (0800-VISA) 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.
Long story – short. 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 MasterCard 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 Number, 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 too late and/or more difficult to
actually file a fraud report.
City: Johannesburg
Country: South Africa
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Yip, the little buggers are getting clever these days.
There is NO WAYS your ACTUAL company would ever ask for that sort of information, as you said in your post, the credit card companies KNOW what those details are… The only time the banks EVER ask you for information, is when you call them.. This is to prove that correct person has called the bank, and even then, this would usually be PART of the number, or your ID, or a secret password you have setup previously or something along those lines… There are NO reasons they should be asking you to prove your identity when THEY CALLED YOU! They know they called the number on their database, it’s for THEM to prove that they are who they say they are. Sadly with the information they give you, you sort of feel like they have proved it, but all that information can be retrieved in many other ways, including thumb sucking (like their company ID)
I’ve had this call before sadly, and as soon as the person said, “I need this information to confirm you are the correct person” my reply was “You called me mate, you prove you are who you say you are, I’m not willing to give out ANY information to someone that called me, especially from a private number” I told the person I woud call my bank back, and what would you know… my bank has NO record of any of these things ever taking place.
My wife DID have her credit card cloned last month and her bank did call her. They did not ask her to prove her identiy in ANY way… They purely asked her to confirm the details THEY gave her over the phone, and then asked if she had spent money at a particular place, when her reply was no, they said they would start a fraud case and would sent her forms that needed to be filled in and sent back to the bank in order to be refunded (which included a police statement, which by the way… is the ONLY way the banks are allowed to refund you the money). I thought this also sounded dodgy and called my bank manager straight away, unfortunately he confirmed that the card HAD been cloned and that the forms were needed, and he gave me his number to send the forms to.
Hope they didn’t catch you out with this one Fred? If they did, let’s chat and I’ll tell you he correct way to get your cash back… after all, we have just been through the whole process.
Howdy jay…Nope…I did the same thing you did…:)I got the scam info from my bank!
Lovely….