Lbm Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 This was sent to me by a friend and is definitely worth reading!! Hope you haven't been caught yet. All the best ... Rob LBM This one is pretty slick since they provide Y O U 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. One of our employees was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was called on Thursday from "MasterCard". 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 which was issued by (name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99from a Marketing company based in London ?" 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 £297 to £497, just under the £500 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. 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 £497.99 was charged to our card. Long story - 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 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Good old fashioned social engineering.... If the person on the other end of the phone is comfortable, then the other will happily hand over information. Do you know how easy it is to phone someone and say 'Hi, I'm Kevin calling from Orange and I need to ask you a few questions regarding your account, can you please confirm your security code before we go ahead.' Hell, if you have their address you can even read it back to them in order to give the illusion of authority. Not difficult..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Repost, but however good info, it would be all to easy to get sucked in by this if your not concentrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 The best advice I could offer for this sort of thing... IF anyone phones you regarding money/financing/cards (Anything involving money basically)... Get details from them, do not confirm anything. Don't feel scared to ask them questions about your account. Small things like, 1. Can you tell me when I opened the account. If they are not willing to do that, simply end the call without any further communication and phone the relevant office yourself rather than relying on them transfering the call. This won't help you if the person doing the act is ACTUALLY based in their office (and yes this does happen), but it will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 While this is certainly possible, it's nothing new and that e-mail is an old one... http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp Original states dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbm Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 Sorry if it's a repost but I'd not seen it before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Don't think you need to apologise... Peaple still get scammed every day (I personally know of a guy who gave his notice in at work when he thought he had inherited £14 million) so a reminder not to give your security numbers to anybody can't be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesy W Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I got a phone call yesterday from a company claiming to be associated with o2, Calling to offer a discount on my handset warranty. The company are called "Shield Warranty" but are actually scamming bastids, After reading this thread I though about it and called o2 who confirmed it. Luckily it clicked before any money left my account. Just to warn incase anyone has had similar calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Lynz_ Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Repost or not, there's probably a lot of people who haven't seen it and for those who have it serves as a good reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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