Credit card scam?

[Dirty Gertie]

Just received this; it might be an urban myth, personally, I never enter into ANY conversations such as this, I will ONLY talk to my bank on the phone if I have called them.

"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-Telemar! keting 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 n! umber, 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 reissui! ng 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."

[Damonski]

The best thing to do is always stop them mid way and try and start a different line of conversation, as they are all usually reading from a script. :)

Double Glazing just tell them you dont have any windows.

The best are when out shopping and getting stopped on the way out by British Gas offering cheaper electricity. The best answer you can give, "not interested, i have my own diesel generator" try it and watch their faces, because they arent trained for such silly remarks  :D

[Budgie]

I've seen that email on another site but can't remember where.

I got a call the other day from a sales person "calling on behalf of" my bank. So I said "So your not actually from my bank then?"
She said "Umm...well... no, but I can get my superviser to tell you who I am and where we are" to which I said " but how do I know your superviser is telling the truth?" and so it went on.
She wanted my account number so she could confirm she was talking to the right person and wasn't going to give it cos the bank already knows my account info and has my phone number so I never actually confirmed any information to her.
I do enjoy phone calls like that!!  :twisted:

[Baby_Rhino]

i had this email as well but not sure if its true, just reminds us to keep our details to ourselves anyway

[UDTrev]

This email has been kicking around for a few years now, it keeps on appearing once it's forgotten about.


Trev

[jiffyman]

I got a call the other day from a sales person "calling on behalf of" my bank. So I said "So your not actually from my bank then?"
She said "Umm...well... no, but I can get my superviser to tell you who I am and where we are" to which I said " but how do I know your superviser is telling the truth?" and so it went on.

We get loads 'on behalf' of our mobile phone companies. 'WE WILL GUARANTEE TO BEAT YOUR CURRENT CONTRACT.....etc etc' :roll:  :roll:

My missus always gets them and wants to know if they CAN guarantee, why do the then say they cant when she tells them her bill is ONLY £5.01 a month, that includes line rental!!! :P (and it is, honest)

'But I'm sorry, we can't beat that'     'Ah, but you said yu could GUARANTEE it'......................................................

MUPPETS!

[Range Rover Blues]

Heard that one from my uncle in Oz