OT: New Credit Card Scam

I don't know how tru this is, i was forwarded it, but beware anyway.

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 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 your 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."

Reply to
Alex
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Not strictly speaking true, I was speaking to the fraud dept of my visa account, and they asked me (amongst other things) for the 3 digit code, to confirm my identity. The difference being that I had called them, so I knew the call was genuine! (and to bring this right back on topic, the reason I had to call the fraud dept was because they had just bounced my payment for my RR P38!! I had to do some additional security stuff to allow the payment as it was unusually large for my card usage pattern)

If you do get a call like this, you need to make sure all your cards get changed, the scammers obviously already have your numbers, address, name and phone number. The only thing they don't have is the 3 digit security code.

Reply to
SimonJ

They bounced a payment for a scuba rebreather upgrade for me when it was only 12% of my credit limit. When they phoned I said "pay it" so they bounced it again. I got the supplier to put it through in two slices and it went in. They say they get that with Visa quite often.

nigelH

Reply to
Nigel Hewitt

When i bought my 101 the payment wouldnt go through on my visa either. I rang them up and they said they hadnt stopped it. half an hour later they rang me to say that they had stopped a big payment, but i'd managed to mess about and pay via other methods by then. Its a stupid system if it has that much of a delay on it!

Reply to
Tom Woods

[SNIP]

And that is a Hoax. See

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A quick Google will normally reveal these Hoaxes for what they are.

Reply to
Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com

.. especially if it's got "please pass this to all your friends" or similar in it.

Mind you it's at least almost plausible, and could happen if the thief already had your address and credit card details and all that was missing was the 3-digit security code. This 3-digit code isn't supposed to be stored on websites or on any system, but some thefts from websites have included the code, stored by the website against the advice of the credit card companies.

Now if only the CC companies would stop calling people and asking them to verify their identies with the usual questions...

Reply to
Ian Rawlings

DONT! Tell them to write to you, thats what I did and they don't bother ringing now. I started that when the person ringing from Lloyds could hardly speak English.......

Richard

Reply to
beamendsltd

Should that be "Rroyds" and "Engrish"?

Reply to
Steve

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