Credit card fraud attempt!

[BellyBaby]

WOW!!! I just got off the phone!

A man said he was from Toronto, and that my credit card may have been compromised. He listed my address, phone #, and asked about my mastercard or visa.

Hmmm. Which is it, M/C or visa? He repeated M/C and visa, then goes into a speech about my confirming my expiry date, to ensure my card is still valid.

Flags go up. I said "if my expiry date is no longer valid, then my card wouldn't work, period." He said, "Oh, we're not asking for your card number, etc. etc. and something about "lots of scams out there, we're trying to protect my credit, blah blah."

I said, "this connection is no good, can I call you back?"

He said "no".

I don't know what happened, because I'm NOT the confrontational type, but I got mad. I said, "you know what, if I can't call you, then how are you a legitimate business, and I think YOU'RE trying to pull the scam, I should report YOU." Honestly, I felt my face getting hot.

He hung up.

You know, he was pretty good. They talk fast, it's xmas, people are shopping with their card like crazy right now, so it makes relative sense that maybe companies are upping their security. I can see how someone could get scammed.

BE WARNED! BE CAREFUL! No one needs this at xmas!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

You read that one right ... "M/C or visa?" was the sign that something was up.

 

[tazlikesrobots]

This is a good reminder for everyone to be on guard, especially this time of the year!

 

[brighteyes]

WOW - good thing you caught on. I would have reported it anyways. Just in case the police get other reports about the same kind of calls.

I am glad you did not get caught up in this.

 

[snickerboo]

Smart that you realized right away. I wonder how many people don't

 

[DbleTheFun]

Another sad story.... My Husband's 85 year old Grandmother recieved a call 2 weeks ago originating in London Ontario. The man said he was a lawyer, and that her Grandson (my husband) had been arrested for a DUI while on a business trip, and needed $3500 to bail him out of jail and to have this lawyer represent him.

The man on the phone told Grandma that my husband was very embaressed and didnt want anyone else in the family to know... and to please send the money ASAP. She obliged after 15 minutes of guilt talk... and she wired the money off the next morning. She only admitted it 2 days later to her son (My husband's Dad) who told her it was a scam (My husband was in Calgary the whole time... hasnt been to London, Ont for years)

It sounds like an obvious scam, but to an 85 year old lady who loves her Grandchildren, she believed it. Now she has lost the $$ and the police dont think they will be able to catch this guy. (They have heard of it happening before)

People make me sick when they do this.... especially at this time a year... and to seniors. :O(

 

[murcor]

Another sad story.... My Husband's 85 year old Grandmother recieved a call 2 weeks ago originating in London Ontario. The man said he was a lawyer, and that her Grandson (my husband) had been arrested for a DUI while on a business trip, and needed $3500 to bail him out of jail and to have this lawyer represent him.

The man on the phone told Grandma that my husband was very embaressed and didnt want anyone else in the family to know... and to please send the money ASAP. She obliged after 15 minutes of guilt talk... and she wired the money off the next morning. She only admitted it 2 days later to her son (My husband's Dad) who told her it was a scam (My husband was in Calgary the whole time... hasnt been to London, Ont for years)

It sounds like an obvious scam, but to an 85 year old lady who loves her Grandchildren, she believed it. Now she has lost the $$ and the police dont think they will be able to catch this guy. (They have heard of it happening before)

People make me sick when they do this.... especially at this time a year... and to seniors. :O(

This makes my blood boil!!

 

[murcor]

Smart that you realized right away. I wonder how many people don't

Its sad that this person probably has ripped off many others

 

[pxlbarrel]

Hey, a couple of weeks ago, 2 of my credit cards got compromised. $8000 charged on them and not by me... Days apart. Not even the same bank. The cards are not even used in the same places. I have no idea how this happened. It is a ROYAL pain in the you know what... Bank is gave me back the money but the inconvenience and the paranoia that follows is just not fun.

 

[Mickey1Fan]

I received an e-mail this morning from 'RBC' stating my client card was locked because the pin was used three times and coule I please log in to the provided link and update my client card.

I haven't used my client card in over a week so I know something was going on. Instead I simply logged into RBC and verified that all was well and there were no messages for me on my on line banking.

I tagged it as a scam on my e-mail and deleted it.

Crazy things indeed. We all need to be alert!

DbleTheFun - such a horrible thing to do to someone. I can see my Mom doing this to help out her Grandson. My neighbour is 89 and she will give money to anyone who calls her. She never verifies anything, just sends out cheques because someone is in need

 

[Thumper_Man]

I work for our state's Attorney General's Office and this is one of our biggest complaints. Glad you didn't fall for it. You would be surprised how many people do.

DMIL got a call similar to that the other night. They asked her to verify her information as they were making changes and upgrading their system. She let them know that they should have all her updated information, but if they really needed her to verify the information; to please mail her the forms and she'd be happy to do it. The guy on the phone tried to pressure her into giving up her information right then and there. She held firmly and let the caller know she did not know him, and therefore wasn't going to give him any information. She finally asked for a number to call back and same thing, they hung up on her.

Ironic part of this story, I got the same call about an hour later. It was allegedly from Capital One. They wanted me to verify my information for the same reason. I knew they had already attempted this on DMIL. The main reason I knew it was a scam (not because of who I work for or they just tried it on DMIL), but because I don't have a Capital One account. I tried to get as much information as I could from the caller to file a police report. He hung up when he knew what I was attempting.

Remember, the companies will never call you to verify information. They have all of this on file and do not need you to verify this information. The only time you will receive a call from the company is if you put an alert on your card for high purchases; or if you're late with your payment and they're calling for collection purposes.

If you have an alert, they will give you all the exact information of the purchase. When, where, how much the purchase was. They will ask you to verify if you made this purchase. They will not ask for any personal information. Some companies also have a security measure in place in which they have a secret question to which you must provide the answer. This is to ensure that you are indeed the card holder.

If you are ever in doubt, do as OP did. Offer to call them back. If they offer a number to call back, decline it. Let them know you have the 1-800 number to call and you will call back shortly. 99 times out of 100, they will just hang up.

 

[Sue M]

To OP, I would phone the police and phone company and report it anyway. They may have ways of tracking the call to catch the guy.

My bank card has been compromised twice. Then first time it was done in Quebec (and I am on the west coast) I think they send the info there. It was during Christmas time. They got several hundred $ The second time I was alerted very fast, and went to the bank immed to change my pin. They got zero. Bank did pay me back, but it took a few weeks.

Now our bank cards are supposed to be more secure with the chip, but not many business have the chip enabled machines so chip does no good!

 

[ferris198]

It's not just telemarketters you need to be vary of.
My neighbours used my name to get credit at a few different stores and payday loan companys without my permission.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

It's not just the telemarketers to be wary of. Around 5 years ago I had someone use my Maiden name, fake Albertas Drivers license, and a fake SIN card to rack up over $350,000 worth of debit in my name. It took along time and was a royal pain to clear it up the mess they left behind, and is a warning to all to be very carefull as to who you give your personal info to. I still have no idea how she got my info, and it still bugs me that she used a false maiden name, and still got away with what she did (she bought a house in my name, and that's a whole other major mess in itself).

 

[yanjan]

just got off the phone with bmo about a credit card fraud.

im presently in illinois usa and charges where made in freddy beach nb. for over 1k.

all at pizza hut and kfc. somebody is eating good for the last 2 weeks.

make sure you check your cards statement. this has been going on for over 6 weeks and never noticed it till yesterday. 20$ here another 20$ adds up pretty fast.

now im stuck here with no credit card.

 

[BellyBaby]

I tried to trace the call but no luck. Even called my provider to see if they can override the block.

I went on phonebusters website and reported it, it was a link on the RCMP site.

Hope everyone has a safe holiday.

 

[jakoky]

scary stuff....on wednesday, i went online to check my m/c balance...told me my account was locked and to contact them immediately...i called, and was told that that morning, there was a fraud attempt on my card, someone tried to "copy it" ...they immediately stopped my card, and at that point, they had a new one in the mail to me....SCARY...they said nothing was charged to my card, it was caught immediately...very thankful for this...so i am here too, with no credit card, maybe a good thing at christmas...hehe

 

[mom2faith]

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[DbleTheFun]

Just saw this story on CTV Newsnet!! Good to see it is getting some coverage!!

Was it your family on the news??

It wasnt my husband... but do you have a link to the story, I would like to watch it. Maybe my Uncle and my Grandma went and told the story and didnt tell my Husband, but more than likely someone else got scammed.

:O(
I you can point me in the direction of the story, I would like to watch it.

 

[mom2faith]

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