I received a call on my landline this
morning about 10:30 AM that started “New customer” and went on claiming to be
working in the security and fraud department of your bank or credit card
company. Evidently, I had purchased something at 5:30 AM that they thought was
suspicious and asked me to phone a number to verify the purchase. I didn’t
phone because I am not a “New customer” This is a fraud, once you phone back
they then ask if you’ve made a particular purchase; once you reply that you
haven’t, they assure you they will credit your account for the amount. The
fraud works as follows:
To verify the credit, the caller recites your home
address (correctly) and says you can call the 1-800 number on the back of your
card later if you have questions. Finally, they ask you to prove that you are
in possession of the credit card by asking you to read out the three- or
four-digit CVV (Card Verification Value) security number on the back of your
card. After you do this, they respond that you are correct, thank you and hang
up.
Unfortunately, the caller now has all the
information required — your name, address, card number and CVV — to commit fraud.
Here are a few other versions of the scam:
·
Call-back request: The caller may ask you to call the 1-800 number on the back of
your card to prove to you the call is legit. When you hang up, however, the
call is not immediately disconnected because there is a 5 to 25 second
disconnect delay on landline calls in Canada. To really fool you, the caller
even plays a recording of a dial tone to make you think you are placing a new
call but — make no mistake — the scammers are still on the line. When they
“answer” your call, they redirect you to an imposter who may ask you to
transfer funds to an external, supposedly “safer”, bank account (that belongs
to them) while the “investigation” is taking place.
·
Transaction-review
request: Some victims are duped into providing remote
access to their computers and online banking records so the “investigator” can
review any suspicious transactions.
·
Investigation-assistance
request: Other victims are asked to “help” catch the
criminal by accepting a deposit and transferring on it to another account. The
deposit, however, is fake — which means victims end up transferring their own
money to the scammers.
So, how did the caller get your name, address
and/or credit card number to begin with? Unbelievably, there are lead lists for
sale online that contain this information for marketers. Unfortunately,
criminals can purchase the lists as well. Other methods include going through
your garbage or mailbox for credit card statements, hacking companies that have
your card information, or through phishing scams.
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