I got this via email from my uncle in Colorado, but thought to share it because it may not just be happening in Colorado, and it's just good to know about current scams going on so you are forewarned just to be safe. [img]smile.gif[/img]

CREDIT CARD SCAM

Yet another scam to alert your friends and family about. My recommendation at the bottom.

Chuck Sutterfield, Detective
Loveland, Colorado Police

This scam sounds like an 'honest' attempt to verify an " unusual purchase"...just in case you are called, thought an awareness would be in your best interest. My husband was called on Wednesday from "VISA" and I was called on Thursday from "MasterCard" . It worked like this:

Person calling says, 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 bank. Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for>$497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona?

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".

Caller continues..."I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 800 number listed on your card 1-800-VISA and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control #" (Then gives you a 6 digit number). "Do you need me to read it again?" (Caller then "needs to verify you are in possession of your card).

Turn card over. There are 7 numbers; first 4 are your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are in possession of the card. These are the numbers you use to make internet purchases to prove you have the card. Read me the 3 numbers". Then says "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?

Don't hesitate to call back if you do. 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 put on our card.

Long story made short, we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA card and they are reissuing us a new number. What the scam wants is the 3-digit PIN number. By the time you get your statement, you think the credit is coming, and then it's harder to actually file a fraud report. The real VISA reinforced that they will never ask for anything on the card! They already know! 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!



If you receive a call like this, say something like, “This is a really bad time for me to talk to you. Give me a number and I’ll call you back.” The caller may be just greedy enough or stupid enough to give you his/her true number which will be useful in a police investigation.

Chuck Sutterfield, Detective

Loveland, Colorado Police.

Thank goodness I don't have a credit card.

Poor deluded people.... It's a shame they never learned to work for their money.

<font color=skyblue>Thanks LadyZ! This is a good place to post this message. </font>

wait i dont get it.. how are they able to use your credit card with only using some of your numbers credit card ?

Hmmm...obviously these guys/gals are buying lists of credit card customers, otherwise they would not have the information that they have about the target. Thanks for the heads-up.

Seemed fishy to me, since the CVV2 number is useless by itself... but snopes has checked it out, and noted that if the scammer is in possession of the base part of your credit card, this unlocks the rest of it. So... it's a good thing to just be wary of this kind of activity, and don't give out anything like this unless you initiated the call.

Thanks for the warning [img]smile.gif[/img]

So now that Visa and Mastercard are aware of the problem I expect a full on advertisment campaign to alert everyone about this fraud starting in a few weeks.

Or am I dreaming [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

But how did they get your number in the first place? and realise that the person who lives at your address has your credit card?
That is pretty clever if you ask me.

EDIT: i just read that snopes.com website and i see how they got the number, that whole scam is a bit of a long shot but i guess if the caller was really authorative, personally whenever i get a call like that i try to verify their details, or even ask for their number and call them back.

[ 01-18-2004, 09:35 AM: Message edited by: Intrepid ]

<font color=deepskyblue>Actually, it's not a very long shot at all, <font color=white>Intrepid</font>. You receive a call from somebody that claims to work in the Security and Fraud Department of your credit card company and they ask if you made a specific purchase for a specific price. They then ask you to prove that you are still in possession of your card by providing just a portion of your credit card number {If it were a scam, they would want the whole number, right?}.

If you read over the description of how the scam works, you can see that it would actually be very easy to fall for it if you weren't aware of the scam. They don't ask you to provide any personal information nor do they ask for your whole credit card number...so the info they request seems safe.

To illustrate the seriousness of the scam, I recieved a copy of the same e-mail <font color=red>Lady Z</font> posted...but mine came from a friend who works for the Charlotte Police Department. This email was sent to her supervisor by from a Sargeant at another Police Department (can't remember where he worked).

So - yeah - the scam is real.</font>

Thanks for the heads up, LadyZ! Those scammers will do just about anything to get other people's money, won't they? [img]tongue.gif[/img]