URGENT FRAUD ALERT

[timetraveller]

ATTENTION ALL FORUM MEMBERS

I WAS SENT THIS FRAUD ALERT FROM A CLOSE FRIEND TODAY AND I HAVE NO DOUBT ITS NOT GENUIN SO PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND TAKE NOTE

REGARDS PETE

This one is pretty slick since they provide Y O U with all the information, except the one piece they want. Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. 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". 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. Yo ur 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 (name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99 from a Marketing company based in London ?" 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". 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 you r card (0800-VISA) 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 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 charged to our card. Long story - 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 MasterCard 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=2 0the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, 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 too 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. http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp

[ukbigd]

might help if the font size was a bit bigger....lol :laughing3:

Oh you have done it now....that was fast

Thanks for the warning.

[SteveL]

and not black text on a grey background

[timetraveller]

is it OK now Steve i had to copy the email into ms works and then onto here this forum software cant handle stuff written in word 2007 which is obviously what the email was originally written in regards Pete

[SteveL]

yep, thats much better. copy-and-paste from word into forums is usually a very bad thing to do, because it bringsd across all kinds of formatting that messes things up (the biggest one being setting the text colour to black)

[ron.s.g]

thanks timetraveller could you just send me the last 3 digits on the back of your card to verify who you are please,

but thanks anyway and will email everyone i know regarding this fraud.

regards ron.s.g

[RichieJarvis]

Step 1 in fraud card prevention - never agree to speak to anyone who phones from your bank/building society/credit card company.

The amount of times I have (genuinely) been phoned by my bank and then asked to verify my security details! I mean, what is the point of that? That could be anyone on the end of the phone...

The procedure I follow now is to ask who to call back (name/dept), and I call them back using the official number.

Having worked in Banking and Fraud a few years ago, I can tell you this - there is no protection for customers in place - its all about mitigating the exposure of the Bank - thats why they think its ok to quiz you for security before answering your questions, but get uppity when you ask them to prove they are who they say they are!

Its also another reason why Chip and PIN is such a big con - it was never about protecting individual customers, just about protecting the Bank - a stolen card is alot easier to deal with than 200 cloned cards!

Cheers,

Richie

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Chip and pin is really secure now. That's why I can take my mum's card to buy her shopping. Sure it says on the card that the card holder's name starts with Mrs, but they don't care about that at the shops, just the number is all you need now. The PIN number guarantees that I am who it says on the card, regardless of what I look like. How could I possibly be a felon when I know the PIN number?

What winds me up is when I try to use my card to buy something it gets blocked, then the fraud people call me and ask if I really did try to spend a grand on something. They ask me to try again, but I can't be bothered, as I've already found a work around. Where is the point in having a credit card for buying toys if the "kill it" limit is so far below the credit limit on the card? They also kindly tell me that my card is now banned and not to use it anymore. Where do you buy free shopping these days? Does the limit mean anything anymore?

KK

[RichieJarvis]

Agreed on Chip and PIN - that why I say its not to protect the Customer - its to protect the Bank.

The answer KK is that there is no 'kill it' limit on a card. Each transaction is run through a neural net prior to authorisation - this allocates it a score between 0 and 999. Each institution has a threshold which they allow transactions on - anything above the score gets stopped automatically by the system. The score is a function of whether you were present, the amount, the date, previous spending patterns, etc.

I agree about them phoning you as well - its a waste of time them phoning you, asking for security information, and then telling you that you've just tried to put through a transaction. My attitude is that if its me, I'll phone them and ask them to put it through! Otherwise, its obviously not me

Richie