If you search the web on that number you will see you are not the only
suspicious one. I would never enter my card number for something like that.
Let's see. Supposedly, this outfit calls on behalf of credit card
companies with which you allegedly have a business relationship.
Here's all the red flags I see.
1. Your credit card company did not notify you at any time that they
use this company for fraud prevention and that you might get a call
from them.
2. Robocalls are illegal in the state of Minnesota unless they are
preceded by a live human operator, or you have _knowingly_ consented
to accepting such calls. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=325E.27
3. When this outfit calls you, they don't fully identify themselves.
4. They also don't (at least not initially) provide you with
sufficient information to make clear what specifically they are
calling about.
5. These supposed security experts then ask you to call them - an
unknown party - and provide them with all the information necessary to
enable anyone to _commit_ fraud with your credit account.
Personally, I'd expect better from a company with whom I had a
business relationship, and by that I mean I wouldn't expect credit
card companies to outsource this responsibility to some
fly-by-night-sounding outfit.
I don't care if they may be legit (and a Google search turns up at
least one credit union that claims to use them for this purpose); I
would not cooperate. Let your credit card company do its job and get
directly in touch with you by phone, or preferably letter. And
complain to the state Attorney General's office.
On the other hand, you'll also find at least two Web pages, apparently
from two different credit unions, informing their customers that they'll
receive calls from that number in case of suspected fraud.
http://www.sdccu.com/pages/memed/CardProtect.asp
http://www.affinitycuia.org/personal_debit_cards.cfm
Even so, "services" like that are essentially training their customers
to give out sensitive information to strangers.
Calling your bank or credit card company directly is the proper thing to
do.
--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN be...@iphouse.com
I just received a call from the bank stating they had been in contact
with the company in question. They say it is a legitimate service. I
have received in the past many calls like this but generally they do
it differently. In the past they would state up front who they
represented and then start rattling off recent usages and asking me to
verify. This was the first time I received a Robo call and the fact
they didn't identify which credit card seemed awfully suspicious. Now
today for some reason they identified the card, my name, and the last
four digits of the card number. Now this seemed kind of odd to me
because the last few calls have not been this detailed..... but they
did have the same toll-free callback number. I'm not that
technologically advanced but I know some e-mail scams use address
redirects to take you to a phony site and who knows, maybe someone has
figured out how to do the same thing with telephone numbers. Still in
the future unless they give a lot more information I'm still going to
be uncooperative.
Time to switch banks, because it sounds like yours are entrusting your
account details to idiots. Make sure you tell them why you're leaving...
You've answered your own question: your bank said that it wasn't them.
Therefore, it was a would-be identity thief.
Since you called them back, they probably figured you were a good
mark, hence the extra calls to you.
Correct procedure:
If you get any of these calls and they identify the card, hang up.
Pull out your card, look at the number on the back, and call THAT
number. Ask for security and tell them that someone is trying to
trick you out of your card number. NEVER CALL THE NUMBER THAT CALLED
YOU OR LEFT ON YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE/VOICE MAIL. If, for some reason
it is legitimate (unlikely, but possible with a sufficiently stupid
bank), they will be able to confirm this.
If you get any of these calls and they _don't_ identify the card, hang
up: they are a scam.
If you're concerned, pull out all your cards and call the numbers on
the back of each. Ask for security and tell them that someone is
trying to trick you out of your card number. They might even want the
number that called you/left on your voice mail/machine. Again, if,
for some reason it is legitimate (unlikely, but possible with a
sufficiently stupid bank), they will be able to confirm this.
To repeat: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CALL THE NUMBER THAT CALLED YOU OR
LEFT ON YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE/VOICE MAIL!
Craig
You've answered your own question: your bank said that it wasn't them.
The obvious thing to do is pull your credit card out of it's hiding
place and call the number on the back of it. Why you wouldn't call the
issuing bank and talk to them about this is kind of odd don't you think?
What is odd, In the past I have gotten these types of calls in the past
as well. I used a card I had not used in some time at an ATM, so they
called to verify the charges on my account.
I called the number back, and waited long enough to get a hold of an operator
when it asked me for my number. I gave them my telephone number, and requested
they tell me what bank they are calling on behalf. After I was done with them,
the bank in question got an earfull on how the vendor they use to verify
charges does not use the best security practaces in the world.
Same here........pretty regular though. I used to travel extensively
in my job & I live off my debit card. One time in St. Louis I checked
into a motel, went to dinner & a movie. Hit an ATM for movie money,
the rest paid for by my debit card. While waiting in line at the
movie I received a call from these people asking if I made the recent
purchase & some from the day before. It was a live person & the only
info they asked could be answered with a yes or no. They didn't ask
for account numbers etc like this last one, that's what threw up the
red flags