Yesterday, I got a chatty email from my mom, saying (quite casually, I thought), that she had gotten a call the night before from someone from Capital One who asked her if she had recently made three small charges to Napster. Now, unless Napster started selling the Greatest Hits of Hoyle Nix, my 71 year old mother is more likely to get a snake tattooed on her butt than subscribe to them, so the obvious answer to that question was no, not her charges. Then the Capital One guy proceeded to tell her that they suspected fraud on her credit card account, and that her credit card would be reissued and that she should review her account for other charges as soon as possible. He gave her a phone number to the Capital One fraud department and his badge number. Are your hackles going up yet? Mine did.
I know, I know, it might have been a legitimate phone call – Capital One wants to cover their, um, assets against unauthorized spending (which they have to write off) as much as any other credit card company, but in this day of internet phishing, VoiP (voice over internet protocols) vishing and general credit card scamming, you can never be too careful, and it bears consideration and mentioning.
First things first, if you should get a phone call from a so-called representative of your credit card company, get the individual’s name, badge number and phone number to call back. Then, independently check out the phone number – go to the credit card company’s website, or check the phone number on the back of the credit card itself, or look on your statement. If the numbers are the same, thank the heavens that someone was watching over your account, and call back, because you’ve probably had your credit card compromised. If they’re different phone numbers, call up the number you’ve independently found, and ask for the fraud department to verify the individual’s employment there.
Now, some scammers have no information at all when they call you, and they’re on a fishing expedition, pure and simple. The conversation will start off that your Capital One (or Chase Manhattan or Washington Mutual, etc.) credit card may have been fraudulently used (or so they’re hoping). They may recite a credit card number, and ask you to confirm it. “Why no, that’s not my credit card number – my credit card number is blah blah blah blah blah and it expires on blah blah.” Thank you! Caught a whopper!
How do they know which credit card you’ve got? Lucky guesses. How many millions of Americans take advantage of those annoying “Capital One You’ve Been Pre-Approved!” letters that they get in the mail every week? They’re filling up mail boxes from Portland, ME to Portland, OR. Wish you could stop them, don’t you? Guess what, you can by signing up at http://opt-out.cdt.org/.
Unless you’ve initiated a phone call to your credit card company, NEVER give out any information over the phone – these scammers are trawling for some little snippets of information that allow them to use your credit card. They might even have some information already, such as knowing your credit card number or where you grew up, that will lull you into a false sense of security. And that 3-digit security code on the back of your credit card, the real credit card company knows it already because it’s in their computer system, and you don’t need to read it to them to verify that you’re in possession of the card.
So, let’s say you got one of those phone calls, what next. If it’s for real, work with the credit card company to reissue new cards as soon as possible, check over your statement carefully, and make sure you sign the affidavit that the credit card company sends you, so that they can reverse any unauthorized purchases. If it’s not for real, you either need to watch your account very very carefully, or request that the account be closed for fear that it was compromised.
While it’s true that you don’t have to pay for unauthorized charges on your credit card, the hassle of canceling the old and re-issuing a new card, calling all creditors with automatic recurring payments that are debited from your credit card – magazine subscriptions, medical or insurance payments, etc. – and the worry that your good name and financial reputation has been besmirched, should make you doubly vigilant about monitoring your personal credit card information. And last, but not least, the tedium of cleaning up your credit report, which may have been damaged by the unauthorized charges, especially if your card was used to or beyond its maximum limit. You can include a statement on your credit report attesting to the theft of your account, but that may be a case of too little, too late, especially if you were in the process of refinancing your property or applying for credit elsewhere.
If you feel you’ve been the victim of a phishing, vishing or fishing expedition, contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at http://www.ic3.gov/ and follow the guidelines to file a complaint. The IC3 works hand-in-hand with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to stop these scammers, and they need all the help they can get.
-- Debt Diva for DebtStoppers
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