Visa / Mastercard scam

muckybutt

Not seen this one before, it was passed to me via a family friend who is in the Police.

Swindon Police Station Gablecross Shrivenham Road South Marston Swindon Wiltshire SN3 4RB Telephone: 0845 408 7000

Hi all,

This has been passed on via another Force area through our own Fraud Department In Wiltshire Constabulary, and it is a very convincing SCAM. We have been asked to disseminate the information as widely and was quickly as we can through Neighbourhood Watch, School Safe and others.

This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU 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. 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 (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 your 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 the 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




PC 2066 Keith Coomber

CID Support

Surrey Police Federation, Constables Branch Board Secretary, Treasurer and Region 5 Vice Chairman.

TonyMMM

Which you will find listed as a very common hoax email .....listed here since 2006.

peachyprice

How would the scammers get your phone number?

trisontana

I suppose this makes a change from the "PDS parcel scam" chain-email!

But seriously every time you receive an email that starts with "please pass this on to everyone" or, as in this case, "We have been asked to disseminate the information as widely and was quickly as we can through Neighbourhood Watch, School Safe and others." then 99.99% of the time it's a chain email which just fills up in-boxes. Please check with hoax-slayer or Snopes before passing on these "warnings".

soolin

Oh please, can't we just check snopes before we panic people with urban myths

EDIT: The common thread seems to be that these come from the Police which surely can't mean they are more gullible than the rest of us, can it :eek:

blue_monkey_2

This is not an urban myth it has happened to me - more or less as in the OP.

I got a call from the 'Abbey' who asked me to verify the card starting xxxx was in my possession because of blah, blah, blah and to prove it they wanted the last 4 digits of the card number (this was before the number on the back came in). I was about to give it to them and then thought 'what am I doing?' and said 'no, you tell me what it is'. Of course they could not but I said I was going to call the bank and I'd verify it that way. They told they would continue to call me until I gave them the number as they needed it verifying, I said 'go ahead' but never heard anything else of course.

I asked Abbey how they could have got my details and number and she said it was probably from a past online purchase receipt but that the last 4 digits of the card were blocked out and obviously, they needed them.

So this has definately happened to me and I remember posting it on here - would have been one of the first posts I made I guess. It was around this time of year too. It is easy to be distracted and give the number if you ar enot paying too much attention, I had 2 kids under 3 and was tired so it can be easy done.