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Bait for identity theft—don’t be lured
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The phone rings. You see your credit card issuer’s name on the caller id. You answer the phone and the person explains they are from the fraud department investigating unusual charges to your account. You may be a victim of identity theft. You deny that you made the charges. They give you their name, employee id and a case number. They ask you to verify you have the card in your possession and that it is not lost or stolen. They request the credit card security code for verification.
Sounds legitimate. They didn’t ask for your account number or expiration date. The reason is they already had them. They just needed the security code to complete transactions.
Telephone calls like this that fraudulently represent banks, credit card companies, law enforcement, government agencies and other trustworthy organizations are common. The well-known jury duty scam is an example where a law enforcement agency calls to notify you that you failed to show up for jury duty. They ask you to verify your social security number and some of the jury duty scammers even ask for a credit card number.
You can’t trust what you see on your caller id because the caller id can be manipulated by the scammers.
Phishing, which appeared more than 10 years ago, is a social engineering technique that is generally accomplished by sending “luring” emails with the intent to get the recipients to reveal passwords and account numbers. The emails have the appearance that they originate from a trusted organization such as a financial institution, eBay, PayPal, etc. The recipient is manipulated into revealing sensitive information that they normally would not provide.
Phishing that occurs by telephone or voice is termed “vishing.”
Never provide personal or financial information by email or by telephone unless you originate the communication. If you get a call from your bank requesting information, gather information from the caller, but don’t provide any information. Ask for their name, department and phone number. Then call the organization by using a phone number on the back of your credit card, from your account statement or from the phone book. Verify that the person that called you is an employee.
In most cases, you will find that the telephone call or email was bogus. At that time, you should report the fraud to the organization so they are aware that fraudsters are using their name to facilitate identity theft or financial fraud.
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- Ask Dr. Privacy
- Consumer Red Flags
- FTC's Identity Theft Site
- Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft (FTC Pub.)
- Victims--Follow These Steps: Fraud Alert, Close Accounts, Police Report, FTC Complaint
- File an Identity Theft Complaint with the FTC
- Pre-approved Credit Card Offer Opt Out (888-567-8688)
- Credit Reports--Official Free Annual Credit Report (877-322-8228)
- Medical Information Bureau--Free ANnual Report (866-692-6901)
- Social Security Administration--Annual Statement (800-772-1213)
