Scams are getting more advanced

There is a new, more advanced credit card scam going around that appears legitimate.
People get a call from 'a bank', lets say Wells Fargo.
They tell you your credit card may have been compromised and tell you specific locations where it may have been used.
They also tell you legitimate charges you have made (to give you a sense of credibility in the call). Remember these are hackers that already have your information)
The phone number seems ligit (its ghosted back to an actual Wells Fargo phone number) so when you do a search, it comes back as a Wells Fargo number.
The name the person is using is an actual employee at Wells Fargo, so it still seems 'real'.
Here is where they try and get you.....They say they want to verify its you, so they can make the 'adjustments'.
They authenticate by sending a number to your phone, (This is commonly used these days by reputable companies to validate its you) and want you to tell them what the number is....DON'T DO IT. Do not read them the number back.
This will allow them to enter it through their phone and make their phone a valid number in which to make transactions.

This is called 'two factor authentication' and is used to validate its actually you. It is legitimate when used correctly, but not in this case.
Giving them the number makes their phone a valid phone number for the account.
Hang up and call the number on the back of your card and make them aware that your information has been compromised and ask for a new numbered card.
They will move any valid outstanding transactions to the new number and shut off the old number.
 

I never accept phone calls from banks or credit cards. If I didn't call them, I won't speak, just hang up.
I am having a great time with the scammers since I don't have a credit card! So when they tell me about suspicious activities on my Mastercard or Visa, I act shocked, ask them with great trepidation what I can do about the crooks and then, after their lengthy explanation, I laugh into their (virtual) faces and tell them to go scam someone else. The funny thing is, that in many cases, they give me an ordinary name like John, or Harry, or James (you get the drift) yet most have a strong East Indian accent, even though I've received scam calls by women as well. They are definitely from this continent and for some reason that bothers me. See my misguided, romantic notion of women being morally superior to us men! :LOL:
 
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I never accept phone calls from banks or credit cards. If I didn't call them, I won't speak, just hang up.
Good advice! I don't know why people keep falling for this old scam? It's simple! Just hang up! The calls are scams. Scammers know this is a "Dumb and Dumber Society" and there are thousands of suckers out there willing to give some or all of their money away. People are ripe for the picking!

Get with it or you'll be in the poor house before you know it.
 
I am having a great time with the scammers since I don't have a credit card! So when they tell me about suspicious actions on my Mastercard or Visa, I act shocked, ask them with great trepidation what I can do about the crooks and then, after their lengthy explanation, I laugh into their (virtual) faces and tell them to go scam someone else. The funny thing is, that in many cases, they give me an ordinary name like John, or Harry, or James (you get the drift) yet most have a strong East Indian accent, even though I've received scam calls by women as well. They are definitely from this continent and for some reason that bothers me. See my misguided, romantic notion of women being morally above us men! :LOL:
When my little foster son was 2 and 3 years old, I used to hand the phone to him whenever I'd get a scam call.

When one of them called him "Ma'am" during their conversation, he furrowed his little brow, handed the phone back to me and said, "I don't wike dis one." :love:
 
Yeah, they don't call people. Ever.
About 13 years ago I got a call from my credit card's fraud/customer service while I was at a checkout and the newby cashier was apparently causing duplicate charges. The phone person had me hand the phone to the cashier and they explained to him how to undo the mess he made.

Two or three years ago the company sent me an email in the middle of the night saying suspected fraud and to contact them if it wasn't fraud, it was not, it was my kid spending something like $120 at subway treating her friends (she'd gotten my permission a few days before tho I didn't expect it to happen in the middle of the night, ha ha).

But last year when the credit card company suspected fraud they simply locked my card and I had to call to straighten it out.

So I guess nowadays they don't call.
 
About 13 years ago I got a call from my credit card's fraud/customer service while I was at a checkout and the newby cashier was apparently causing duplicate charges. The phone person had me hand the phone to the cashier and they explained to him how to undo the mess he made.

Two or three years ago the company sent me an email in the middle of the night saying suspected fraud and to contact them if it wasn't fraud, it was not, it was my kid spending something like $120 at subway treating her friends (she'd gotten my permission a few days before tho I didn't expect it to happen in the middle of the night, ha ha).

But last year when the credit card company suspected fraud they simply locked my card and I had to call to straighten it out.

So I guess nowadays they don't call.
My card used to send me alerts, but about a year ago they sent me an email saying I have to sign up anew to get alerts because they made system changes, probably to make it more secure.
 
I once got an email telling me I won a case of canned meat. All I had to do was pay the shipping. I knew right away it was spam.
The old scam was that you "Won" a FREE Cruise to the Bahamas. All you had to do was to send them$499 for taxes and administration costs and they would send you the ticket.

The circus guy was right: "There's a sucker born every minute."
 
@Old Salt I got the message on my cell that said my "visa or mastercard was blah blah blah." Which one? Talk about phishing. That was as good as the police were coming over my tax debt.
Wow! They are are getting just plain dumb! If they give you a choice between the two they are high on something! Must be teens imitating the scammers, since they don't get too much education these days! :ROFLMAO:
 
The old scam was that you "Won" a FREE Cruise to the Bahamas. All you had to do was to send them$499 for taxes and administration costs and they would send you the ticket.

The circus guy was right: "There's a sucker born every minute."
I remember my younger daughter's excitement when she came in waving a "Publishers' Clearing House" envelope proclaiming we had won a million dollars! At least I think it was a million, might have been less! She was seven at the time! I so hated to disillusion her! And that one was actually legal!
 
Yes, scammers have gotten quite sophisticated; well some anyway. I've noticed that communications from my banks have disclaimers stating they will never call you. In any event, it's best to tell the scammer that you'll call the bank directly. I got this scam the other day. Someone claiming to be from RCI had called me. When I called the number back, weeks later when I heard the message, the person I called was away from his desk.

I thought the call was going to be about something pending. His colleague seemed to know who I was (maybe caller ID) and said the call was to let me know I could get $2,000 for renting out my timeshare week, but I had to send $389 first. After his spiel, I said "I'll call ya back". He was so disappointed that he hung up without even saying goodbye. :LOL:
 
The scammers must be getting desperate as the number of calls / texts I’ve been getting has increased quite a bit in the last two weeks.

Hubs even got a few of those Hey Mom …I’ve lost my phone here is my new number ..for a start he’s not Mom ( and we say Mum in Aussie land) but I guess there’s fools born everyday who fall for such scams.

All our kids are over 40 years old so if they had a issue theres always a public phone box where they can make free calls any time / anywhere.

I get heaps of road toll notices threatening to take my drivers licence away if I don't pay the outstanding tolls …..I laugh because I’d have to travel 1600 km to Sydney or over 1000 k to Melbourne before id get to go though any toll area .

Just a hour ago I got an automated message my Amazon account had been used for a total of $3.200 and to press 1 to stop the payment if it wasn’t me ….yeah sure …I might be old but I’m not stupid… YET

Its getting so bad it’s hard to trust anyone unless it’s family or friends, we don’t even answer the home phone
 
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When we lived in AZ, scam calls were more frequent then they are now since we moved to PA. Strange. Anyway, when we were in AZ, I use to get calls several times a day to tell me "My student loan has been forgiven". I never answered these calls but they would always leave a message. Ya...I have student loans at age 77. Idiots!
 
How many times have you heard stories on the news about some elderly person losing thousands of dollars to a scammer? Unfortunately, I hear them a lot. I can't believe people are falling for this line, "Just send $$$$ and we'll send you blah, blah, blah"....or "Your grandson has been hurt in an accident and the hospital needs $$$$ to treat him". There's a million of these scenarios and people are warned constantly to not fall victim to them but they do and then they end up on the news crying about it. I don't mean to be unsympathetic but I just don't understand how people think they're going to get something that doesn't exist.
 
I don't know if this was legit or not but I got a 'police fund something something' a couple of days ago. The guy was stupid. I said 'hello' he says back 'hello' Off to a scam-y start.

Regarding some elderly. With physical changes in the brain, causing low inhibitions and less critical thinking, they are prime victims. And that's who the scammer hopes they will get.
 


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