Scam Alert: Robo Identity Thieves
Sometimes it amazes me that we leave the house at all what with all the people out there trying to trick us, scam us, and steal from us. Once you get wise to them -- stop clicking on links in e-mails you aren't familiar with -- they find a new way to mess with you.
Good Consumer (and awfully nice colleague) Justine alerted us to a scam she just avoided:
I just got a call on my cell phone from an automated voice saying my card from a bank in Lancaster had been suspended. (I used to live there, though I do not have any accounts there now, nor at the bank they said it was.) The number appearing on my phone was from somewhere in Florida (305-666-3333). I called the number I was instructed to (which was out of Pennsylvania, 717-431-0764) to see what they'd say, and it was a wholly automated system asking for the card number, the expiration date and the PIN. That automatron did not repeat the name of the bank where my card was apparently suspended.
Of course, this is plenty of information to link my name with a credit card number to make fradulent charges. I hope nobody's given correct information to this scam.
That's a new one to me. Anyone else deal with other fishy calls like this asking you to share personal data? That's usually a good, or should I say, BAD red flag that something weird is going on there. No bank is going to call you and ask for your account number, PIN and expiration date.
Follow in Justine's footsteps. Don't be fooled. Don't share your data with anyone, especially some robo voice trolling for information.
Categories: Cellular/Landline/Voice over Internet, Identity theft, Scams
