Almost Duped: A Firsthand Account & Fraud Prevention Advisory

CRITICAL ADVICE

Don’t accept calls about fraud being detected on your credit card. When you get one of these—and

you will if you are of a certain age—instead, call the number on the back of your credit card.

The call came in. “Fraud has been found on your credit card. Someone in Colorado was trying to buy something from eBay using your card and our fraud department marked it as suspicious, so I am calling to verify. Is this [Name] and is your email still [Correct Email]? We want to cancel this transaction if this is not something you have ordered and cancel your card on PayPal.”

He had not ordered anything on eBay, so he continued listening, falsely impressed by how his account was being protected against fraud. They sent him a six-digit code to his phone as verification, which he entered on the computer screen as requested. Then they sent him a six-digit code on his computer, which he entered on his phone. Once again, they sent a six-digit code to his phone. “Verified,” the caller said. “Now tell me the middle six digits of your card number,” explaining, “this is protocol for safety purposes and necessary for further verification.” We hung up.

The caller called back asking, “Have you received the email I sent?” We had. The email even had the official-looking letterhead of his credit card company along with the official case number and agent’s name, James Gardner. “Good, let’s proceed. What are the first four digits on the card?” In between all these requests for the six-digit codes, the agent apologized that he had to put my friend on hold for a minute. A cumulative 23 minutes later, my friend said, “I think I will call my credit card now just to verify,” and James Gardner replied rather alarmed, “WHY?!”

Had we had any form of dementia, we might have gotten lost with all the time delays and code requests, and we might have continued to give away expiration dates, codes on the card, card numbers . . . it was a very clever ruse.

A Sobering Thought

Please share this experience with a loved one. Don’t accept calls about fraud being detected on your

credit card. When you get one of these calls, and you will if you are of a certain age, instead, call the

number on the back of your credit card and YOU verify the fraud.