Telephone scams

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brucecohen
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Telephone scams

Post by brucecohen »

Surprisingly I couldn't find a catch-all thread for this.

Got a new one (for me) this morning. Long-distance call came in. Accented guy said he was calling from "the Visa security department." In a suspicious tone I asked, "which Visa issuer?" He disconnected. I suspect this is the gambit.
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Spudd »

I got one once that said "I'm calling from Visa or Mastercard". LOL.
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Re: Telephone scams

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I don't answer the phone unless I recognize the caller. All land lines are now gone as I got only marketing calls.
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by flywaysuzy »

Here's one:

Yesterday I was at the feed store, dogfood- tap card. Then thought of something else- Tap card. Then went back in for something else, went to tap card and it was denied. (Credit cards must be like baseball, three strikes and you're out) so paid with other card and went home, where a message was waiting on my answering machine, ' This is x bank, your credit card ending in 1234 ( the last 4 digits of my card) has been compromised, call 1 800 466 7295 '
So when I called, the recording started in on how I could win a carribean cruise by answering a customer survey, so I hung up.
When I phoned the bank to see if this was an actual extension, they couldn't answer my question, just said they didn't have any carribean cruise contests and that we should cancel card. The young lady at the call centre or her supervisor were not at all interested in the fact that their credit card data had been hacked and my card and phone number were in the hands of criminals. I phoned the rcmp fraud squad this morning where the recording said they don't even investigate such occurances.
When the fraudulent phone call is directly after a credit card denial because of peculiar activity, I can see where some people could be duped into thinking it was from the bank because of the timing...:(
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Re: Telephone scams

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flywaysuzy wrote:Here's one:

Yesterday I was at the feed store, dogfood- tap card. Then thought of something else- Tap card. Then went back in for something else, went to tap card and it was denied. (Credit cards must be like baseball, three strikes and you're out) so paid with other card and went home, where a message was waiting on my answering machine, ' This is x bank, your credit card ending in 1234 ( the last 4 digits of my card) has been compromised, call 1 800 466 7295 '
So when I called, the recording started in on how I could win a carribean cruise by answering a customer survey, so I hung up.
When I phoned the bank to see if this was an actual extension, they couldn't answer my question, just said they didn't have any carribean cruise contests and that we should cancel card. The young lady at the call centre or her supervisor were not at all interested in the fact that their credit card data had been hacked and my card and phone number were in the hands of criminals. I phoned the rcmp fraud squad this morning where the recording said they don't even investigate such occurances.
When the fraudulent phone call is directly after a credit card denial because of peculiar activity, I can see where some people could be duped into thinking it was from the bank because of the timing...:(
Did you call the customer service number on the back of your credit card?
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Spudd »

It seems to be legit, I googled the number:

https://www.tdbank.com/tdhelps/default. ... /43653041/
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

flywaysuzy wrote:' This is x bank, your credit card ending in 1234 ( the last 4 digits of my card) has been compromised, call 1 800 466 7295 '
Whenever we've had calls suggesting our card has been compromised and a number has been left I always double-check the number against the issuers security number printed on my card. I'll always use the number provided by the issuer rather than a number left as a voice message.

Investigating a bit further, Google turned up (same link as provided by Spudd) -- https://www.tdbank.com/tdhelps/default.aspx/1-800-466-7295/v/43653041/ which claims to be "1-800-466-7295 - TD Helps | TD Bank" and makes the claim that the number is legit. Note the domain is tdbank.com, while Google indicates the main Canada TD Bank domain is tdcanadatrust.com. Red flag #1. What's also a bit strange is the site claims to be TD Bank, N.A. and Chrome indicates it's a secure connection to "The Toronto-Dominion Bank [CA]" but the security certification details seems a bit off. Red flag #2. I'm guessing it's an elaborate phishing site.
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Re: Telephone scams

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Wow, that is crazy elaborate. Good catch, PI.
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by flywaysuzy »

Yes, even the voice tone sounded off, then the mention of the carribean holiday. I hung up at this point and then called # on back of card. They couldn't verify the number as being one of the bank's. They were decidedly uninterested in how the scammers could tell they had flagged my card within an hour. I was very interested in how the mechanism worked as these guys have my name, number and know where I bank. :(
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Re: Telephone scams

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flywaysuzy wrote:Yes, even the voice tone sounded off, then the mention of the carribean holiday. I hung up at this point and then called # on back of card. They couldn't verify the number as being one of the bank's. They were decidedly uninterested in how the scammers could tell they had flagged my card within an hour. I was very interested in how the mechanism worked as these guys have my name, number and know where I bank. :(
Suzy;
When you called the credit card company did you find out why they denied the third purchase?

Did they reinstate your card so that you could continue to use it?

I wonder if the stores machine had been hacked somehow?
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Hammerer »

Peculiar_Investor wrote:
flywaysuzy wrote:I'll always use the number provided by the issuer rather than a number left as a voice message.
Protip: Call the non-toll free "collect" number. Many issuers will route you *directly* to a person after a brief 3s message. When they think they're paying $1/minute for the call, suddenly you're too important to place on hold.

Be ready to say you're on holiday somewhere nice (unless you just bought something in your hometown).
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by rhenderson »

flywaysuzy wrote: I was very interested in how the mechanism worked as these guys have my name, number and know where I bank. :(
Just out of curiosity I phoned the number that you posted and phoned them. I didn't get any spiel about a vacation, only a request to enter the number that they left on the voicemail. I entered a valid number that I got from Canada 411 and they responded that they had no record of the number but they would let me speak to a CSR. Seemed legit enough, so I ended the call.

Could still be a scam, but it's always more prudent to use the number on the back of your card when in doubt.

Thanks for the heads up. :thumbsup:
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Re: Telephone scams

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rhenderson wrote:Thanks for the heads up. :thumbsup:
Some of the fraud detection software will flag multiple transactions from the same location within a short time and put a hold on the card. They assume that most cardholders would not do that pattern from the same location.

Had it been me, I would have entered the chip and PIN for the second and subsequent transactions. Remember that the authorization terminals are not connected your bank but to a third party (which might be another bank).
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Spudd »

I was at work earlier when I looked at this, but took a few minutes now to check into it a bit further. TDBank.com is the URL for the American arm of TD Bank, and it's registered by the same domain company that owns tdcanadatrust.com. I do think it's actually fine. I wonder if maybe you dialed a wrong number when you called back and that's why you got the cruise message? It seems strange. But I don't think you need to worry about your card having been hacked.

Anyway, it's always the best policy when calling about your credit card to just call the number on the back of the card. Can't go wrong with that.
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Re: Telephone scams

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If it was an American toll free number maybe that's why the Canadian service centre didn't know anything about the Carribean cruise contest? When I did a google search, I did turn up one reference to that same phone number as a scam-from 2010...
Makes you wonder. Am getting new card anyways. Will not tap three times in a row in future!
Thanks for everyone's interest on this-the woman I talked to yesterday at td customer service was very chatty, kept going on about these fraudsters and how they work full time at defrauding customers, there was nothing the banks could do about it, etc.
Makes me want to keep more money at my non-online account financial institution :|
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Spidey »

If you have time on your hands you could mess with them. But I guess the downside is that they do have your phone number.

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Re: Telephone scams

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flywaysuzy wrote:Here's one:

Yesterday I was at the feed store, dogfood- tap card. Then thought of something else- Tap card. Then went back in for something else, went to tap card and it was denied. (Credit cards must be like baseball, three strikes and you're out) so paid with other card and went home, where a message was waiting on my answering machine, ' This is x bank, your credit card ending in 1234 ( the last 4 digits of my card) has been compromised, call 1 800 466 7295 '
Based on comments that followed, I've got an additional questions/concerns? Was the card being used in the US or was it a US card? If not, why does the number provided apparently go to the US branch of TD Bank? That doesn't make any sense to me and would give me pause to question whether things were legit or not.
Spudd wrote:Anyway, it's always the best policy when calling about your credit card to just call the number on the back of the card. Can't go wrong with that.
Absolutely agree. As I stated above, I wouldn't do it any other way and I think that's the key educational point of this matter.
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Re: Telephone scams

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Card was Canadian, being used in Canada, PI. Sad to say, the phishing scammers already have my name, credit card #, all they are after is the 3 or four digit code on the back of the card. Oh well, credit card is defunct now. Hard to believe this particular phone number has been in use for many years as a phishing site and no law enforcement agency or financial institution can shut them down. Or that phishers are too stupid to get a new phone number...
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by IdOp »

Four Brits cuffed in multimillion-quid Windows tech support call scam probe
Four Britons have been arrested on suspicion of helping organise fraudulent telephone support scam calls that caused "hundreds of millions of pounds" of losses worldwide.
Been getting a few of these kinds of calls again lately, and just hanging up.
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by 2 yen »

Not a phone scam, but an email one. "Interac" sent an email yesterday for me to receive a payment from someone. The address was from the Royal Bank. I called and read it to them and they assured me it's a scam. Be careful folks.

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Re: Telephone scams

Post by kcowan »

If you look at the internet address, it may contain RBC but never as the web site. Of course, the name shown can be anything. This should save a call. I have received these from every bank. Nice to be popular! :roll:
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by kcowan »

Here is an example of one I got today from RBC:

Code: Select all

RBC.Royal.Bank.#Faild-Auth#.04-AuG-2017-notf.3568863687@packages.debian.org
That is the address it came from, and then here is where it asks you to click:

Code: Select all

https://www1.royalbank.com/cgi-bin/rbaccess/rbunxcgi?$randn10Ln2L3$
and this is where you will actually be sent:

Code: Select all

http://www.drrajinair.com.au/PsrdhvZAzN/index.php?rec=8206478274WHB8WHB
So the best practice is just to ignore all emails until you talk to your service provider.

Potential spammer/scammer links put into code blocks to make them unclickable and non-indexable -- Administrator
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by brucecohen »

A new scam: Just got a long distance call from a guy with a Caribbean accent. Said he was with Bell Canada. Said they've just reviewed my billing for past 3 months and found total overcharges of $79 to be refunded on my Visa. Wanted to confirm my postal code. Then asked for my Visa number. At that point I said they already had it. He said he could not process the refund without me giving it. I told him I wouldn't and asked for his employee ID number and office location. He hung up.
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by SQRT »

I never answer phone calls from numbers I don’t know.
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Re: Telephone scams

Post by Chuck »

No company that bills you regularly would ever refund you an overcharge unless you complain specifically. They would just credit your account. They especially would not call you. They hate having their call centers make outbound calls. They generally only have enough staff to marginally service incoming calls from their customers.
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