Credit Card Scam

[CaroleF]

I'm sure that most members wouldn't fall for this - I answered a phone call on the house phone which seemed to be the end of a recorded message talking about thanks for the payment of £600 to someone and if I didn't make the payment to Press 1. Well I wasn't sure if it was intended for me or John and I didn't do anything about it. Later in the afternoon I had a repeat call. It still didn't mention a name but said it was a Visa Card so it had to be me as John doesn't have one. So I called Barclaycard and spoke to their Fraud Department. I was told it's a new scam, that the police are aware and Barclaycard have had lots of calls like mine. Not sure what would happen if someone pressed 1 as requested, but nothing good that's for sure. The woman at Barclaycard said my account was safe, she went through the last couple of payments to reassure me and all it meant was that the scammer had my phone number and took a chance that I had a Visa card. I bet some people would be caught though.

Carole

[Manoverboard]

Are you able to advise the number of the caller ?

[Jan Rosser]

I’ve had lots of calls like yours Carole where they ask you to press 1 but truthfully I’m afraid to I am very suspicious. Unfortunately it seems to be the season for scammers - nearly got caught out myself yesterday by a text from O2 my mobile phone provider. I have come to the end of my contract so wasn’t surprised to receive a text and logged in to my account from the text but was suspicious when they asked for my address etc so immediately opened another window to my account and as I thought it was different so I changed my password straightaway. I have reported it to O2 and they have logged it but these people are getting so clever at reproducing web pages to look like the real thing. The clue with this one was at the bottom where there was a spelling mistake.

[stocktonmackem2]

We needed new phones a couple of months ago and got the BT call blocker phones. They are very good for getting rid of spam calls. We used to get them regularly but not had any for ages. I did get a text message from HSBC yesterday to say that there had been fraudulent activity on my card. Er no as I don't have an account with them.

[david63]

Jan

If you get an email with a link then if you hover over the link it will display where the link is going and if it looks even slightly suspicious then bin it - if it is important enough they will contact you again, one way or another.

[Onelife]

I wish all scammers a slow and painful death

[Gill W]

We needed new phones a couple of months ago and got the BT call blocker phones. They are very good for getting rid of spam calls. We used to get them regularly but not had any for ages. I did get a text message from HSBC yesterday to say that there had been fraudulent activity on my card. Er no as I don't have an account with them.

We got a pair of those Call Guardian phones a couple of years ago. It stopped nuisance calls by 100% immediately

Jan

If you get an email with a link then if you hover over the link it will display where the link is going and if it looks even slightly suspicious then bin it - if it is important enough they will contact you again, one way or another.

Another thing to look at - if there's spelling mistakes in the email or if it doesn't address you by name - it's nearly always spam.

Last year, whilst on a cruise, I checked my emails and I had received an email saying 'click here for refund of overpaid TV Licence'. I had paid my TV Licence just before going on holiday, so for a minute, it looked plausible. As I only had my phone and iPad, I couldn't do the hovering over the link thing. When I looked closer, it didn't address me by name and it was quoting a reference number I didn't recognise. So it went in the bin.

[welshynurse]

There's an HMRC one too about a rebate. A lady I work with got caught out to the tune of over thousand pounds on Christmas Eve. She isn't tech savvy and English isn't her first language so wouldn't have maybe picked up on spellings/grammar as easily.