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I received the following from a friend:

BE ALERT – LATEST CREDIT CARD SCAM


This one is pretty slick since they provide Y O U with all the information, except the one piece they want.
Note, the callers do not ask for your card number, they already have it!
This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself.

One of our employees was called on Wednesday from”VISA", and I was called on Friday from "MasterCard".

The scam works like this:

Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99 from a Marketing company based in London?" When you say "No", the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from £297 to £497, just under the £500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be applied to your account. I just need to confirm your address (gives you your address), is that correct?"
You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the number listed on the back of your card and ask for the Security & Fraud Department. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"

Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works the caller then says, "I need to verify you are in possession of your card." He'll ask
you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers." There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say, "No," the caller then thanks you and states,”Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up.

You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of £497.99 was charged to our card.

Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master Card directly for
verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

What makes this more remarkable is that on Friday, I got a call from a "Jason Richardson of MasterCard" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn’t let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this
scam is happening.

Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other, we protect each other.

very informative sage!!!!!!

This is scary. the call comes from UAE or overseas ? how come there isn't any one tracking them ? how hard is tracking a number ?

Aha you see, the genuine people will never ever ask you for the 3 digit number! And you shouldn't give it to anyone.

People should know they should never give details of their card out to anyone.

Credit card companies never need to ask for this information, they already have it.

The only piece of information they dont know is your pin number.

this is what-in-other words called "Social Engineering" or "Phone Phishing"... this is the most effective form of hacking and stealing data...

your credit card info is usually acquired from your credit card statements dumped in YOUR trash and garbage...

it has your billing address, credit card number, bank details and your activity...

how many of you guys use a shredder????

the same thing happend via email
last time i recieved email from HSBC telling that i won and they send me the check with my name and the DD ISSUAN and the BANK DRAF with all my informations ...they asked for my account No.

at that moment i said aha this is scary


pple has to be carefull before to give informations
they have to check and and then act

uaekid wrote:This is scary. the call comes from UAE or overseas ? how come there isn't any one tracking them ? how hard is tracking a number ?

You probably know how this works;
Even in crime they started outsourcing. So they hire an Indian helpdesk firm for making the VISA/Mastercard calls as the Indians speak plain and perfect english and pretend to be your in the town nearby you. They even switch accents if necessary

Then they screw you, basically for a penny per hour. And keep managing to smile afterwards etc.

And the Russian (IT criminal) fellow, walks away with the card writedowns. Buying real estate in Dubai while its still cheap. Showing off with tips for the Indian who replies; How Can I helpp U Sir?
Russian guy replies: I'm good, you make enough forrr me sikh.

Caricature cliché

ahhaahahha.. easy with indians robby.. i am one too..


ok.. here is another one:

I got few emails from dxb.sharjah@gmail.com , ad.alain@gmail.com offering to invest any amount of capital in transport business in dubai or abu dhabi.

These scams, mostly are locally executed scams.

Some time back, i wrote a thread here on how 419 / nigerian scam works, that are operated from dubai. I basically knew the people who used to do operate these scams, had their email usernames/password, their computer recordings, video recordings & their mobile numbers. I even submitted the details to Dubai police & couple of leading newspapers but nobody every bothered. Later on found that they had just written an article on how these scam works, but never got hold of anyone who does this, despite of having so many proof.

they think that all pple are stupid or what !!!

may be .. may be not.. but many do fell for them.

http://www.windsorstar.com/Leamington+loses+Nigerian+scam/1173799/story.html?ref=canada.com


They use thuraya phones, PC2Phone to speak to people & make it look legitimate. They fake certificates, identity cards & even gets a virtual direct telephone number offered by many service providers.

They get chunks of email addresses by using tools available freely on the web to crawl and extract e-mail addresses from web links. With the support ogood english, wikipedia reference for incidents (like nigerian president, or some bl00dy doctor from UK) & an e-mail bomber, they send out bulk e-mails..

They keep checking their e-mails regularly, and if someone replies.. they hook them up..

Its easy to track & get hold of these fraudsters, especially in dubai, as they have their lunch & dinner at the same restaurant

And the question might be like, " where do they commit this crime ?"

Well, they do all these in the internet cafe right opposite to the restaurant.



And i am amazed to see that no-one in the media or even the authorities are least interested to wind them up..

ah..forgot..

one of the guys i know who did this stuff, runs a shipping company here and does this as for a part time income !!