Beware! Credit Card Scam

[jnorth1007]

Hey guys. Tonight I received a phone call from the phone number 678-391-5278. i normally wouldn't have answered it but Brandon got the phone and they asked for me so he brought me the phone. The woman on the phone started to tell me how I was eligible for some Visa promotions since I was such a good Visa customer and then started rambling about gas cards and discounts. When I couldn't understand what she was talking about I told her wasn't interested in anything and she said that I would get the service if I didn't follow the cancelling procedures. I told I wasn't going to do that and asked her how she got my Visa number and she said I don't have to tell you that. I then asked her what the Visa number was that she had and she gave me the last for digits of my Visa check card. She then said she didn't have to give me the whole number, told me I was being ugly and that I would be charged for the service and then hung up on me. I proceeded to call back the number that was on my caller id and it had a recorded message for do not call messages. I think looked up the number on "whocalledus" and apparently there have been calls all over from this number saying and doing the same thing. I called immediately and cancelled my check card and I checked and don't seem to have anything except a pre-authorization 2 days ago for 1.52 from Accudata. I don't know who or what that is but I will find out in the morning when I call the bank back. Some of the postings on whocalledus said that they would preauthorize with 1.00 or so charges to see if the card was active and could accept charges. I am hoping this isn't what that is. When I looked up Accudata on the search engine it gives me a company that services telemarketers. I assume that it must be from the people who called me. I closed the account so nothing can be put through now but it concerns me that they have this information. I haven't seen any posts about anyone actually receiving charges yet. Apparently there must be something that you have to actually do for the scam to work. I would imagine it must be something with the cancellation procedure they wanted me to do. I would bet that this procedure probably requires you to give all of your information and the total card number since all she could give me was the last 4 digits. Everyone has said that the last 4 digits is all they ever give. I just wanted you all to know and to keep an eye out on your caller id. If you see a 678 area code dont answer it. I hope this helps someone else.

[Iteach]

Thanks for letting us know Janet! I'm sorry that happened to you. It's kind of unsettling. I hope you find out what the charge was for.

[tghamilton]

That is really scary. I have been worried lately about my credit card number. I guess b/c I have done a couple of the Scholastic offers and the Boca Java one. I have been tempted to get a credit report run or cancel my card and start over. Scary that they can get this info and we don't even know about it. Thanks for sharing Janet.

Tricia

[jnorth1007]

I do want to clarify that this didn't happen because of paid offers on here. I have never used my debit card to do any paid offers. This could be just about anything. I use this card in so many places everyday including online purchases through SR and not through SR. I checked my credit reports (through annualcreditreport.com) for free tonight and there was nothing on there that was odd. I also checked all of my accounts and there was nothing. If they get anything it would be the 1.52 that has been preauthorized on my card and that actually could very well be something else. (Brandon is constantly using his card and forgetting) The card is cancelled so they didnt get anything. I think they actually probably needed me to fall for the scam in order to get more information in order to get anything. My research showed that sometimes they say they are calling about fraudulent charges on your Visa and ask for information. I think they are fishing for information in hopes you give them enough to get you. I didn't want to scare anyone into not doing offers on here. I would say you have to keep a very close eye on your credit regardless of where you use it. I also would say that this was just a warning to be careful who you speak to on the phone.

[cglaura]

I had a 678 number call me this morning but I didn't answer it. I googled and it said it was a collection agency, so I figured it was for my ex-husband's ex wife (not me, the 2nd ex wife ), which I get all the blasted time.

I guess I should cancel the card just to be on the safe side? There were no funny charges on my account. I moved all of my $$ over to dd acct, which isn't linked to the card, except for $19 to cover an outstanding check.

And I just got this new one after the whole Disney Movie Club scary unauthorized cc data letter! Argh.

ETA after reading Janet's above, I also have never used it for any offers, only a few shopping online, alot around town. Usually I don't really care b/c I don't keep alot in this account, but sometimes do.

[jnorth1007]

Sounds like the same place. The number seems to come up as a place in Atlanta Georgia called Digicom I believe. They are listed as a telemarketer and a collection agency. I don't think they acutally collect anything lol except unsuspecting people's money. I think they probably have that listing so they can run credit reports and maybe get partial card numbers. If you think about it when you get a credit report it only has the first 4 numbers or the last 4 numbers of accounts listed. I would bet this is where they get their information and then go fishing for the rest. Just supposition of course since I don't really know what they do. Like I said, I haven't actually seen any posts of people who have had money taken. Funny thing is that when I went looking further I saw some people who reported really weird calls like, "They called and asked for my husband by name and then told him they had videos of me having an affair" others said they just get hangup calls all the time. I also just remembered after reading the reports and seeing that they all seem to have spoken to a male african american or a female african american that I had recieved a call from a male african american a couple of months ago who was trying to do this but I told him I wasn't interested and hung up and never thought about it again. I also remember getting a preauthorization charge on my account for 1.XX back then from Accudata. I never pay much attention to these kinds of charges because Brandon works in the city and we have parking meters that take credit cards and the charges are always different names depending on where he parks. I went back and checked all of my check registers for the year and no actual charges ever came through for Accudata. This would mean that I was never hard charged for the authorization because I dont post something to my register until it hard charges. I have a feeling this one will be the same since it was done on the 12th and hasn't hard credited yet and charges post to my account much quicker than that. All that being said I still cancelled the card just because I don't like the idea that someone has the information. Better safe than sorry.

[pbhall13]

very scarey........hope it all works out for you!

[askomsky]

I'm glad you canceled and followed up with it, it could have turned into a nightmare.

April

[speechteachri]

Thanks for the head's up. I hope there is no fall out for you!

[SunshineGirl]

How bizarre. Thanks for letting us know!