Credit Card Fraud (avoided)

[Mr Onion]

Just had a call purporting to be from my Credit Card Company. Correct company name, correct credit card details, my name and mobile number correct etc, etc

All sounding legit so far. Questioning a crypto purchase of £700 or so. No its not mine, so a text was sent with a OTP which he then asked for, at this point alarm bells started ringing, especially as its headed 'Do not give the OTP to anyone' He was becoming insistent so I said I will phone in myself, whereupon he hung up.

Making sure the line was clear first I then phoned the CC company. No its not them, but an attempt to get into my account via a password reset. He blocked the card, issued a new one and all is well

PHEW! Disaster avoided.

[Coyote Jim]

Just had a call purporting to be from my Credit Card Company. Correct company name, correct credit card details, my name and mobile number correct etc, etc

All sounding legit so far. Questioning a crypto purchase of £700 or so. No its not mine, so a text was sent with a OTP which he then asked for, at this point alarm bells started ringing, especially as its headed 'Do not give the OTP to anyone' He was becoming insistent so I said I will phone in myself, whereupon he hung up.

Making sure the line was clear first I then phoned the CC company. No its not them, but an attempt to get into my account via a password reset. He blocked the card, issued a new one and all is well

PHEW! Disaster avoided.

Makes you wonder how they had your details.
Maybe a rogue employee selling data.

[timster]

Yikes!

OTP? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

[Moomintroll]

Thanks for the heads up James. Evil B*stards.

[Mr Onion]

Yikes!

OTP? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

One Time Password

Proves you have access to the mobile phone linked to your account

[entdgc]

I consider myself quite tech savvy. Sometime ago I had notification of an unexpected purchase using PayPal. Logged into my PP account and the payment was listed as pending with "If this is not from you please call our fraud team on XXXXXX". I called the number they knew ALL my details - at the last minute I became suspicious and put the phone down on them. Called PP and blocked my account. Cancelled the credit card attached. When I looked at this payment again on the PP account the telephone number listed was part of the message from the seller not from PP at all! Why would PP allow telephone numbers as part of a message??? Nothing lost in the end but a lesson learnt! Stop and think don't just panic react!!!!

[timster]

Yikes!

OTP? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

One Time Password

Proves you have access to the mobile phone linked to your account

Ta

[Nestor Turton]

Just had a call purporting to be from my Credit Card Company. Correct company name, correct credit card details, my name and mobile number correct etc, etc

All sounding legit so far. Questioning a crypto purchase of £700 or so. No its not mine, so a text was sent with a OTP which he then asked for, at this point alarm bells started ringing, especially as its headed 'Do not give the OTP to anyone' He was becoming insistent so I said I will phone in myself, whereupon he hung up.

Making sure the line was clear first I then phoned the CC company. No its not them, but an attempt to get into my account via a password reset. He blocked the card, issued a new one and all is well

PHEW! Disaster avoided.

Makes you wonder how they had your details.
Maybe a rogue employee selling data.

It’s not difficult to get such details unfortunately. For example, my milkman’s company uses a system that saves my credit card payment details and, of course, my address so he can deliver milk, eggs and so on. If the system is compromised then … and this is merely one example.

Of course, they need a backup in case these wonderful cloud systems stopped working as a major global outage could mean “No Milk Today”.

I used to work in IT Security though not in a customer facing capacity, but standard advice for avoiding fraudulent telephone calls would be to remain vigilant and cautious.

Do Not Share Personal Information: Never give out personal information such as your bank account number, national insurance number or credit card details over the phone unless you are certain of the caller's identity and legitimacy.

Verify Caller Identity: If someone claims to be from a legitimate organisation (like your bank or HMRC), hang up and call the organisation back using a number you know is genuine (e.g., from their official website).

Use Caller ID: Screen calls using caller ID. If the caller ID shows "Unknown," "Private," or an unfamiliar number, be cautious.

Be Skeptical of Unsolicited Calls: If you receive an unexpected call requesting personal information or payment, be suspicious. Legitimate organisations typically don't ask for sensitive information over the phone.

Register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS): In the UK, you can register with the TPS to reduce unsolicited sales and marketing calls.

Beware of Pressure Tactics: Fraudsters often use high-pressure tactics to get you to act quickly. If a caller is pressuring you, it’s a red flag.

Do Not Engage: If you suspect a call is fraudulent, do not engage with the caller. Hang up immediately (or put them on hold and use Napalm Death’s Scum as the music on hold), You can ask for their number and say you’ll call them back.

Use Call Blocking Features: Many phones and mobile carriers offer call blocking features to prevent repeat calls from specific numbers.

Report Suspicious Calls: Report fraudulent calls to authorities. In the UK, you can report them to Action Fraud.

Stay Informed: Keep yourself updated on common phone scams and tactics used by fraudsters. Awareness is a key defence. https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/th ... RLy2b02WkC

James (@Mr Onion) I’m glad you were not caught out by these scum.

When my mother was alive I used BT Guardian on her phone so she could only receive calls from her friends or others on her white list. Stopped lots of jokers calling her.

[akamatsu]

Someone changed the password in my paypal account. This happened right after the Wam was breached. My paypal account was linked there. I got a notice from PP and disaster was averted. The PP account was linked to a bank account that had Linn 360 money in it.

[arm]

Just had a call purporting to be from my Credit Card Company. Correct company name, correct credit card details, my name and mobile number correct etc, etc

All sounding legit so far. Questioning a crypto purchase of £700 or so. No its not mine, so a text was sent with a OTP which he then asked for, at this point alarm bells started ringing, especially as its headed 'Do not give the OTP to anyone' He was becoming insistent so I said I will phone in myself, whereupon he hung up.

Making sure the line was clear first I then phoned the CC company. No its not them, but an attempt to get into my account via a password reset. He blocked the card, issued a new one and all is well

PHEW! Disaster avoided.

Makes you wonder how they had your details.
Maybe a rogue employee selling data.

Internal data theft is a common leak of data. Every time i travel to a Costa Rica, bam! Credit card theft. Every time. Still love that country.