Go Phish!

[raudf]

Awww, I got myself a new bestest playmate today!

I'd been seeing this odd number on my CID and never bothered with it, because they couldn't be arsed to leave a message. Well, out of boredom, I decided to answer it and see what this was about.. after having run it through 1800notes.

It plays out like this: The guy is calling from a certain major bank that I do have an account with's credit card fraud services asking to speak to my hubby. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!! And also Strike 1, because this bank asks for either hubby or myself, never just hubby.. prolly because both our names are on the account.

He claims to have noticed some fraud activity on, but...won't tell me a damned thing unless I "verify" my info with him. Oh, I forgot, strike 2. I don't have a card of any sort with this bank. Just the account that only has one purpose. And mean while I'm on the bank's website and verify there is no activity on it that I didn't cause.

I give him the polite: "I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable giving my information to a person from a number I don't recognize." Which he says, "Oh, that's okay. Your husband has our number and can call back later." Strike 3, because hubby doesn't do anything with this account. And he's already told me that he didn't talk to any fraud prevention for this bank.

So, I wrote down the time, date, and such of the call and then hopped back on the bank's website and contacted their actual fraud prevention. Verify my security info with them and proceed to ask if this was one of their numbers. *falls over laughin* Of course not! The kind lady said that it was good that I went with the gutt and gave them bumpkiss for their efforts.

So, awww, I gots a new bestest playmate! If they call me again.. which they may not, as I've proven that I ain't good for a game of "Go Phish." But if they do, I'm thinking the dotty, demented old woman who forgets halfway through a sentence what she was saying, has her info written down (which shall be carefully made up so that it should theoretically epically fail if they try to use it,) and love talking about her grandbabies... who all happen to be furry little bundles of kitten fluff.

I'm a bored stay at home mom.. I've got nothing better to do than to see how quickly I can make 'em hang up.

[Mystic]

I actually had something like this happen to me with my bank once upon a time. I refused to give the lady any information and immediately called my bank to clarify. They actually were with fraud prevention and there were a couple marks we didn't make on the account... but really, who calls someone else these days and requires them to verify information outright like that? No wonder so many people fall for these things if even the banks do it this way.

[Headset Hellion]

Good for you! I work in credit and take phone calls every day from customers who have been contacted with phishing schemes. These people have no shame! My personal favorite are the emails I receive requiring me to verify my account information...for a bank with which I have never had an account!

[raudf]

It's just a good rule of thumb. Never give out your information unless you call them! My main bank is a nice small town bank and the one time their fraud prevention called me, the message they gave me was, "We're with your bank's fraud prevention. We've noticed some odd activity on your account. Please call us back at (800 number) and ask for fraud prevention."
The number and name on the CID was the bank's and the 800 number in the message was the bank's. It was a purchase I had made to a website that was unusual and they wanted to verify that it was mine.

Wish all banks did that kind of message, even when they reach an actual human.. but then I might as well also wish for all humans to be intelligent while I'm at it.

[Pixilated]

I had something similar happen once: I decided to "pay at the pump." Swiped my credit card, pumped my gas, and drove off very proud that I had mastered this hi-tech gas station. Get home and the phone is ringing. It's the CC company: "We just noticed some unusual activity on your credit card and wanted to verify it was you ..." I was shocked at the speed but told them I appreciated the call and yes, it was me. I guess they were worried that somebody had stolen my credit card and was taking a cross-country trip on my dime ...

*snip* My personal favorite are the emails I receive requiring me to verify my account information...for a bank with which I have never had an account!

... and have never even heard of! Yeah, I love those; still get them fairly often: some small bank (if it even exists) somewhere in the U.S. Midwest or Deep South. Yeah, because that would be a perfectly logical place for a Canadian to stash her cash!

[MoonCat]

I get those fake bank emails, too. Subject line will be something like "Your HSBC account." Which I don't have.

[PepperElf]

i've had those "unusual account activity" calls before, but usually they called my mom's number first.

so i always ended up calling them back or popping on the bank's website to shoot them a message.


of course if they're really the bank calling then they'd accept the notion of say... "hey i can't talk right now I'll call you back. no i have the number already thanks!"

[Seshat]

I use "It's the number on my statements, isn't it?"

If they say 'no', I'm onto the bank's fraud prevention line so fast a cougar would turn green with envy. Never - EVER - had a genuine bank representative say no. Sometimes they say 'yes, the one labelled <whatever>, and choose option <thingy>'. But never a different number.

[PepperElf]

I don't know about my current bank, but with my old bank the number was also on the back of the card too.

[mhkohne]

I had something similar happen once: I decided to "pay at the pump." Swiped my credit card, pumped my gas, and drove off very proud that I had mastered this hi-tech gas station. Get home and the phone is ringing. It's the CC company: "We just noticed some unusual activity on your credit card and wanted to verify it was you ..." I was shocked at the speed but told them I appreciated the call and yes, it was me. I guess they were worried that somebody had stolen my credit card and was taking a cross-country trip on my dime ...



... and have never even heard of! Yeah, I love those; still get them fairly often: some small bank (if it even exists) somewhere in the U.S. Midwest or Deep South. Yeah, because that would be a perfectly logical place for a Canadian to stash her cash!

I had one while I was at the pump - my wife had used the same station earlier in the day, so when they saw a second transaction they flagged it hard. They denied it, and I had to use my other card. Before I got done, my wife was on my cell telling me the bank had called.

[raudf]

My bank has two different ones, one that's the lost/stolen card option that's 24/7 and the one that is for the account itself, which during normal business hours. The first one will not call you if it notices odd activity, but the second one will and it will have the bank's number and won't require more than you calling them at the bank's number and selecting a certain option.

On my lesser bank, I don't have a card... so... yeah. There's no calling the number on the back in this case