It is a scam with a somewhat Hollywood plot reminiscent of Ocean’s 11. One District resident said she got a call from her credit card company about fraudulent purchases, but they were in fact the scammers.
The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, said she got a call last week from a number she had saved in her phone as American Express.
“They said they were the fraud department and that there were what looked like fraudulent charges on my account and did I try to charge $3,500 on a hotel in Indonesia? I said, ‘No, of course not,’” she told WTOP.
They were, however, able to tell her other charges that she did indeed make.
He asked if she had her card with her and for her security code to verify. She gave it to him and realized that something fishy had taken place and hung up immediately and called American Express directly.
“They said they had no record of any calls from them to me, nor were there any fraudulent charges on my card,” she said.
She was able to cancel the card before any fraudulent charges were made.
Michelle Escobar, an investigator at Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection said these elaborate scams are becoming more common.
“That’s something very typical, to create that sense of urgency, and to say, ‘We need this information,’ and they catch you off guard where you provide that information,” Escobar said.
Escobar added that it is a good idea to verify anything said on the phone with a supposed caller from the credit card company with information on the credit card app or account website.
“Don’t trust a call that comes in, that you haven’t asked for, that you haven’t initiated. Always take it with caution,” Escobar said, adding that these scammers have scripts for every situation
She could not comment on this exact case, but she said login information is available on the dark web and that may be a way for fraudsters to play an even more convincing role telling you information about actual purchases you made with the credit card.
“That’s why it’s so important to monitor your accounts, to use pass phrases instead of passwords and to use multifactor authentications,” Escobar said.
Escobar said these scammers will often take a position of authority, some they have encountered have even posed as investigators looking into fraud.
“Always take it with caution and just take a step back and give yourself a moment to process,” Escobar said.
Escobar hosts the Consumer Connection podcast along with serving as an investigator where they cover common scams and pressure sales that Montgomery County residents could run into.
“We want to empower them to be able to take that pause, to read that contract, to not give in to the pressures and to recognize the red flags of these scammers,” Escobar said.
She urged anyone who has seen a similar scam to call the county’s Office of Consumer Protection at 240-777-3636.
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