This is from a friend of mine who works for the police. Be warned!:

“This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all theinformation, except the one piece they want.

Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already haveit. 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 Iwas called on Thursday from “MasterCard”.

The scam works like this: Person calling says, “This is (name), andI’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. Mybadge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusualpurchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on yourVISA card which was issued by (name of bank) did you purchase anAnti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99 from a Marketing companybased in London?”

When you say “No”, the caller continues with,”Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a companywe have been watching and the charges range from £297 to £497,just under the £500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Beforeyour next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you youraddress), is that correct?”

You say “yes”. The caller continues – “I will be starting a fraudinvestigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 0800number listed on the back of your card (0800-VISA) and ask forSecurity.

You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then givesyou a 6 digit number. “Do you need me to read it again?”

Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works the caller thensays, “I need to verify you are in possession of your card.” He’ll askyou to “turn your card over and look for some numbers.” There are 7numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are thesecurity numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. Theseare the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to

prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3numbers 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 lostor stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any otherquestions?” After you say, “No,” the caller then thanks you andstates, “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 Cardnumber. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called backwithin 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REALVISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15minutes a new purchase of £497.99 was charged to our card.

Long story – short – we made a real fraud report and closed the VISAaccount. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammerswant is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don’t give it tothem. Instead, tell them you’ll call VISA or MasterCard directly forverification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they willnever ask for anything on the card as they already know theinformation since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your3 Digit PIN Number, you think you’re receiving a credit. However, bythe time you get your statement you’ll see charges for purchases youdidn’t make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult toactually file a fraud report.

What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a callfrom a “Jason Richardson of MasterCard” with a word-for-wordrepeat 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 theyare taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to telleverybody we know that this scam is happening.”

PLEASE SEND THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY SO THAT THEY DON’T LOSE MONEY!

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