Tuesday, February 4, 2020

SCAM ALERT: RCMP Warns of New Credit Card Scam.
You get a call on your landline usually early in the morning from a person who claims to be working in the security and fraud department of your bank or credit card company. They've supposedly flagged your account due to unusual purchase activity overnight and are calling to find out whether your card has been compromised. They then ask if you've made a particular purchase; once you reply that you haven't, they assure you they will credit your account for the amount.
To verify the credit card, the caller recites your home address (correctly) and says you can call the 1-800 number on the back of your card later if you have questions. Finally, they ask you to prove that you are in possession of the credit card by asking you to read out the three- or four-digit CVV (Card Verification Value) security number on the back of your card. After you do this, they respond that you are correct, thank you and hang up.
Unfortunately, the caller now has all the information required your name, address, card number and CVV to commit CNP fraud.
The Call-back request: The caller may ask you to call the 1-800 number on the back of your card to prove to you the call is legit. When you hang up, however, the call is not immediately disconnected because there is a 5 to 25 second disconnect delay on landline calls in Canada. To really fool you, the caller even plays a recording of a dial tone to make you think you are placing a new call but make no mistake the scammers are still on the line. When they answer" your call, they redirect you to an imposter who may ask you to transfer funds to an external, supposedly safer", bank account (that belongs to them) while the investigation" is taking place.

Financial fraud is on the rise in Canada, with scammers finding new ways to take advantage of our collective trusting nature. In 2018 alone, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received more than 60,000 fraud complaints with total losses of $103.9 million up nearly 24% from 2016. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, considering the CFAC estimates less than 5% of all fraud is reported.
The bank investigator scam is one of the more common frauds taking place in Canada.
1. Protect Yourself
2. You've Been Scammed, Now What?!
Here's an article you really should read: www.greedyrates.ca/blog/rcmp-warns-of-new-credit-card-scam

Posted at 12:32 PM