WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | British Phone Scam Ringing in the Coastal Empire
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In your mailbox, on your computer or over the phone. Scam artists are on the prowl. But a new phone scam is ringing in from across the pond.
The Better Business Bureau warns overseas scams are on the rise. "Most credit card companies don't solicit by phone. They solicit by mail," said BBB president Ross Howard.
Howard says credit card scams over the phone are getting trickier. He says the latest scam could be from a phone bank across the Atlantic, in the United Kingdom.
"It's a real simple con," Howard said. "All they need is your credit card number and they can go online in the UK with that credit card number."
Last Tuesday afternoon, the Maxwells', WTOC viewers from Sylvania, Georgia say they got a phone call. On the other line was an automated recording followed by a live voice. The man said he wanted to lower their interest rate on their credit cards, that this was their last chance, they have to act now and claimed to be with a company called Card Services. The couple asked a few questions and when he couldn't answer their questions, he hung up.
But, they checked their caller ID and the number showed the international calling code for the United Kingdom, 44.
Howard attempted calling the number back to see if we could get someone on the line, but no one answered. He thinks it was a phone bank up to no good, with a list of numbers most likely bought from the three credit reporting agencies.
"It's really a switch pitch," he said. "They are trying to talk people into leaving their credit card and going to another. There are legitimate offers like that, but in this case they are asking for a credit card number and they are out of the country, so this is a scam."
Howard says the urgency of the call, "act now," is a red flag too.
In most cases involving over the phone solicitations, tell the caller to mail you the information at your address, which they should already have if they are legit.
You can also tell them to put you on the Do Not Call List. The problem is, if they are out of the country, it probably won't do any good.
Reported by: Don Logana, dlogana@wtoc.com
