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According to an article at KFoxTV, credit counseling/debt settlement companies are using deceptive practices to con credit card consumers by giving the impression that they are calling from a credit card company and offering “lower credit card interest rates.”
The article said:
“Vasquez has received a number of calls on his cell phone playing recordings that claimed to be from his credit card company. “Hi this is Kathy with Card Services calling in regards to your credit card account,” one recorded message said. “They said they were calling from Citibank,” Vasquez said. Despite sounding legitimate, there was one problem. “I don’t have a Citibank account or any kind of card,” Vasquez said.
Unfortunately, this sounds typical of many of these shady companies. Some go even farther, by outright lying and claiming that they are customer service agents for the credit card company. Even worse is that these pre-recorded calls prompt the customer to enter their credit card number and other private information. Please do not give these people any of your private information including your credit card number. If they say they are calling from the credit card company, don’t rely on their word; call your credit card company directly. Debtors who are delinquent are particularly vulnerable to these scams. If you receive a recorded call like this, just hang up and put your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry (http://www.donotcall.gov/).
Source: KFOXTV
August 29th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
This is also a big problem online. People should never follow a link from an email to a website and then enter personal information. Computer scammers can make emails look exactly like a credit card (or bank) ompany’s legitimate emails, and they can make a fake website look exactly like the real website. People should always call the credit card company directly and verify any phone call or email that asks for personal information.
October 19th, 2009 at 5:57 am
I'm a bankruptcy, trustee in Australia i'm amazed, at how many of our clients are in financial ruin because they've been scammed. one of our clients was scammed for $114,000 through a credit card scam.