WARNING!! Credit Card Phishing Scam

Warning to everyone!! The The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is reporting a credit card phishing scam. The phishing scam is targeting people in the early morning, when they are sleepy and potentially vulnerable, as early as 5am.

The caller claims to be from the victims’ bank and says a credit card was used without authorization. The caller asks who they bank with and continues to obtain the credit card numbers. Once the credit card numbers are given, the caller immediately uses the information to make purchases.

Apparently the scam has been very successful.

A few things to keep in mind:

1) If the credit card company believes that your credit card was used fraudulently, they will automatically already lock out your credit card, so that no one else can use it. Then they will let you know what happened. Since the credit card company is already giving you a call, they will not need you to confirm your credit card information because they already have it on file. The caller does not need to ask you which bank you are with because they will already identify themselves from that bank when they call you.

2) When in doubt about who the caller is, simply hang up and call your credit card company yourself to inquire about what is happening. It is much safer if you call your credit card company yourself to get more information so that you know the source of who you are calling.

3) If your credit card was fraudulently used, you generally have about 30 days to report that activity to get a refund, so you do not need to panic if someone calls you about using your credit card fraudulently. Just report that activity to the credit card company yourself.