Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Always Beware Of Credit Card Scams

By Bobliaka Goes

Everyone should be warned to beware of credit card scams. The scammers in one scheme send out an email telling you your bank account has been compromised. They give you a link to go to for it to be corrected. They rush you by saying you only have so much time to stop the criminal.

When you click the link in the email, does it take you to the website belonging to your bank? No, it takes you to the scammer's website. There you are urged to rush and send your card numbers and other personal information to him.

The problem is, the website does not belong to the credit card company. Your information is being collected by the scammer on his website. By the time you realize what happened, he has been out shopping for expensive electronics and jewelry, using your credit card.

One scam goes like this. He gets a Visa number (somewhere, somehow) that he knows is accepted. He uses the numbers and guesses at the expiration date and last four digits until he hits on the correct ones. Using the last four digits on the good card, he tries the following series of numbers. For example, if the good card uses 9932 he tries 9933 and up.

Next he tries out expiration dates till he finds one that matches. Then he verifies that it works by making a purchase. He immediately voids it to avoid alerting the real owner of the numbers.

He finds a seller online who will sell him an expensive piece of merchandise and split the cost among three or more cards. He orders next day delivery. By the time the seller realizes the real owners of the cards are disputing all charges, the scammer has accepted delivery of the merchandise and is nowhere to be found.

Since the real card owner cannot be charged more than $50 of the amount charged by the scammer, the card company has to take the loss. Then we all pay higher prices as a result. Beware of credit card scams. If an email arrives from an unfamiliar person, click delete without even opening it.

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