New scam - call from a well known Irish retailer

[Brendan Burgess]

I heard this on the news. 36 people have reported to the Garda Fraud Squad that they have been robbed.

1) You get a call from the security manager of "a well known Irish retailer" saying that someone is trying to use your card. They ask you for details. If you are suspicious they ask you to call your bank or credit card company.
2) You hang up and call your bank - but they have not hung up, so you are back to them again, but you think you are speaking to the bank.
3) they ask you security questions and you answer them.

Somehow, they manage to clear your account.

I am not sure myself how that works, as I have a gadget which generates a number every time I make an online payment. But maybe they make transfers over the phone as they have your security information.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaki...-warn-public-on-cold-calling-scam-689897.html

Brendan

 

[Leo]

It's called vishing or voice phising, the telephone equivalent of email phishing. It has been around for quite some time, but only seems to be hitting here now.

Only land line telephones are susceptible. They can play a tone down the line so it sounds to you like they have hung up and you can safely re-dial. Once you dial, they play more recordings asking for your bank account and log-in details so it sounds like you're on a bank's automated system. Once they have your details, they go after your money, setting up transfers, etc.

If you ever get any such call, use a mobile phone if possible to call your bank to confirm. AIB and BOI should be safe, in that AIB require you to use the gadget to authorise transactions, and BOI require you to confirm a code they send via post or text message before setting up new debits. I'm not sure about the arrangements of other banks. For BOI customers, they will never request more than 3 digits of your 6 digit PIN, so that can be another warning sign.

 

[roker]

Call back on your mobile