Representatives claiming to be from credit card companies may be trying to obtain critical information to allow them to charge?Kansas consumer’s credit cards, while claiming to be helping prevent credit card fraud, according the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Steve Six announced this week that his office?was alerted?to a fraudulent pattern that has impacted?Kansas?consumers in recent days.? The scam has already been reported in five Kansas counties.
The caller, claiming to be from Visa or Mastercard, says they are calling in response to an unusual purchase pattern on your card.?
They will already have your credit card number and address ? the only thing they are missing is the security numbers printed on the back of the card in the signature line.?
They will ask you to verify this three-digit code to prove that you have not lost your credit card.?
This verification will then give the scammer access to your credit card for online purchases.?
Six said it is important to keep in mind that these con artists are good at convincing?consumers and will offer bogus assurances that they are calling from the credit card company, such as name and a badge number or other identification number to corroborate their scam.?
A credit card company will never need to call you for the numbers on a card; they issued the card and have that information readily available.?
As always, consumers should be very cautious about giving out personal and financial information to someone who calls them on the telephone and should promptly file a police report if someone tries to obtain personal information over the telephone.
If a consumer believes they have been scammed, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at (800) 432-2310 or visit here.
