A colleague was at the store recently and had just swiped her debit card for a purchase when her phone rang.
The recording, from a blocked number, said there was a problem with her MasterCard and she could push 1 to get information. The call did not identify a bank, but since she had just used her MasterCard, it caught her off guard.
Suspicious and since she was still at the register, my colleague hung up.
“It was a little unsettling. It seemed so legit because I had just used the card,” she said.
She went to a nearby branch of FirstMerit to ask if the tellers knew anything about a possible scam. They didn’t. Later, she called another branch of FirstMerit and was told by an employee that the call was a scam and sometimes the scammers even call the bank to try to get information.
FirstMerit spokesman Rob Townsend said the scam calls are referred to as “vishing” in the industry — a mix of voice calls and “phishing,” the term for scam emails or websites that try to bait people into giving personal financial information.
“What these fraudsters will do is dial at random. This is XYZ Bank. They don’t know you’re a customer or not a customer. If you are a customer, you may find that call sounds authentic and you will press 1 and give them confidential information,” Townsend said.
So what should you do? Hang up and find a number at the company’s website or in the phone book or on the back of your card or statement. Call and talk to the company yourself.
Townsend said while banks such as FirstMerit will ask for information to verify your account, they will not ask for a PIN, card expiration date, three-digit security code on the back of the card, full Social Security number or online banking password.
According to a recent e-newsletter of the American Bankers Association, phone fraud attacks have increased 29 percent in the first half of 2012 from the last six months of 2011. The study said there are nearly five fraud calls every minute.
According to Pindrop Security’s State of Phone Fraud Report, almost every big bank is being spoofed. It studied 1.3 million incidents of vishing, caller ID spoofing (where the scammer will hijack a real phone number to make that appear in the Caller ID), call forwarding attacks and other call fraud. Nine out of the top 10 banks and 34 of the top 50 have either had their names spoofed in Caller ID data or were impersonated by fraud callers.
On average, one call for every 186 citizens is fraudulent on an annual basis, the study said.
The calls are usually just at random, Townsend said.
“They’re hoping that X number of calls actually get to customers ... and a small percentage of them will fall for it,” he said.
Foreclosure clinic
Sponsored by the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs and the Veterans Service Commission, upcoming home foreclosure clinics are free and open to the public. You do not have to be a Summit County resident to attend.
Cynthia Sich, director of the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs said people may get more information, talk to Housing and Urban Development counseling agencies and lenders directly.
Consumers can find out if they qualify for Ohio’s Restoring Stability program and whether they qualify for funding.
Different lenders attend the clinics and in some cases, are able to do modifications on the spot, said Sich.
Consumers “have a chance to fact to face meet with their lender and talk and sometimes that can help move the process along as well,” she said.
A clinic will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30 at the Veterans Service Commission, 1060 E. Waterloo Road, in Akron. Clinics at the same location and time are scheduled for Sept. 20 and Oct. 4.
Lenders who will be at Thursday’s clinic will be: Bank of America, Chase, GMAC, Huntington, New York Community Bank and Wells Fargo.
Sich said if your lender will not be in attendance, call 330-643-2879 for information about HUD counseling or how to get in contact with your lender.
Items to bring to a meeting are: your last mortgage statement, a few months of bank statements, a hardship letter (describe the problem in making payments), last year’s tax records, income or child support pay stubs or records and approximate monthly income and expenses.
Residents can also meet with a credit counselor to discuss budget or debt management, or pick up pamphlets covering veteran services, property taxes, weatherization, emergency notification, medical or legal help, consumer scams and more.
Sich’s office reminds people never to pay for assistance in saving your home. “There is genuine help available, but you must reach out.”
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.