09/28/2024
Tonight's fraud attempt.
Received a phone call from Citizens Bank (per what showed up on my screen) and was told that it was the fraud division checking up on what appeared to be two recent fraudulent attempts to pay for two purchases in Alabama. No, I hadn't made any purchases of anything of late and none in Alabama. We then went through the usual do you have your card, when was the last time you used it, etc.
But to verify, could I please read to them the last EIGHT numbers of the debit card, the expiration date, and the three digit code? I demurred saying that I was uncomfortable providing that information to someone who called me. I was transferred to Mr. Ringman Roth who told me he was a Senior Fraud Officer in the Fraud Department of Citizens Bank and wanted to assist me. He asked for the full 16 digits! When I asked where the fraudulent charges had been made, he told me Dubai. I noted that his colleague had said Alabama and why was there a discrepancy. He quickly covered to say that the purchases had been processed in Alabama but the recipients were in Dubai. He also mentioned that we was going to notify the vendors in Alabama to deny the charges but if they contacted me, I should refrain from making any statements saying to them that could be construed as assent. He asked again to confirm my number by reading it to him and I requested that we reverse the process by having him read the number to me to confirm. He demurred.
At that point, I asked if I could call him back, since I was still dealing with someone who had called me asking for far too much information that they should already have. He actually gave me a number. No, I didn't call him back.
Instead, I checked my account on-line and then called the published phone number of Citizens' Bank who did the same checks I had and confirmed there were no fraud alerts on my account and agreed that I had been a near-victim of a scam.
Interestingly, the phone number from the original phone call that came up as Citizens Bank is indeed the branch telephone number for the location in Langhorne, PA--hence why it appeared on my phone. So, in this case, the fraudsters were cloaking their own number with a seemingly legitimate phone number associated with the institution.
BTW, this is the second time that I've been contacted with this same scam--false fraud alert--as an approach to phishing.
Moral: Even if you get a call announcing that a suspected fraud has occurred, just confirm it wasn't you--and ask that the transaction be denied. Confirm that you have your card in your possession. And that's it. Then call the legitimate Fraud Division of your bank to check on the status of your account. Don't give those who call you information that they should have if "only to confirm it."
Tomorrow, I will go to my branch to get a new debit card issued.
Stay safe out there!
