23/05/2012

Payment Council Warn Of New 'Sophisticated' Credit Card Scam

The Payments Council are warning credit card users of a new sophisticated scam, which dupes people into handing over their credit cards and pin numbers.

A cardholder will receive a call claiming to be from their bank, they will be told that their debit or credit card needs to be collected and replaced following a fraud on their account.

The caller then suggests that the victim hangs up in order to call the bank back and ensure the call is genuine. However, the fraudster stays on the line, keeping it open. They then play a recording of a dial tone so that when the victim picks up their handset again they think they are really calling their bank.

The criminal then asks the person to read out or key in his or her pin number, before sending a courier to collect the card. The victim is told the card is going to the bank to be changed, but it is actually delivered to the fraudster to use along with the pin obtained during the scam.

To maximise the amount they can steal from the victim's account, the fraudsters advise the victim to disconnect their telephone line. This prevents the card-issuing bank from being able to contact the cardholder to check transactions are genuine.

Fraud losses on credit and debit cards fell to £341m in 2011 – a 10-year low – and while the money lost through this scam is still small at £1.5m, the Payments Council is concerned at the speed with which it is increasing: £750,000 was stolen in the first four months of 2012: the same amount as the whole of 2011. It added that cardholders should never hand over their cards or reveal their pin numbers to other people, even if they claim to be from a bank or the police.

(H)

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