Scams

**AJE** · 09-01-2006, 08:58 AM

:cry: No one likes to be taken to the cleaners; my family was a victim of E-Bay thief and fraud in 2004. Justin VanAcker of Janesville, WI worked a job in 2004 where he had access to several private and public buildings in Southern WI. Well what happened is the owner to a privately owned regional museum went away for a vacation for a time. During which time Mr. VanAcker broke in and stole several artifacts. Then he went on E-Bay and attempted to sell these items to several innocent buyers. My family was amongst the winning (aka LOSER) bidders. Which he actually sold the very same artifact(s) not once but several times to buyers from all over the US. Well to make the story short Mr. VanAcker was caught because us buyers began talking and thus he will be doing Criminal time for 2 Felonies (one for thief of property and the other for burglary into a building) and then additionally received several Misdemeanors for theft-false representation of under $2500 for the E-Bay selling’s. The case up to date is finally being settled and Justin will need to sit in Prison. Good Reddens to you, I really hope you will have deep thoughts about your wrong doing.

:arrow: So what I hope you all get out of this true story is watch out for suspicious activity. Theft is unfortunately quite common nowadays. Please, I hope that you all never have to deal with what my family dealt with in 2004-5.

I would like to start a forum of Scams, please if you come across any information or have been affected now is the time to post.

**AJE** · 09-01-2006, 09:02 AM

New Credit Card Scam. Snopes.com says this is true.

This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the
information, except the one piece they want.

Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already
have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how
the VISA &MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be
better prepared to protect yourself.

One of our employees was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was
called on Thursday from "Master Card".

The scam works like this: Person calling says, "This is (name), and
I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My
Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual
purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your
VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an
Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company
based in Arizona ?" When you say "No", the caller continues with,
"Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a
company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to
$497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards.
Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you
your address), is that correct?"

You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud
investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1-
800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for
Security.

You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then
gives you a
6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"

Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then
says, "I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll
ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers". There
are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3
are the security Numbers' that verify you are the possessor of the
card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet
purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to
read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3
numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that
the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your
card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say No, the
caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if
you do", and hangs up.

You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you
the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called
back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The
REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last
15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card.

Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the
VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the
scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card.
Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or
Master card directly for verification of their conversation. The
real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card
as they already know the information since they issued the card!
If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're
receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement
you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's
almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud
report.

What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call
from a "Jason Richardson of Master Card" with a word-for-word
repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I
hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The
police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They
also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is
happening.

Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing
each other, we protect each other.

7/28/2006

Crys · 09-01-2006, 11:27 AM

Ouch. That's a good one. Or a bad... you know what I mean.

I started compiling information on how to tell if you've received a scam email, but I really haven't had time to flesh it out. Here's what I have so far:

http://crystal.samplenamehere.com/sp.../spoof-emails/

And of course there's the information in our FAQ here on theBubbler and in the other forum thread about scammer classified responses, links to both of which can be found in the story we keep on our front page called "BEWARE OF SCAMS WHEN SELLING ONLINE"

http://www.thebubbler.com/modules.ph...rder=0&thold=0

I think I'm going to pass on the information in your post about the new credit card scam. Alot of people could be taken in by that.