Credit Card Scam Can Cost a Lot of Money

Today, for business purposes, you are your personal information. All it takes for anyone to appear to be you is to possess some financial information no one has but you. Once they have such information, identity thieves can open accounts in your name, apply for loans, and spend money like crazy. How do criminals obtain critical financial information? Often, all they do is ask their victims for it.

In a new credit card scam that is currently popular with thieves, criminals are calling credit card customers and posing as employees of their charge card company. It's easy to acquire someone's credit card number, but to take part in online transactions, you'll additionally need a number from the back of the card. That is a number known as the CVC2 number, which is a three digit number that is printed only on the back of the card. The security number is not printed on the billing statement or anywhere else. Many, if not most Internet stores require this number as proof that the customer is the genuine account holder. If anyone should possess your credit card number and the Security number, they can go on a nearly unlimited spending holiday and all of the bills will belong to you.

The financial scam is performed by someone who contacts you and identifies himself as a representative of your credit card company. He says that he is calling due to some unusual activity on your account. He mentions some unusual purchases that he knows are not yours, and you indicate you did not make those purchases. He tells you that he will clear up any problems and deduct the charges from your account. He then asks you for the number from the back of the credit card to "confirm" that you actually have it. If you provide the number, you have been scammed.

People are frequently very trusting, and if a stranger calls and says they are from the credit card company, a large number of people will believe them, particularly if they have your name and credit card number. Keep in mind that no one from any lender or creditor will ever ask you to provide information that they currently have. You are the account holder on the account, so your issuer doesn't care if you really have the card or not. they have no reason to ask you for identifying information from the back of the card. Should you provide this information, it is likely to cost you a great deal of money.

Copyright Charlie Essmeier - http://www.debtgoaway.net

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