Customer/Consumer Service

I had not heard of caller ID Spoofing before. According to a BBB report it is a relatively new scam.

So exactly what is it? Well, first of all, it is an Internet Service that people can purchase to change their caller ID information. It was created for fun or for practical jokes. Unfortunately, scam artist and identity thieves take the fun and innocence out of just about everything. So they have used this service to steal people’s identity.

They call them on the phone and the caller ID shows their bank or financial institution’s name and a phone number that you can best believe will be fake and untraceable. They ask questions that are wisely designed to get the information they need.

A lot of times scam artist target the elderly, but in this case anyone could be fooled. People have given these scam artists their account numbers, their social security numbers, their credit card numbers including the three digit code as well as other personal information needed to steal their identity and/or charge items to their credit card or bank cards.

Another part of this scam involves the scam artists using e-mails pretending to be your bank or credit union, Pay Pal, or Ebay. These emails looks like an official email from the institution. It is just best not to click on these unsolicited emails.

Now there is even a new technique in which the scam artists calls and have the customer to call them back immediately about their account because of possible fraud or to just update their account or to view their account status. Of course the phone number will be untraceable and they too will ask questions that are designed to steal account information, social security numbers or credit card and banking information. These scams are made available through a phone technology that is also Internet based and it is called voice over IP or VoIP. With this service the subscriber can choose phone numbers from any city and setup the caller ID as they prefer.

These services are not to blame for the Scams, it is the bad folks out to STEAL from someone!

The Better Business Bureau encourages us to ask question. They also encourage us to tell the person calling that you will call the institution back on the number that appears on the caller ID.

The BBB says that a real representative from an institution will not mind your precautions.

If you are taking care of elderly parents or other elderly family members, check their consumer account information (the 3 credit bureaus) to find out if anyone has acquired any new accounts. The BBB also encourages us all, to protect ourselves, to contact the bureaus about having it set up that each time you apply for credit you would have to have a written authorization for any new accounts. This would put a stop to these instant credit scams using unauthorized credit information from people unaware that someone has stolen their identity.

Consumers be aware!!! Use every precaution you can to protect your Identity and that of your family!