Just a short while ago, I got a call (on my cellphone) from some broad who started by telling me what a great Visa customer I’ve been and listed the things I was going to receive as appreciation (Wal Mart gift certificates, among other things).

She then started trying to verify information, repeating the last 4 digits of my primary debit card and then my street address.

It was at that point I requested her name and number. She said she would provide that, but asked why I needed it. So I repeated my request. She quickly hung up.

The caller ID said 727-541-0001, which is a Verizon number out of Florida.

This was obviously an attempt to phish for info - has anyone had this happen recently? Should I bother informing my bank?

I’d like to put my size 10.5 boot up her ass, but she hung up too quickly.

Posted by Preston Taylor Holmes @ 11:58 am
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1. Notify your bank Preston. Better safe than sorry. Most likely you are protected from fraudulent withdraws from your account. But it’s such a hassle when you discover someone has taken your money.

   comment by SINcerely — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 1:05 pm

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2. Would it be safe to say, you’d like to “eat her liver with a side of fava beans and a nice Chianti?”

   comment by Wild Bill — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 1:18 pm

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3. I called that number and it’s ben interrupted (that really quick busy signal sound). Call your bank, Holmes. Let them know what happened. I never do any phone transactions from anyone that claims to represent any of my banks or credit cards or any other merchants. I always ask for them to send me their secured web address link to handle any transaction. If they refuse or say they can’t, then you know they’re full of shit!

   comment by Yiddish Steel — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 1:37 pm

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4. Have you Googled that number yet?
   http://tinyurl.com/pqmjc

   A while back, I was getting weird calls from someone who said they were Experian. I posted about it and included the number .. it’s my hardest hit post from Google and other searches. Seems that there is something definitely hinky going on ….

   You will probably get many “Hey me too!” comments on this

   comment by LissaKay — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 1:39 pm

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5. I actually have the means to track down the owner of that number for you if you’d like. Just email me the debit card number of the card she was trying to get as well as the expiration date.

   For verification…. really….

   comment by Robb Allen (Sharp as a Marble) — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 1:54 pm

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6. I’ve had similar calls to my home phone.
   You also have to watch out for branded emails.

   comment by Homely — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 3:55 pm

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7. Those are the times you wish you could think fast and somehow catch the scumbags.

   Good catch, tho.

   comment by Cranky — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 4:01 pm

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8. There are a couple of sites which advertise cell # to subscriber investigations for $40-80 or so inside the US.

   comment by Petey — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 4:44 pm

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9. Bank. Call. Now. Not to protect yourself; if you needed protection she wouldn’t have called you. To crucify and impale the scumbag.

   comment by Doug — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 6:41 pm

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10. Go to http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/ and add your home and cell numbers to the Federal Trade Commission’s “do not call” registry. It’s free and I’ve stopped getting calls since I put mine in almost a year ago. Then follow the “file a complaint” link on the left frame. That should splash your telemarketing Zero.

    comment by michel — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 9:15 pm

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11. Good suggestions all - Lissa, that google idea you had was eye-opening. Thanks for chiming in everyone. I’ve reported it to the bank, though I don’t know what they can do. I’ll just keep a sharp eye on the old debit account as usual. I hope whoever that was I talked to this morning gets some kind of uterine disease.

    comment by Preston Taylor Holmes — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 9:44 pm

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12. I live by Google. I will probably die by Google. I Google everything and everyone. I eat, drink, sleep, bathe and knit Google. I should marry Google and have little Googlets.
    

    comment by LissaKay — Monday, March 6, 2006 @ 9:48 pm

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13. LissaKay - we’re not far from a day when we can help people like you. For now, may I recommend a 12-step program for you and Googanon for your family (it’s a Yahoo Group)?

    Preston - your bank can register a complaint in Florida. As could you, but… lets be honest, that’s not a lazy man’s choice, and I’d expect the bank to be much more energetic in the arena of fraud prevention. It’s a good investment for them, but just a good samaritan effort for you. If you shared LissaKay’s adventures in Google with them, I think they’d feel it’s warranted at least to the extent of dragging the Florida General Attorney’s office in. They can get an investigation going, or add a report of the incident to any ongoing investigation.

    comment by Doug — Tuesday, March 7, 2006 @ 12:11 am

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14. What the caller was looking for was that 3-digit number on the back of your card. At some point, she would have asked you for it, because it’s the one piece of information she didn’t have.

    comment by The Unabrewer — Tuesday, March 7, 2006 @ 3:01 am

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15. Piece of advice,

    Use unsolicited sales calls at the dinner hour to instruct young Preston Jr. on proper phone etiquette. If the caller ID says unknown, then let little Preston pick up the phone and say whatever he likes. Sometimes my son would hand the phone to me when he was through talking about tornadoes and helicopters, there was usually nobody on the other end by that time. We’re on the do not call list now.

    comment by michele — Wednesday, March 8, 2006 @ 12:07 pm

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16. I am a college student and the same thing has been happening to me. For some reason they seem to call when I am in class and when I get out I have missed calls, I knew something was wrong when I tried to call the number back and I get a message that says that the number has been disconnected. Even though I still get about 2 calls a day from these people (one day I had 5) they never leave a message. I think that the reason is that I have a ringback tone on my phone and a lot of people get confused and hang up anyway. Thanks for the heads up!

    comment by Randy — Saturday, March 18, 2006 @ 12:01 pm

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17. I contacted Verizon because I got the same thing from the same number. Here’s the info they sent me. You should consider calling the number. I’m going to.
    —————————–
    Dear customer,

    Thank you for contacting the Verizon eCenter. My name is Jeffrey, and I
    will be handling your request today.

    This message is in response to your email dated March 27, 2006. You
    inquired about receiving unwanted harassing phone calls. I understand
    your frustration with receiving unwanted calls. I will be happy to
    assist you.

    Our Unlawful Call Center (UCC) specializes in calls of a serious nature
    that fall into one of the categories listed below.

    To use the services of the UCC, you must be willing to take legal
    actions against the caller.

    Examples of unlawful calls include:

    * Threat to Life (yours or someone else’s)
    * Bodily Harm
    * Excessive, Obscene, or Harassing Calls
    * Kidnapping
    * Bomb Threats

    Note: Excessive generally means more than five calls of this nature in
    a given day.

    We regularly work with law enforcement agencies to resolve unlawful
    call complaints.

    The law enforcement agency investigates all calls involving bodily
    harm, bomb threats and kidnapping.

    Unwanted calls are usually not against the law and typically include:

    * Fax Calls
    * Hang Up Calls
    * Computer Calls
    * Solicitation Calls
    * Telemarketing Calls
    * Debt Collection Calls
    * Obscene or Harassing Calls

    If calls of this nature exceed five per day and you are willing to
    prosecute, we will handle this as an unlawful call.

    If you are receiving unlawful calls (as outlined above) and you are
    willing to prosecute, please contact our Unlawful Call Center at (800)
    518-5507. Our Unlawful Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30
    AM to 5:00 PM.

    The department to which we have referred you will be able to assist
    you. If you have any additional questions, please let us know. We look
    forward to serving you.

    Thank you for using Verizon. We appreciate your business.

    Sincerely,
    Jeffrey
    Verizon eCenter

    comment by Kel — Wednesday, March 29, 2006 @ 2:48 pm

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18. Hi. Just wanted to let you know that today i have gotten 2 phone calls from these people. I haven’t been able to answer the phone but they never leave a message. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and i am just going to warn people about it.

    comment by Ashley — Tuesday, April 11, 2006 @ 7:08 pm

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19. Even putting your # on the no call list does nothing to prevent these calls. These assholes buy your number from unscrupulous website. This takes away the “random calling” that real telemarketers do. It is illegal for telemarketers to make repeated unwanted calls, but because these chuckleheads bought your number, it legally constitutes a “business relationship”. That being said, you have no legal recourse against these calls. The best thing to do is to make a point to answer as many of these calls as you can, and harass, degrade, insult and threaten the caller. How many times of telling these assholes that you will skin their children in front of them before sodomizing them with a hunting knife will it take to get them to stop calling? More than you may think, but it is a lot of fun!

    comment by Eric — Tuesday, May 9, 2006 @ 4:00 pm

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