Credit and Debit Card SCAMS

Big Bear Computer Club      

  October 2014, Big Bear Lake Resident __ We cannot be too cautious about answering our cell phones, as well as (land-lines) home phones. Many cell phone owners aren’t answering them, if the in-coming phone number isn’t familiar. Strange unfamiliar calls are going to voice-mail and there determined if it is a wanted call. Instead, the tele-marketing phone calls are rampant, as well as scam calls asking for private information.

It seems that a few people in Lucerne Valley have recently received phone calls from an automated service company.  The caller said that their debit card had been 'locked'. The caller asked the cell phone owner to enter their personal information, in order to 'unlock' the card.  . 

 This is a total scam that is not new. Folks should simply hang up. If people have any questions regarding debit or credit cards, they should call their bank directly.

2.    I personally received two phone calls this week claiming to be from Microsoft. The caller said that she wanted to access my computer because they could see a problem.  The person had a heavy accent that I could hardly understand her. When I tell the scam callers that I don't have a computer, they immediately hang up on me.

A Second Big Bear Lake Resident reports:  

 I received several calls that were recorded on my answering machine, when I decided to take one of those from the same number. The caller explained as he did on the recordings, that the warranty on my car was about to expire and that it should be renewed as soon as possible. He continued that the matter could be corrected by giving him my credit card information and vehicle number on my car.

At that point, I asked ‘Okay, tell me more, how to go about getting a new warranty. See, I knew that my car had been paid off and I no longer had a warranty on it. Then, he asked ‘What kind of car do you own?’ I quickly responded, that he had called me and should have that information already. Would you believe that the conversation was abruptly ended, when he hung up?! Neither did I receive those calls again!