A Nasty Scam

[Daisy]

I had a phone call this morning. It listed the caller's number - local, our exchange. She said it was the bank and they were querying two purchases made this morning with our credit card - one for Amazon, followed immediately by an international money transfer for a 4 figure sum.

OH was out but I knew he'd made an Amazon purchase this morning. I was pretty sure he hadn't sent money abroad, though. It was very convincing, but I put the phone down without saying anything or following the options to stop the transactions.

I dialled 1471 and noted the phone number, and then realised that although it was local, our branch using that telephone exchange had closed recently.

OH contacted the Bank and sure enough it was a scam.

It's a variation on a common scam, I know, but the local number and the fact that OH had used his CC for an Amazon purchase, and the caller spoke with a neutral British accent, plus knowing that fraudsters often try a low value purchase before using a stolen card for a high value one all gave it an air of authenticity.

[Oma]

Daisy
These people are getting clever ,
We had a similar one , B said I will ring you back on another phone as it was a real person not a recorded message and they hung up ,
He rang our Bank via my mobile and it was a scam ,

They use Amazon a lot because these days the likelihood of you actually ordering from Amazon is high so you will think it’s real
So glad you realised before following any options .

[Nanto2girls]

It's happening a lot. Unfortunately so many will fall for it.

[Daisy]

It makes you doubt any unusual call though doesn't it. I nearly hung up on our pharmacist a few days ago, purely because of his accent and the way he said "Am I speaking to Mrs Daisy? Ma'am ......" I didn't recognise his name but fortunately he said the name of the village chemists. It's so sad to be suspicious of everyone.

[Lizzie48]

Daisy, I know what you mean, we should be able to trust, but, with all that is going on it isn't safe, there is a scam here, maybe in the UK too, where a "family" member sends a WhatsApp message asking for money as they have lost card etc etc.

[Plantaholic]

Interesting that they are using someone with an English accent. They usually give instructions to press 1. I get the Amazon ones but always with an accent, I must watch out.

[Daisy]

Plant, one of the options was to press 2 to cancel the transactions. Goodness knows what would have happened if I had.

[Gemini]

These scams are evil Daisy.
When they are so convincing no wonder people get caught out.

Thank goodness you were on the ball.

[Daisy]

Gem, in the case of the bank scam, yes, but I feel I'm turning into a grumpy, suspicious old hag when I even suspect our very nice pharmacist!

[Gemini]

Oh I agree Daisy, these scams make us suspicious of everything.

[WeeGranny]

I've had two messages telling me I've been in contact with someone who's tested positive for Covid and to order a test kit. I called the number but it didn't ring out, so I'm assuming it is a scam. As I've got tests in the cupboard I'm certainly not ordering any!

You have got to be so vigilant these days haven't you? Especially when you start to suspect legitimate callers.

[Daisy]

WeeGranny, I didn't know those Covid test kits scams were still happening, so it's good to be on our guard.