The Visa Credit Card Scam has been around for a while, but there is renewed interest in this type of scam. It is unclear whether any Visa credit card scam has made its way to the UK, but it is imperative to report all types of scams to ensure you are prepared.
How the Scam Works
The scam begins with a phone call that states they are from the security department of your credit card company. They will tell you they are Visa, MasterCard or whatever card you may hold. They will not tell you they are the issuing company such as Barclay. This should set off warning bells because you always converse with the issuing company rather than Visa or MasterCard. The person will quote some details, perhaps even a badge number to be more convincing of who they are.
The person on the phone will tell you that transactions have been flagged given your purchase patterns. They will ask if you bought similar items or a particular item from a company.
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Norfolk is the site of yet another credit card scam warning. People in the county have been telephoned by scam artists acting as though they are from the fraud and security department of Visa or MasterCard. These scammers are informing the consumer their credit card transactions have been flagged with unusual spending and they are calling to verify the purchase(s).
Of course in order to verify these fraudulent charges they must verify the consumer’s identity by getting the consumer to give their full name, address, and birth date. They also ask the consumer to confirm if they purchased an item for a large amount.
The scammers take it a bit further than others in the past. When the consumer states they have not made that purchase the scammer states they will credit the amount of the purchase back and open an investigation. This is when they ask for the three digit code on the back of the card.
The consumer is prompted to give over the number, which means the scammers now have it if the consumer provides it. T
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When the CARD Act passed, some skeptical observers complained that it had a big loophole. The CARD Act only covered personal cards. Business cards, also known as professional cards were deemed exempt. At the time, I speculated that credit card companies would be unlikely to have two different sets of rules for business and personal cards. Apparently, I gave the banks too much credit.
Some Business Cards Go By The Old Rules
According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, some banks are choosing to exploit the business card loophole. The article cites CitiBank as applying payments to the lower interest rate balances first, and for raising interests rates sharply in the event of a missed payments. Both actions would be prohibited if the card was a personal card, not a business card. The article does give Capitol One recognition for applying the CARD Act rules to it’s business cards.
What Is The Deal With Business Cards?
Frankly, I have always wondered why these cards exist. They are a great tool for someone like me who wants to receive multiple sign up bonuses. When a really killer deal is out there, I have been known to sign up for both the personal and the business cards. As for legitimate uses, my belief has always been that a business card can allow you to segregate your business expenses from your personal expenses. I have operated a number of small ventures, but I never had any trouble distinguishing my business expenses from my personal ones. If my business grew, I could see how it would be nice to have a different card, although I am not sure why it would have to be a business card, rather than a different personal card.
Some business cards offer the feature of having multiple additional cards for employees with the rewards accruing for the primary cardholder. I would hate it if my job asked me to charge a bunch of stuff to a company card where I didn’t see any rewards. Hypocritically, I would be the first to have such a card if I had people under me who needed to purchases for my business.
For now, I would still consider getting a business card for the sign up bonus, but as always, I don’t imagine really using it much.
The Chennai Police on Friday claimed that it had arrested a Srilankan Tamil, mastermind behind a major credit card scam. The racket was involved in cloning credit cards using a skimmer, an embossing machine and other equipment.
The Police arrested HariKumar on October 15 when he tried to buy things using a fake credit card in Perambur. When interrogated, he disclosed that the brain behind the scam was Umesh alias Jatti, a Srilankan tamil settled in Canada. He said that Jatti had recently moved to Chennai. The police recovered four fake credit cards from Harikumar. The case was then handed over to central crime branch for further probe.
Special teams were able to catch Umesh, a marine engineer, from Porur. When interrogated, he revealed that he had obtained several blank credit cards sent from Malaysia by some agents. He said that he had also obtained particulars of several credit cards from his friends in Canada, where he lived for several years.
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