Beware! Cold-calling bank scam!

I'd not heard anything about this one, and I just had a phone call so now I'm doing my bit to make people aware.

A woman with a very thick Indian accent called claiming to be from the building society I use and was calling about overcharges on my account that I would be refunded plus an extra percentage from the government.

*insert alarm bells - I know my building society's head office is based in Newcastle and they do everything locally*

They knew my address, but asked me to confirm my date of birth, but they misheard and continually quoted it back to me as the 15th. *more alarm bells*

They asked for a card number to confirm, and by this time I've got alarm bells going off everywhere, but I choose the one that has the lowest balance and the one that's in my name only.

Apparently the Department of Fair Trading will call me tomorrow to confirm all of this, and they will call my mobile. *more alarm bells - government agencies don't tend to call on Saturdays*

Then I'm told that she needs to get her supervisor. No hold music. *even more alarm bells*

So the very first thing I do when I get off the phone is to call my building society myself - already had their page up on my browser before the call ended.

It's a well-known scam that's going on (she said mainly in Sydney, but they're getting calls from all over), but it's not one I'd heard about so I'm making it known.

My card is now "hot" and I'm getting a new one and a new PIN issued, and I've emptied the account of the sum total of $30 that was in there.

I kept thinking that I *should* have asked them to call me back in 15 and done my own checks - but all's well that ends well!

BW

Thanks for the heads up BW! I haven't heard of that one either.

What happens to your "hot" card? Cut it up??

Far out! I'm glad you were on the ball enough to call the bank straight away - good work :D

I never give out my personal details (i.e birth date, etc) over the phone if someone has called me. If they are genuine they should already know that! I get sick of dodgy sales people from other phone providers asking to confirm my birthday, I just tell them I'm not willing to give that info out - how dare they ask!!

Thanks for letting us all know :)

Thanks so much for the heads up - its scary how much this is happening lately.

The same kind of thing happened to my Nanna - they said they were from her phone provider and asked for her acc details so they could credit her back some over charges. It wasn't until 2 days later that she mentioned it to me and I made her call her bank straight away about it.

I glad you were on it enough to not get caught!!

Wow they went all out to try to make t seem legit! Getting her supervisor?? Actually sounds a bit real. Thanks for the heads up!

ahh that's terrible!! good on you for sussing it all out and taking action :thumbsup: bummer to having your card cancelled though Lol.

Thanks for the heads up.

I would have been suspicious when they said the government was going to pay me something. I've given up on THAT ever happening!!

The "hot" card - it will no longer work. I think it's basically the same as if it were reported lost or stolen.

The big thing for me - the building society is everywhere when you are in Newcastle, everything is local to Newcastle. We're lucky enough to have had a branch twenty minutes away when we moved to Sydney so stayed with them. In what's probably close to 20 years dealing with them, everything has happened in Newcastle. One thick Indian accent was suspicious enough, but two... That's where they had me. It just had this whole sense of not right about it. I'm glad I called, but feel a bit silly for letting them get away with it and giving out my card details.

But the card is cancelled and the account emptied and internet banking password is changed. But I really can see how some people could easily be sucked in. A bigger, more impersonal financial institution - Indian call centres are a bit more feasible. It was all "can we ask you to confirm XXX for security reasons", and the whole giving of a password and stressing the importance of not talking to anyone unless they have your password.

And really, the government (and the banks, really!) do everything by letter and in writing. My institution said that the only reason they'd call is if we were defaulting on loan payments or had mail returned, or had applied for a loan or something. And the calls usually come from the local branch in that case.

But yeah, be wary. And perhaps make a point of warning elderly relatives.

BW

Yeah never give out your credit card details the bank will already have them on record. Glad you realised they were dodgy and cancelled the card.