Be wary of unsolicited calls

By Susan Taft
staft@campcountynow.com

Bankers from any of Pittsburg’s financial institutions will tell you: Never give your credit or debit card number to someone if you didn’t initiate the transaction or conversation. Several Camp County residents received phone calls and were asked to do just that.
Thom and Cindy Leonard both received the calls.
“It came in with just the number 499, and there was a recorded voice that said that our Visa bank card had been deactived,” Mr. Leonard said. “It said to reactivate the card we had to dial 1 and enter the card number.”
Mr. Leonard said the calls came within two hours of each other, and neither entered their card number.
“This was on the weekend of March 23,” he said. “The following Monday I reported it to the bank.”
Ois and Deborah Kennington also received the calls about their debit card that weekend.
“Deborah called the bank, and they said nothing was wrong with the card,” Mr. Kennington said. “They told her never to respond to those calls because it was someone trying to scam you.”
A Visa spokesman said fraudsters sometimes send official-looking letters or pose as representatives from credit card companies, financial institutions or even charities.
“Visa never calls or writes cardholders for personal account information,” he said. “Never provide information unless you initiated the communication, and get details. If the caller can’t answer your questions, it’s not legitimate.”
B Gooding, senior vice president at Cypress Bank, said there are so many scams today that every time you are asked for your card number you should be wary.
“Never give your card information on the phone with a call you did not originate,” Mr. Gooding said. “Should you be notified of an issue with your card, the card holder should immediately call directly to their local bank office. The card issuer will call the card holder if there is concern of fraudulent activity, but they will instruct the card holder to call their financial institution.”
Kim Daily, branch manager at Capital One, agreed.
“Never give your debit card information to anyone that you don’t know or to anyone that you didn’t initiate a purchase with,” she said. “The bank would not ask for that information; if we were calling you about your card, we would have that information.
“Be careful.”
Kendal Burns, president of Guaranty Bond Bank in Pittsburg, said the most important thing to remember is to never give out any solicited financial information.
“Always shield your PIN when entering digits when you’re making a purchase, and try to keep your debit card in sight at all times during a transaction,” he said. “If your card is lost or stolen, immediately report it to your financial institution.”
Those trying to obtain your financial information are also using text messages.
Danny Muskrat, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Guaranty Bond Bank, advised all customers and non-customers of fraudulent text messages in this area.
“Text messages are randomly being sent to both customers and non-customers stating your account is having technical difficulties and gives a specific phone number for you to contact,” Mr. Muskrat said.  “Please be aware that this is a fraudulent text and do not under any circumstance release any information. It is possible that when a scam occurs, you may be contacted more than one time or by multiple phone numbers. Guaranty Bond Bank, or any bank, will never ask for account information in an unsolicited telephone call, e-mail, or text message.”
Mr. Leonard said he notified The Gazette, and posted the message on Facebook, to get the word out that people should never respond to e-mails, phone calls or texts of this nature.
“It sounds official, and I wanted to let everyone know so they wouldn’t fall victim to this fraud,” he said.