Ever resourceful in continuing to extend the reach of their
criminal activities, the newest threat now comes from text
messaging by identity thieves.
This
alert to our
subscribers is part of our continued scanning
of the world's latest fraud developments and represents a major
new identity theft scam technique to use both speed and confusion
to compromise consumer safety.
Here's what happened.
Identity theft criminals, in Colorado where first reported,
send out fake text messages to the cell phones of unsuspecting
potential victims. The messages ask for information about the
recipient's debit or credit cards.
The text asks people to call a 1-877 number to find out why
their card was suspended. To reactivate the card, the caller is
told to enter in the card number, expiration date and PIN code.
By calling the listed phone number and providing the confidential
information requested by the fraudulent criminal, the consumer
essentially is handing over their bank account access privileges.
Armed with that confidential access information, the identity theft
fraudster can very quickly clean out the victim's debit account or
run up a massive amount of fraudulent transactions on their credit
card in less than a day.
Key note, unlike credit cards, debit cards are directly hot linked to
your bank checking or savings accounts which are much harder to
recover lost funds from - especially if you do not catch the criminal
activity within the first week of it happening.So,
our tip for today is to guard well your providing any
confidential access information to an authorized party via
text messaging. Additionally, unless you have specifically
enrolled in your bank or credit card company's fraud
monitoring alerts service, do not respond to these fake
attempts by identity theft criminals determined to ruin
your financial future.
PS: Tell a friend or associate you know of residing in the
Denver, CO area of this important new development in
identity theft to contact their local police department
immediately. Finally, make to check back frequently
for our free, anonymous tips to help you reduce your
potential for identity theft.
