BEWARE THE FAIR TRADING SCAM

By Jackie Pearson

Another banking scam to look out for is called the Office of Fair Trading Scam. It works like this.

The caller tells you they are from your bank and explains that your bank has been over-charging you for years. The reason for the call is that they need to verify your personal information so they can organise for the Office of Fair Trading, which has supposedly prosecuted your bank for over-charging, to provide you with a refund.

Before you can get that refund, the person calling says they need to issue you with a unique security code and to do that they will need to verify your account details.

The person then proceeds to read you the first four digits of your credit or debit card number and then asks you to verify the remaining 12 digits of the number. This is an easy trap to fall into because, well, who doesn't want their bank to pay them a refund for over-charging.

What most consumers don't know is that the first four digits of your credit or debit card are the same for every card issued by your bank. Those four digits are like the card BSB number.

YOUR BANK SHOULD NEVER, EVER ASK YOU FOR PERSONAL DETAILS OVER THE PHONE. If any caller asks for your credit or debit card number or for the three-digit security card number on the bank of your card, THEY ARE NOT REALLY FROM YOUR BANK.

When I received one of these scam calls on my home phone recently I asked the caller to stay on the line while I called my bank on my mobile phone to verify that they were, in fact, a representative of the bank. Guess what, they hung up straight away!

So repeat after me: "I am sorry, I never give my account or card details to anyone over the phone, even if you say you are representing a charity or want to GIVE ME MONEY. If you want my personal and confidential banking information, send me your details in writing so I can verify them with my bank". If you say those words, even on occasions when you are convinced the call is legitimate, you will stay safe and free of nasty scams!