Hello all. I am the accountant/office manager for the company I work for. Lately I've been receiving phone calls from magazines we either receive or don't currently receive. The caller seems innocent enough in "varifying information" such as our mailing address, the recipients name and phone number. OK, I can do that. However, at the end of the call they ask for my name, ok... but "ma'am, to verify that we spoke with you today I need...." followed by a bit of personal information... including the last four digits of my social security number... my birth month... my birth year... my mother's maiden name and the list goes on!
The first question was my birth month so I didn't catch on... but every call, sometimes two or three a day, the information grew... (I had stopped giving that info after the first call)... Thus the scam, where over a period of a few short days the caller's can generate enough information to do some serious damage to me.
PEOPLE.... Rule of thumb... if someone calls to verify anything, even your phone number that they just called, DONT! and if it's a bill collector or something like that, take their phone number and call them back and then pay the bill online if you so desire! But if they initiate the call... CALL THEM BACK! I could call you up and say "I'm calling from AT&T about your bill....."
JUST A REMINDER TO BE ON YOUR TOES PLEASE!!!!
Trying to be a faithful steward!
Lori
The first question was my birth month so I didn't catch on... but every call, sometimes two or three a day, the information grew... (I had stopped giving that info after the first call)... Thus the scam, where over a period of a few short days the caller's can generate enough information to do some serious damage to me.
PEOPLE.... Rule of thumb... if someone calls to verify anything, even your phone number that they just called, DONT! and if it's a bill collector or something like that, take their phone number and call them back and then pay the bill online if you so desire! But if they initiate the call... CALL THEM BACK! I could call you up and say "I'm calling from AT&T about your bill....."
JUST A REMINDER TO BE ON YOUR TOES PLEASE!!!!
Trying to be a faithful steward!
Lori