Attempted scam - URGENT! PLEASE READ.

[Workingman]

I have an ongoing call claiming to be from VM fraud dept on 020 8106 5715 - press this, press that... and am on hold.

The claim is that five transactions have been made from my current account.

I immediately went online to check and those transactions are there so I am using VM 'chat' to find out what is going on. They know nothing about the call and the number is not theirs so I have closed and blocked it.

My card is now locked and VM are investigating - the transactions will not go through.

The withdrawals were by:

Shop On Tv
FROOGUL.CO.UK
BEFROOGUL.CO.UK

They were made during the night and I have no idea who made them. The call from the above number was probably to get more of my details.

BE AWARE!

[Workingman]

OK I am now safe.

A new card and PIN are on their way.

Well done to my bank.

[cromwell]

Nightmare. Well done to your bank WM but honestly, these scammers need to be sorted out. You can't have anything without someone wanting to steal it from you.

[Kaz]

Glad you got it sorted, Frank!

Nightmare. Well done to your bank WM but honestly, these scammers need to be sorted out. You can't have anything without someone wanting to steal it from you.

Absolutely!

[Workingman]

So, to the call.

It was out of the blue and I never press this or press that so I was waiting for an operative... that's when I went online to VM to check my account and go on chat to get information from VM.

I, nor they, know how my account was accessed but we both suspect the card was scanned when a contactless payment was being made at some point: wherever; whenever.

What the scammers do is to then make a few small purchases that you might not notice till your statement comes through. If they get paid that is when they wipe you out.

They made a mistake putting me on hold because it gave me time to contact the bank.

I also had a text from a spoofed number with a link... as if I am going there!

[TheOstrich]

Glad you got it sorted. But you knew what to do - how many people don't?

[Workingman]

Ossie, Suff and I are largely aware of these things and are somewhat immune and protected. Others, not so aware, get caught and they get hit very hard, sometimes losing life savings.

The scammers don't care, they get the money.

It's why I tend to keep these things in people's faces, and I make no apologies for that. We all need to stay safe.

[cruiser2]

Earlier this year i got a text message from my credit card company to say i was near my credit limit. This was while i was having my breakfast.
So went on line to check my statement and saw some purchases one for over £3000.00 which i did not recognise.
I immediately phoned the credit card company. They were very helpful, stopped the payments, cancelled the card and issued me with a new card
with a new number.
Not had any problems since. I am very careful who gets my card details.

I try to use my pin but some shops don't like this as it slows up the queue.

[Suff]

I never click on a link in a text message unless I just asked for the text, it comes from a known provider in the list of messages from them and I can't get in any other way.

Always good to be aware of this WM and, yes, it is always a good reminder for everyone else about this.

[Workingman]

Well now. A knock on the door and there is a parcel. No idea who from and no return address, just a box with my addresss label. The EVRI driver had legged it.

Inside is a mini drone thing - a flying machine. I suspect it is what had been bought with the details from my card. So I am asking myself why would a 70-year-old want such a toy?

Ah well, I'll keep it for a while and if nobody claims it the local charity shop will get a present.



Apparently it was ordered through something called Temu.