Beware of Fraudulent Calls That May SEEM Legit: My Latest Experience With "Vishing"

Just a few minutes ago, on this nice, relaxing Sunday afternoon, I received a phone call on my home phone from 415-223-4900.

The caller ID said "San Rafael, CA." I was immediately curious because I don't know anyone in San Rafael.

I answered the call only to hear a pre-recorded message saying "This is Cooperative Credit Union Services. Your account has been suspended. Press 1 to be immediately connected to our security department."

Because I NEVER respond to any such type of message, regardless of what it says, I didn't press anything and just listened intently to see what would happen next. The pre-recorded message just played a second time and then the call automatically disconnected.

I was so hoping the call would transfer to a live person so I could unload a hefty mixed-bag of un-pleasantries on them because right away I suspected some fraudulent activity.

You see, I know I don't have a relationship with a "Cooperative Credit Union Services."

I do, however, have 3 different personal credit union accounts at 3 different institutions, and that is definitely not the very distinguishable name of any of my credit unions.

Now for the sake of convenience, I've used a credit union service center on many occasions because my credit unions are not very close to where I live and work.

I know this wasn't just a coincidence that the credit union service center I've repeatedly used in the past is called "Co-op (Cooperative) Services Credit Union," a name very similar to that mentioned in the pre-recorded message.

Nah, it was no coincidence at all. There was definitely something fishy going on.

The fraudsters were hoping that name variation would be "familiar enough" to cause me to panic and respond, and take some action.

I know that if there really were a problem with any of my credit union accounts, a representative from MY credit union would be calling me, not someone from the credit union service center.

And in the past when there's been questionable activity on one of my accounts (personal or business, credit union or bank), a live person always called, not a recording.

And further, I totally stalk my bank accounts. I check my account activity online nearly everyday to make sure everything is everything. And when I checked my accounts this morning, all was well.

But needless to say, I checked them again after this strange phone call. And thankfully, everything was still OK.

So next, you know I googled the phone number...

Turns out the number actually belongs to Toucan Global, who offers the "Snap Communicator," a USB device that works with your PC and Internet service to keep you constantly connected to up to 8 people that you talk to a lot. The system works more like an intercom as opposed to a traditional phone line or computer soft-phone.

Now you know this communications company, based in San Francisco, CA, has nothing to do with my bank accounts!

I bet the fraudsters just spoofed their phone number for caller ID purposes.

There's really no telling what kind of scheme was waiting for me on the other end of that phone call. And who knows where my call would've been transferred to if I had actually pressed 1...

A $50 per minute psychic hotline?

A stranger on the other side of the world waiting to "verify" my bank account info so they could "look into" the account suspension, when all they really want to do is get the necessary information to rip me off?

I don't think so!

This type of fraudulent nonsense is called "vishing," a scheme that involves delivering messages of a suspended, deactivated, or terminated account via phone, in an effort to gain access to your personal information.

If you ever receive a call concerning any of your personal financial information or accounts, please remember this:

1. Do not panic.
2. Be on guard and keep in mind the call could be a scam.
3. Pay very close attention to what the person or recording is saying.
4. Do not press anything to have your call re-routed.
5. Do not give out any personal or financial or "extra" information.
6. Get off the phone as quickly as possible.
7. Call the company back directly to find out if there really is a problem.
8. Only call company phone numbers you know are legit, like the ones on your bills or statements, not one given to you by the caller.
9. If discovered the call is fraudulent, give the real company as many details as possible so they can investigate the incident (i.e., time of call, what was said, caller ID info, etc.).
10. Report the incident to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which investigates vishing complaints. This is a partnership between the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center & the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
11. It's always, always, always better to be safe than sorry.

Comments

[JR]

Found your blog after receiving a call at home from this number and googling it just now, only they said that they were from "The First National Bank of St Louis". We don't have an account with them.

Now I live in STL, but unfortunately for them, I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am familiar with the area codes there so I recognized it immediately.

While talking with my DH who was speaking to a neighbor, he said he also just received a call from that number. They must comb neighborhoods somehow.

Reporting this myself.

[Nicole of JustAskNicole.com]

Hi Barbara,

Fraudulent incidents like these are really unfortunate. It's a shame your company and unsuspecting consumers have been targeted by this scam. This story recently ran on the local news here in the metro Detroit area. I hope the FBI cracks down on the fraudsters and nails them to the wall!

~Nicole

[Barbara Bartels]

We are the company who got spoofed! It's been a real nightmare. The incident has been reported to the FBI.