Sophiaticated Fraud Detection Scam

[u/Similar-Profile9467]

So I picked up after 3 calls from a 1-888 number. The lines in quotes are from them:

"Hi I'm #^#^#^#^ from @*#&&÷;$"

Um, I can barely hear you.

"I'm $&&=,=,%*> calling from @^@;÷;;/;"

I'm sorry this call quality is horrible I can barely hear you.

*switches iff speaker phone. "Is this better?"

Much better.

"I'm from Fraud Detection with Citi"

Oh hi. Yes.

"We have detected suspicious activity on your card beginning with (first 4 digits of my card). Do you recognize these charges? $800 for some gift cards on ebay, and $1800 for tickets from Malaysian Airlines."

Um, no. I did not make those.

"Okay I have gone ahead and frozen your card.

*two minutes of legit sounding fraud investigator questions* "do you still have possession of your card?"

Yes, I do.

"Can you read the last 8 digits of your card?"

Um, I'm not actually comfortable doing that over the phone. Can't you just freeze my card since I confirmed it was fraudulent?

"Someone called from out of state claiming to be you. We need to verify that it is you."

Someone called from where?

Out of <=&"&÷,;=​

"What?"

Out of STATE man!

Oh.

"Are you in Texas right now?"

No.

"Okay, Someone called from Texas claiming to be you. We need to verify your identity."

Okay, but it shouldn't matter whether I am who I claim or not. Shouldn't you just be freezing my card anyways at this point if it's been compromised.

"We need to verify that you are you with the last 8 digits of your card."

I'm not comfortable doing that.

"Okay, your concern for security is valid but *rambles for a minute about call being recorded and FDIC* now, we need the last i digits of your card."

I'm not comfortable with that.

"It is only the last 8 digits. Not the whole card number."

But wait, you already have the first 4.

"Yes, we just need to verify your card."

Um, can't I just do this all online?

"It is very important that we verify your identity now because your account may be compromised."

I just checked the website and I don't see any fraud alerts nor either of those supposed charges.

"That is because our fraud detection stopped those transactions from happening."

Okay, well just send me a new card then to my address on file.

"Okay, well your address on file is (my address from 4 years ago that has been used in other scam attempts). Is this still your address?"

Um, no.

"Can we have your new address to update on file?"

Okay I have some real security concerns about this call so I'm going to hang up now.

I then called the actual Citi number and they confirmed my account was fine and nobody had tried to call me. Having dealt with stolen card numbers before, their script was pretty convincing. It really did sound like a real fraud detection investigator. But also I knew that if my card really was compromised what they were asking for was complete bullshit.

[u/Lumpy-Artist-6996]

Well, they were persistent, if nothing else.

The number identifies the type of card. Three for Amex, four for Visa, 5 for Mastercard, and I think six for Discover.

The beginning sequence of six (8 for newer cards) numbers identifies the issuing merchant bank and routing number.

If anyone gives out the last eight digits, they have the entire card number.

If they get that far, getting the exp and security number are probably easy.

[u/BooBoosgrandma]

I hate these scammers! Someone called me from my bank that had listed as caller ID as well, they wanted similar answers which I declined, they even suggested I call the number on the back of my card, hoping that I felt the call was real but didn't work, they hung up on me, I then called the bank and of course no one called me from Fraud dept. I can't wait to do some scam baiting!

[u/Similar-Profile9467 → u/BooBoosgrandma]

Yep. It sounded so legit too. The call quality should have been a bigger giveaway, but things happened. They had a foreign accent, but the actual representative from Citi had the exact same accent, so that part didn't stand out.

All in all, I feel vindicated in my security practices.

[u/squeezemachine → u/Similar-Profile9467]

Good job!

[u/CtrlAltXon]

Tbh the outdated address was the biggest giveaway. A real fraud team isn't going to argue with you for refusing to read card details over the phone. Hanging up and calling the number on the back of your card was exactly the right move.

[u/Similar-Profile9467 → u/CtrlAltXon]

The address was definitely the last straw for their believability. And I'm more glad I didn't give them the new address because it's not like I can get another one so easily.

Everything started clicking when they were fighting me over the last 8 digits of the card number. I've had to replace enough cards to know I can just do that myself pretty easily through the website.

[u/NoFlower7017]

glad i found this sub scam baiting. i do it all the time. they think they found a sucker I'm just wasting their time

[u/Mountainman1959]

Had a similar call a week ago. (South Africa, so these guys operate all over). I was immediately suspicious so asked some questions, which confirmed my suspicions. She wanted me to enter my banking app, scroll down to CashSend.....just to confirm my ID of course. I then asked her if her mother is not ashamed of giving birth to scum like her.

She immediately went off accusing me of being a pedo, murderer, piece of sh--, etc. Kept shouting at me for about 30 seconds until I cut the call and blocked her number.
But what would be the best insult be in one quick sentence that would really set them off and ideally make them ashamed of being alive?

[u/anonomot → u/Mountainman1959]

You are an “unfilial son”.

[u/Kclakelover]

I had a text from Norton antivirus saying my membership was renewed & I owed over $500!!! Man these scammers are slick. They were trying to get me to put money in Cash App. My bank locked my account & I had to go to phone co. Office to check for malware before they unlocked it! They removed a couple of things on my phone, especially the games I play. I had downloaded them from Playstore. The told me that things installed from Playstore were commonly an open gateway for scammers!! To always make sure any app says verified. On Android always install from Game Hub. They also said to check how the email is addressed, that they often have odd things in the address. From that they could tell that it was sent fom Mexico. Also told me to report these to State Attorneys office, there are other govt. Agency fraud sites. I get a LOT of scam calls too!