Scammers hope youre alarmed and act before you think
of ConsumerAffairsBanks fraud departments have gotten pretty good at identifying questionable credit card purchases. They employ algorithms that compare a purchase to your regular purchases and alert you if something doesnt seem quite right.
They often communicate by text because of its immediacy. Scammers have picked up on this and have designed scams to mimic these alerts. A common scam message goes something like this:
Transfer request of $894.49 to_______has been approved. If you didn't authorize, please visit (link) to cancel now.
A bank customer getting that text might hastily click the link to stop the transfer. By doing so, they might download dangerous malware to their device or end up on a website where they are asked to reveal personal information.
What to do
So, what should a consumer do? As a first step, analyze the text carefully. Is there a telephone number to call? Banks normally provide a telephone number for the customer to call, as well as a yes/no option on the charge.
Then, ask yourself if the bank has any reason to question the charge. Has it ever challenged legitimate charges in the past? If not, why challenge this one?
If you think the message might be legitimate, go to the banks website to get the telephone number of the fraud department and call and ask.
Scammers also use the same gimmick to alarm consumers that an expensive purchase has been made with their credit card, sending a message like:
Did you order this?
ALERT: iPhone 16 Pro has been purchased from your Amazon account. Click here to cancel.
Again, why would the credit card company not think you ordered the iPhone? People order thousands of them every day.
Instead of reacting and falling into the scammers trap, wait a day, then check your account. If the charge doesnt show up, the message was a scam.
If by chance the charge is real, call the fraud department immediately and dispute the charge. Credit card companies limit consumers fraud liability and so do most banks if you respond within 24 hours.
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Posted: 2025-03-12 11:03:55
