Another scam

This week I was sent a copy of a warning issued to all their customers by AOL. It is about a new way to try to trick you into revealing your credit/debit card details. It works like this;

1. You receive an email that asks you to ring a number because there is a problem with your PayPal account. If you do, a recorded voice asks for your credit/debit card details
2. You may receive a phone call where the caller already knows your credit/debit card details but wants you to give them the security number on the back of the card

What you should do is this;

• Delete any email that asks for financial details. No reputable company would work like this and certainly not a bank, credit card company or PayPal.
• If you receive a phone call asking for any of your card details hang up immediately then ring the telephone number on the back of the card. If the first call was genuine then your card company will be able to tell you what the problem is. However it is much more likely that they will be able to confirm that you have received a vishing call and will tell you what to do next.

If any of you want to read the original warning you will find it at AOL Warning

This warning does make you wonder where these crooks are getting your card numbers from. My wife and I were so concerned about this that we decided to set up an account that is only used for shopping on the web and eBay. With the help of our Bank, we opened an account that does not have a cheque book, has no overdraft facilities at all, can not accept any direct payments such as Standing orders, Direct Debits etc and has only a Debit Card as the way to access any funds. We keep the balance of the account below £10 and only move money into the account when we have made an online purchase. So far it has worked just fine but if anyone does get hold of the card details the most they will get is £5 and it will flag up on the Bank's computer that this is an unauthorised transaction and we will know that account has been hacked.

Our Bank were so impressed by how it has worked (we have been running it for a year now) they have started to offer it to all their online customers for use as an online shopping account.