These days, for all practical purposes, you are your financial information. All it takes for someone to pretend to be you is to possess some information that only you have. Once they have such information, they can open accounts in your name, take out loans, and spend money like crazy. How to criminals obtain vital personal information from people? In many cases, all they do is ask for it.

In a new credit card scam that is making the rounds, criminals are calling consumers and posing as representatives of their credit card company. It’s easy to obtain someone’s credit card number, but to engage in online transactions, you will also need a piece of information from the back of the card. That is a number known as the CVC2 number, which is a three digit number that appears only on the back of the card. The number does not appear on the billing statement or anywhere else. Many online merchants require this number as proof that the buyer is the actual cardholder. If someone should possess your credit card number and the CVC2 number, they can go on a virtually unlimited spending spree and all of the bills will come to you. 

The scam is accomplished by a crook who calls you and introduces himself as a representative of your charge card company. He says that he is calling because of some unusual activity on your account. He describes some odd purchases that he knows that you did not make, and you indicate you did not make those purchases. He assures you that he will clear up any problems and remove the purchases from your account. He then asks you for the number from the back of the card to “verify” that you actually have it.

If you give him the number, you have been scammed.

Consumers are often very trusting, and if someone calls and says they are from Visa or Mastercard, most people will believe them, particularly if they have you name and account number. Remember that no one from any financial institution will ever ask you to provide information that they already have. You are the cardholder of record, so your issuer doesn’t care if you actually have the card or not. That means that they have no reason to ask you for identifying information. If you provide this information, it may cost you thousands of dollars.

If you receive such a call and you are not sure if it is legitimate or not, call the company yourself. If you initiate the call, then you will know for sure with whom you are speaking. You can then discuss the matter in person. Do not ever give personal information to someone who calls you out of the blue. It’s just another scam.