Scammers Working Overtime to Steal $$$

I recently closed my old business checking account to prevent thieves draining all the funds. It’s not so much that it happened that bothers me as much as the way it happened.

I recently decided to switch internet providers to lower the price to a more reasonable level (almost $45 a month). But a mistake in the original order led to complications using the new provider’s app and online account.

After the service got connected, I tried going online to set up automated bill pay. When that didn’t work, I called the customer service number.

Worldwide Service

The woman who answered the phone sounded like she was in India. That didn’t surprise me, since—as Thomas Friedman noted in his groundbreaking 2005 book,

The World is Flat—customer service work is often outsourced to various corners of the world. More than once, I have talked with agents who sound Indian.

Still, parts of this call seemed odd, as if the woman didn’t understand what she was doing. After taking my bank account information and giving me an order confirmation number, she asked me to hold the line. Someone would be coming on to ask more questions.

A couple of times, the next voice asked, “Is that correct?” to which I replied, “Yes.” (Only later did I realize it was the time-honored scammer’s tactic: to record you saying “yes” and pairing it with some outlandish offer that you never agreed to.)

Right before that portion of the call ended, a voice said I would be invoiced for around $4.75 for telehealth services in the coming week.

“What?” I thought. “For internet service?”

When the woman who first answered the call came back on the line, I said, “What is this stuff about telehealth?”

“Just a minute and I’ll connect you,” she said before the phone went into an eternal busy signal.

Alarming Trend

Now, I was alarmed. I called the customer service number back and this time got a man who spoke clear English.

When I described the strange call, he asked if I had a confirmation number. After I read it, he said, “That is too long to be one of ours. I would call your bank.”

I did and got a hold put on the account immediately so no one could withdraw money; only deposits would be accepted.

That happened on a Friday. On Monday, when my wife and I went to the bank to fill out paperwork for a new account, the bank official told us the same thing had happened to another customer.

Just as my call to a legitimate number had gotten intercepted by scammers, so had this other customer’s. Since they thought they were calling the local water company, they had no idea they were giving their debit card information to thieves.

A few days after we set up the new account, my wife called the old internet provider to let them know we were stopping our service. During that strange call, the person at the other end mentioned wanting a UPS delivery number (another scammer tactic).

My wife immediately hung up and called the company back. This time she got a real representative.

Ironically, all the warnings I’ve ever seen about scammer prevention is how to avoid thieves trying to call you. Now it appears they have devised ways of diverting outgoing calls.

It’s a scary new world. Makes me long for the days of paper checks and in-person transactions.