Phone Scam in New Jersey Could Prove Costly This Holiday Season

We received a phone call from a loyal listener.

Here’s what happened.

Our listener received a phone call from someone announcing that they were from Amazon.com and that someone had hacked her account and purchased a new IPhone.

This immediately caused (our listener) understandable stress. The alleged Amazon employee asked for her bank account information … saying that they wanted to refund stolen the money to her account.

This is not the procedure that Amazon.com uses to refund a fraudulent purchase. However, in the pressure of the moment, it’s easy to fall prey to someone who is pretending to help you at your time of need.

The alleged Amazon staffer was no Amazon employee at all, rather, a telephone scammer.

This faker preyed upon our listener and continued to strategically ask her for pertinent information that (if provided) would have significantly compromised this individual.

Our listener became concerned and told the caller that she wanted to contact her bank and to call her back in 30 minutes.

She exhibited great instincts. Something just didn’t seem right. It wasn’t.

She then called us.

Once we talked through it all, it became apparent that it wasn’t Amazon.com calling her.

We advised our listener to call Amazon.com right through the smartphone app. It’s secure and you know that you are actually dealing with Amazon.com

It was easily ascertainable that no fraudulent charge(s) had been made. Her account was fine.

It was a phishing attempt to try and obtain her bank routing number, checking and savings account numbers, along with other important personal information.

We also advised her to contact all 3 major credit reporting bureaus, to lock down her credit. You can easily do this online with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

This prevents identity thieves from trying to open new accounts or request lines of credit increases in your name.

We also advised her to contact each of her credit accounts to alert them of this attempt.

With a few phone calls or digital points of contact, you can button down your complete line of defense.

In summary, when you receive a call like this, do not give the caller your:

• social security number
• bank routing number
• checking account number
• savings account numbers
• date of birth
• account numbers

Our listener came close to making a mistake; but, she caught herself just in the nick of time … she reached out to us and we were able to help her through this.

Scammers like this count on you to panic and they try to place you in a vulnerable position where your “violator”pretends to be your “savior.”

When you receive a call like this … don’t panic … slow things down … think logically … and, you’ll figure things out before they succeed in stealing from you.

Its cruel how these scammers pray upon people during special holidays or times of supreme loss.

When in doubt … just the conversation before you unwittingly give the scammer exactly what they’re looking for.

After some stressful moments, our valued listener had a happy ending. You can, too.

Happy Thanksgiving.