Scammers and bogus callers are making a mint these days duping the unsuspecting public into giving out all their personal information over the phone, including their credit card information and Social Security numbers. Don’t be a fool, says bankruptcy attorney James Kutkowski, who runs The Law Offices of J. Kutkowski, Esq. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Here, he explains what to look out for to avoid being taken for a ride.
It seems like every day there’s a new scam out there. One of the big scams that are seeing are bogus calls coming supposedly from your credit card company. They claim that they are calling from a program designed to lower your interest rate, and therefore lower your payment on your credit card.
Here’s the hook, though: The person on the end of the phone is not from your credit card company. If he was, he wouldn’t be asking you for your credit card number. He wouldn’t be asking you for the CDV code on the back of your credit card or your expiration date either. These numbers are considered sacred numbers in the credit card industry, and your credit card company is never going to ask you for that over the phone.
If you continue to get sucked into this scam, the next thing the caller will ask you to do is verify your full Social Security number, as well as your street address and your name. If you have fallen for this, stop reading this and call your credit card company now. The bogus caller now has all your personal information and not only is he going to charge your credit card account to the top of its credit limit, he’s also going to start opening credit card accounts in your name with your personal information - which you gave him.
Fake Mortgage Modification
There’s another scam out there called the fake mortgage modification company. Most of these guys are based out of California, but some of them are coming from Florida. These companies are paying people who work in the mortgage companies call centers to forward them personal information about people who are behind on their mortgage. I’ve seen their ads online. It usually says, “Are you a mortgage officer looking to make some more money?” That’s code for, “Are you ready to share information for profit?”
Armed with your personal information about your mortgage, your phone number, your name and sometimes your Social Security number too, these companies will call you and tell you that they spoke with your lender and that they can negotiate a mortgage modification. But, they say, the window is closing soon and you need to pay them today.
Real Vs Bogus
So how can I tell if the person I’m dealing with is a real mortgage modification company, or a scam artist? While all salesmen are aggressive, the salesman at these fraud companies are going to be over-the-top aggressive. The bogus salespeople are going to insist that you need to pay them in full today, while normal mortgage modification company will accept the payment plan. The salespeople at the fraud company might put you on hold to try to negotiate a better deal, when in reality they’re just trying to figure out how much they think they can soak you for.
Don’t get suckered into this. Mortgage modification is a process that takes, at a minimum, 30 days. While my team and I have been able get a faster modification, we more often than not see modifications take 120 days or even longer to get done.
Verify With Your Lender
If someone is on the phone telling you he has a modification but you have to pay him right now for, chances are he is probably lying. Ask for his phone number, and if he can’t give it to you, then put him on hold, call your lender and find out if there is actually a modification offer. And if there is, you don’t need this mortgage modification company anyway.
Either way, don’t sign up with anyone simply because he tells you that he won’t able to help you tomorrow. If the deal is on the table today, more than likely the deal will be on the table tomorrow as well.
As with all scams, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Listen to your common sense — it’ll save you a lot of money.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
