Australian number, a robot announced that Visa had detected $1600 of gift cards had been bought with my credit card - press 1 to decline, 2 to confirm.
So, I pressed 2. It put me through to a very polite gentleman who had no idea what to do if the person they’re trying to scam says they did spend all that money on the gift cards, and after a very confused attempt to convince me I didn’t buy all the gift cards, he hung up. They maybe need to improve their script.
Just an FYI - Visa won’t call you directly about suspicious activity on your card, that’s the job of your bank. If you get a call like that and you really can’t be sure it’s a scam, hang up and call your bank with whatever number is on their website and get them to confirm.
I knew the scam was a scam instantly, because I have set the limit on my credit card as low as it can go, so it is actually impossible to buy so many gift cards with it. Always set your credit limit as low as you can handle to limit your risk if you do fall for a scam.
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Haha oh man, that’s hilarious. All I get is the SMS from ‘my bank’ with a link.
I’ve watched a few vids where people have set up AIs to answer the calls, and it’s some seriously funny shit listening to these guys try to reason with an AI.
Have a low limit on your card, for big purchases that you want to use your CC for, just over load it up to the required amount.
e.g. I have my limit set to $500…if I want to buy a new bed that is $2500, I just add the extra money to the CC from my online banking after I decide which particular one I want and know how much it will cost.
It is not a perfect system, but it does limit my potential loss to the limit of my CC.
With some banks, you can just put a transaction limit on the card and still keep the higher credit limit in case you need it later.
For example, via the commbank app I can implement a transaction limit or apply a spending cap (basically drop the credit limit temporarily with no paperwork). I can also block certain types of transactions such as online international, in person international, cash advances, and gambling.
I used to follow /r/scams which was really handy for hearing about all the different kinds of scams. Unfortunately I don’t get scam calls like this so I never get to have any fun. I do my best to never give out my phone number, I’ve had it for 20 years, I don’t want it ruined.
If you get a call like that and you really can’t be sure it’s a scam, hang up and call your bank with whatever number is on their website and get them to confirm.
This! Hang up, ring your bank to make sure nothing has actually happened and let them know the time, phone number the call came from and a rough idea of the script i.e they said I’d bought $1600 worth of Countdown gift cards or whatever the case is so the bank can update their webpage of current scam alerts.
Same with any scam. If you suspect it’s a scam, ring the company yourself and confirm. Not just this scam, but ATO scams, and Centrestink scams and microshaft scams etc. Don’t fall for this shit.
I pressed 2. It put me through to a very polite gentleman who had no idea what to do if the person they’re trying to scam says they did spend all that money on the gift cards, and after a very confused attempt to convince me I didn’t buy all the gift cards, he hung up.
If you’re really dedicated, that’s when you say “Well, I guess I can go check my receipts. Can you hold?” Then you can head off and start doing any household chores that need doing.
I should have done this
I did something similar once with a scam “Your Amazon Prime membership had been renewed” call. When I got through to a human I said thanks for very much for the renewal, but I have forgotten my password and could they help me reconnect to my account?
That call didn’t last long.
