DES MOINES, Iowa–Credit unions and their members are being cautioned to watch for numerous debit card-related scams and tricks in 2017. In a posting on TMG’s blog, Matt Busick, product manager-debit, warned that fraudsters see “chip cards flooding the market and know it’s only a matter of time before the old dogs among them have to learn new tricks.”
- Robocalls telling victims their debit cards have been locked, which leads nervous cardholders to follow instructions in the calls, one of which is to key in their card numbers, expiration dates and PINs.
- Card-cracking artists using social media to lure victims. Busick wrote that Millennials are the targets of these scams, which ask debit cardholders to share their cards and PINs as a way of earning extra cash. Scammers deposit fake checks into the associated accounts, make immediate withdrawals and then share some of the cash with the victims. When victims’ financial institutions (FIs) eventually find fraudulent checks, the debit cardholders are left holding the bag.
- Seniors being tricked into handing over cards in their homes . In what Busick wrote is a “particularly offensive move, con artists posing as FIs’ fraud investigators have begun to talk their way into the homes of people as old as 96. Once inside, they convince victims to swap cards, saying their original card was compromised.”