Be Aware of Shady Credit Related Phone Calls

By Jennifer McClelland

In the past I received a phone call, I presume a telemarketing telephone request, on my home phone number that I knew I had to share with my readers at Lucrative Investing. It was by far the most humorous phone call I have received in a long time, and definitely something worth sharing for the entertainment value and the lesson it provides. The phone call came up on the caller ID as ?Local Area? and the number 1-850-390-4590. When I answered the phone call, a recording said something close to, ?Hello, this is a call from Card Services concerning your current credit card account. We are pleased to inform you that you are eligible for lower interest rates since you have made all your payments in good time and have shown trustworthy use of your credit. To query further concerning lower interest rates on your open credit card, press ?1?.?

I was curious and a little bored, so I pushed ?1? and a gentleman came right to the telephone. This is the talk from that telephone chat, with ?Telemarketer? being the gentleman on the other end that represents ?Card Services?, and ?MB? being myself:

Telemarketer: Hi?

MB: Hello.

Telemarketer: Are you responding to the suggestion for reduced interest rates?

MB: I suppose.

Telemarketer: Well, you are qualified for cut interest rates on an open credit card.

MB: What card?

Telemarketer: Your qualifying Visa or Mastercard.

MB: Okay, well, this call could be for anyone in the house. Who is this call for?

Telemarketer: The chief credit card possessor, and you pushed ?1?, so I would imagine that?s you.

MB: Well, we have four credit card holders in this house. If you would like to give me a name, I can surely?.

Telemarketer: [Click]

MB: Hello? [Entertainingly, having heard the click] Helloooooooo?.

He did not have a clue who that call was for or what card he was offering me a lower rate on. Nobody even knows if whatever group or company he works for is reputable. I thought it was humorous that they used the name ?Card Services?, considering some reputable businesses that you may really do business with make use of that when they call, because that is the title of the section that is calling you. At what time Chase, who I previously had a card with, called me, they time and again said they were from ?Card Services?, so I thought it was probable Chase was calling me, even if I honestly doubted it as I do not own that card. Whenever a person says they are with ?Card Services?, no longer presume it is a shifty call, but do press them to find out what company they are with.

Remember that they called your phone, concerning your alleged credit card, and may ask for your information. Do not assume they are on the level and do not assume that they already know anything about you. Nicely require that they give you some additional information about who the call is for, what card this is relating to, or something else before going any further. I will never know if that was a possible con or not, but I do recognize that they had no right calling me, particularly since we are on the ?Do Not Call Registry?, that has long since established that it means nil.

Be intelligent, be alert, and be conscious of the fact that there are thousands, if not millions, of businesses and people out there who desire your money, and especially your social security number. They are calling you everyday and one fallacious move could compromise your fiscal security, either in a minute way or a large way. They may have been valid, but they might have been a swindle, just hoping I would give up the information they were looking for. Either way, they had no business calling me with an assumed guise the way they did, and I suggest that all of my readers be careful when a call like that happens. - 23196

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