Telemarketing fraud involves Wal-Mart gift certificate

The number of financial scams going on today seems to be increasing weekly. Scams come by mail, e-mail or telephone, but the target is always the same - your money or your identity. Armed with your Social Security number or your bank account number, thieves can either drain your bank account or pose as you and open new credit card accounts or even take out mortgages. The average victim of such crimes typically spends more than one hundred hours trying to sort the problem out with the banks and credit card companies; fixing their damaged credit reports can take years.

The latest scam works like this: A caller randomly selects a victim and calls them on the telephone. The caller explains that he works for Wal-Mart and that the person who has answered the phone (the “victim”) has been selected to receive a prize. The prize is a gift certificate, good at any Wal-Mart store, and the amount is usually something fairly large, such as $5000-7500. Naturally, the victim is excited to hear the news; a $7500 gift certificate to the world’s largest retailer certainly goes a long way. 

There is a hitch, of course. The caller explains that there will be a processing fee.  The amount of the fee varies; it could range from $20 to several hundred dollars. Most of the time, the victim, happy to receive a gift certificate that is said to be worth many times that amount, is happy to comply by paying the processing fee. The caller then explains that the fee can be paid by either a credit card or by direct withdrawal from the victim’s bank account. At that point, the caller will ask for either the bank account number or the victim’s credit card number. The caller may ask for a Social Security number, as well.

Of course, there is no processing fee, and there is no prize and there is no gift certificate. This is just a ruse for the caller to obtain the bank account and/or credit card number of the victim. Once the caller has that, he or she can drain the victim’s bank account. Worse, he or she can use the personal information to take out new credit cards in the victim’s name. Once that is done, the caller can spend thousands of dollars on merchandise or services, and the victim will be left with both the bills and the damaged credit report as a “souvenir” of their participation in this scam.

The usual rules apply here. No one should ever provide personal or financial information to a stranger that calls on the telephone. Any such offer that is made on the phone should also be good by mail, or in the case of Wal-Mart, in person at their store. By offering such information to strangers who call, you are putting yourself at tremendous risk to be a victim of theft. Don’t do it. If in doubt, ask them to call back and call the store directly to ask them if the offer is legitimate.

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