Got a call on 12/13/07 at 12:46PM EST. A recorded message stating "we are calling from your current credit card company. There is not a problem with your account but your eligibility to receive a lower interest rate is about to expire. Press "1" to talk to someone about lowering your interest rate". I knew it was a scam but pressed "1" to try to find out who it was. The recording was a female voice that said "Thank you for calling North Pole consumer service, please have your model number available so we can better serve you. If it is a tent the model number is located..." Than a rep picked up and asked "Did you press '1' to lower your interest rate?" I said "Yes I did, which credit card is this for?" She hung up.
I proceeded to contact NorthPole manufacturing (a reputable manufacturer who makes many clothing brands such as Columbia). The rep said I was the second caller today to tell them about that. They took down my information and passed my information on to the supervisor. The supervisor called me back about 5 minutes later, took the entire story down word for word (was very concerned that someone was using their good name to run a scam, understandably) and forwarded it to the company's VP.
What I would like everyone to realize is that this cold call is not coming from North Pole manufacturing. This is a scam. It would be very useful if they call back to play along long enough (without giving out any financial information or social security #'s) to get more information on the company. Or you could arrange for them to call you back (lead them on and make them think you are falling for it), then contact the police to be present and listen in on the call.
Got a call on 12/13/07 at 12:46PM EST. A recorded message stating "we are calling from your current credit card company. There is not a problem with your account but your eligibility to receive a lower interest rate is about to expire. Press "1" to talk to someone about lowering your interest rate". I knew it was a scam but pressed "1" to try to find out who it was. The recording was a female voice that said "Thank you for calling North Pole consumer service, please have your model number available so we can better serve you. If it is a tent the model number is located..." Than a rep picked up and asked "Did you press '1' to lower your interest rate?" I said "Yes I did, which credit card is this for?" She hung up.
I proceeded to contact NorthPole manufacturing (a reputable manufacturer who makes many clothing brands such as Columbia). The rep said I was the second caller today to tell them about that. They took down my information and passed my information on to the supervisor. The supervisor called me back about 5 minutes later, took the entire story down word for word (was very concerned that someone was using their good name to run a scam, understandably) and forwarded it to the company's VP.
What I would like everyone to realize is that this cold call is not coming from North Pole manufacturing. This is a scam. It would be very useful if they call back to play along long enough (without giving out any financial information or social security #'s) to get more information on the company. Or you could arrange for them to call you back (lead them on and make them think you are falling for it), then contact the police to be present and listen in on the call.