Thank you for your post. We have been annoyed by these guys a few times now. They have pieced together a few names from our office through our website and calling different people in the office. They use this information to try to confuse whoever picks up by saying another person in the office contacted them. I asked for a number to call back and checked out online. Your post was very helpful to confirm that it was a hoax. He called again after a few minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed telling him where to shove it. :-)
Call received 11/17/09 4:24 PM
When I said "Hello" There was an automated voice saying that this was my last reminder for the 6.9% rate on my current credit card, and to press 9 to get it set up. I pressed 9 and was greeted with “Card Member Services".
They wanted my credit card info (of course). I explained I was saying goodbye to some guests and asked for a number to return the call. Later I did call that number 1800-847-2911 (when I ran a search on that number this site came up http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-847-2911/2 ) and I asked what bank they were with and the guy told me it was Visa, that’s all he would say, "Visa, Visa, Visa. I explained that my credit card was through a bank. He said he needed to look up my account with my CC number and I said I wasn't comfortable with that, could he look it up through another method. He asked what bank (Citi) and what state it was out of and asked me to hold. I sat and listened to him type and occasionally he would apologize for the wait. I excused myself and said I had another call and would call him (Mario) back. I called Citi who said it was unlikely Visa would call like that. Then I called The FTC (1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357);
TTY: 1-866-653-4261) to report and verify that I was missing out on being scammed, not on an actual lower rate. They confirmed that this is a number they have been trying to catch up with.
I would just like to be part of a sting operation to bust these con-artists. They didn't get me but they could have if I wasn't thinking, after all, last week I called the bank to request a lower rate, and they said they'd call me back after reviewing my history. Close call!
Thank you for your post. We have been annoyed by these guys a few times now. They have pieced together a few names from our office through our website and calling different people in the office. They use this information to try to confuse whoever picks up by saying another person in the office contacted them. I asked for a number to call back and checked out online. Your post was very helpful to confirm that it was a hoax. He called again after a few minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed telling him where to shove it. :-)
I've been receiving numerous calls from a company calling themselves Card Member Services. They call from a number of different numbers with OR, WA and MD area codes. It's a recorded message that asks you to press 1 if you want to lower your credit card interest rates. I've pressed 1 and asked the to stop calling three times and each time they hung up on me.
Well, today I decided to talk to them to find out what kind of scam they are pulling (legitimate companies don't call you with a recorded message and they won't offer to reduce your interest rates on an existing account). The guy said that they can lower my interest rate on all my credit cards as long as I have not exceeded the limit or is close to the limit (of course they can't charge a bunch of stuff to my credit card if I've exceeded the limit or is close to the limit). He claimed that this program is funded by Visa and Mastercard to help people pay their bills. To see if I would qualify he wanted my credit card number and then he would transfer e to another department where they could answer my questions. He tried very hard to put me at ease and make me believe that they were legit.
I asked for a number to call him back if I was interested and he gave me this number: 1800-847-2911. This number actually goes to Visa, the real Visa. But Card Member Services, or whatever they want to call themselves, have nothing to do with Visa or any other credit card company.
Please don't give any personal information over the phone to someone who calls you up out of the blue. And never give info without verifying that it's legit first. Be careful. These scammers are very smart and slick.