Reports have recently surfaced about a new identity theft scheme that starts when you receive a robocall regarding your Visa or MasterCard account.  You are instructed to press one number on your phone keypad if you have a Visa and another number on your keypad if you have a Mastercard.  If you follow the instructions, you are then told there is a question about a recent purchase or your present balance.  You are then told to input your credit card information for verification purposes.  The call is a scam.  If you provide your credit card information, you will have succeeded in turning over your credit card to an identity thief who will be off to the races on your credit card.

TIPS

The first tip that this is a scam is that it starts with a robocall which is illegal.  Knowing that robocalls are illegal, you should always hang up whenever you get one.  It also should be noted that if there were a problem with your credit card, your credit card issuer would not require information from you.  It already has your information.  Whenever you get a telephone call, regardless of what your caller ID may say (Caller ID can be fooled through a technique called spoofing which can make a call appear to come from somewhere other than its true origination) you cannot be sure of who really is calling you.  If you get a call requesting personal information and you think that the call might be legitimate, you should just hang up and call back the company or agency at a number that you know is accurate to confirm whether the original call was legitimate.