by Lt. Irvin Robinson, Crime Prevention Officer
Henderson Police Department
The Henderson Police Department’s Crime Prevention Section would like to alert citizens to possible ongoing telephone scams and identity theft frauds that have been reported in other areas regarding credit and debit cards issued by Visa and MasterCard.
After perpetrators obtain the credit card number of a potential victim, the scan artists will call the cardholder and impersonate a security employee of the credit card company to get additional security numbers and information from the cardholder in order to illegally use that credit account.
Just as the Internet and other technologies have greatly expanded the possibilities for making credit card purchases without the need to physically present a card to the seller, they have also created additional opportunities for identity thieves to make profitable use of stolen credit card numbers.
The best protection against these types of telephone scams that try to obtain sensitive credit card information is to always verify the identities of the people with whom you speak. If you have security questions or concerns about your credit card, call the financial institution who issued your card directly. If someone contacts you by phone about your credit card, ask the caller to provide his/her name, department and extension, then hang up and call them back through the phone number listed on your credit card or billing statement.