[IMPORTANT] Telephone Scam Misrepresenting OzBargain

Davo1111 on 12/08/2010 - 14:02
Last edited 13/08/2010 - 06:03 by 1 other user

Dear Ozbargain Community

It has come to our attention that a phone scam is occuring using the OzBargain name to try and trick people into surrendering their credit card details over the phone. Information so far has suggested that people recieve a call from a private number, where the caller says they're from "ozbargain" and asks to confirm your credit card details in relation to an order. Obviously, this is a fradualent telephone scam and has no affiliation with this website.

Just wanted to make clear a few details.

  • Ozbargain does not have access to personal details such as your real name and phone number.
  • Ozbargain will never sell your details to a 3rd party, as per our privacy policy here

The information you have provided to OzBargain is located in your profile and can be edited by logging on to your account.

More information about phone scams is on the ACCC website

If you have any further information that may assist catching the frauds, please contact the ACCC or contact us directly

Regards
Davo

(On behalf of the OzBargain Moderation Team)

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Comments

  • cwongtech on 12/08/2010 - 14:43

    How did they even get our number? I don't remember putting it on this site..
    As well as CC details, why would OzBargain need our CC details anyway? =P I mean we're not ordering anything on OzBargain, haha!

    • tomsco on 12/08/2010 - 14:47

      Possibly a website that used an "OzBargain" code or something.

      Anyway, I'm sure most people on this site are smart enough to know better, but thanks for the heads up mods :)

      • andy19363 on 12/08/2010 - 15:59
        +11

        I’m sure most people on this site are smart enough to know better

        You're joking!…….There are a great many on here who will unwittingly sign their souls away for a free pen or nappy sample.
        look….. http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/27482 over 5000 clicks for a small strip of velcro
        http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/27075 1500 clicks for a pregnancy badge
        http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/26267 over 5000 clicks for dishwasher powder….

        Geronimo jerky ended up sending out over 2000 samples last year…..a lot of people gave their details to an, (at the time), unproven company….

        Not that any of the above should be considered suspect, just pointing out that many people see the word 'free' and suddenly become very generous with their information.

        • tomsco on 12/08/2010 - 16:36
          +3

          What I meant to say is that if someone calls up, asking for your CC details, I would hope people would know better than to comply.

          • andy19363 on 12/08/2010 - 18:06
            -1

            @tomsco: ahhh…..yes, that's a bit more likely :)

            probably ;)

        • stumo on 12/08/2010 - 20:55
          +3

          Not only are they prepared to sell their (and their friends/relatives) souls, they also tend to get a wee bit tetchy when you try to point it out to them…
          http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/22856

          • casey2 on 13/08/2010 - 09:52

            @stumo: That's so funny, with identity theft and spamming rampant, people are upset at you point out the danger of just giving out personal information.

            lol.

            • anthony on 13/08/2010 - 10:23

              @casey2: Well (in fairness to the people who got upset in that thread) that offer was from Hallmark who are not going to sell/do anything with your address besides use it for sending out the card. They are not a dodgy company trying to harvest details.

    • Davo1111 on 12/08/2010 - 14:49
      +1

      We suspect the details have been acquired through another merchant store linked on this site. Yep you're correct, ozbargain has never asked you to enter any personal details apart from your email.

      The scam seems silly, but occasionally people do fall for these scams. Unfortunatly this one tarnishes the site :(

  • zac on 12/08/2010 - 15:20
    +2

    May be a matter for the police?

    • arcticmonkey on 13/08/2010 - 12:49
      +1

      Let's get Chief Wiggum onto it!

  • [Deactivated] on 12/08/2010 - 15:21
    +2

    Very simple way to get the details - offer a free XX or YY, then you log on and give details, now they have you, and they know its from Ozbargain.

    Those free toothpicks, or mousepad etc can easily do it.

    Some say use a fake email address - yep that stops spam, but if its something that needs to be delivered, they have an identity, and from that they can easily get a phone number.

    As for police, - which ones should you call? NSW VIC, TAS - China, Russian, Toledo, FBI, KGB? If you have any idea where they are located, then they deserve to be caught. These crooks are smarter than that. And are they protected in their own country anyway.

    • zac on 12/08/2010 - 16:31

      Yeah, fair point. Recently my dad's email was hacked and the hacker sent out a message to his entire list telling them under my dad's name that he was in Perth for a conference and he'd been robbed and beaten and needed money wired to him so he could return home. Quite a few people were about to send money to the hacker as the message was pretty convincing (he had read through my dad's inbox and got quite a bit of background info). The police were sympathetic but said they couldn't do anything.

      • rack on 13/08/2010 - 09:17

        Same happened with 2 of my emails. Got hacked into and emails were being sent to my friends etc saying i just bought a laptop blah blah from this store and to check it out. They have great prices. I changes password, location, answers, questions everything but it is still goes on. I just deleted my entire mailing list too.

        I never give out my correct phone numbers. I always change a digit or so.

  • Iggsy81 on 12/08/2010 - 17:26

    I've never signed up with a CC number for something free though.. phone number or something perhaps.. and even then i tend to put in rubbish tbh, i mean you would have to be a bit daft to give your CC # to ANYONE over the phone when they are calling you for something lol..

  • scotty on 12/08/2010 - 20:44
    +2

    Judging by the number of enquiry emails I have receive each week from people thinking it is "OzBargain" that offer those deals (around 30-50 each week — mostly from Google search), there are certainly people who might be vulnerable to this attack.

    The moderators only have 2nd hand information but we want to raise awareness.

    And yes, there are bad people on the Internet :(

  • AntMan76 on 12/08/2010 - 20:47
    +3

    I would expect most would use Paypal and not their CC directly anyway.

    Still, people still fall the Nigerian lottery scams so yeah…

    • anthony on 13/08/2010 - 00:01

      The payment method had nothing to do with anything.

      People are being called and being asked to read out their credit card number

      • AntMan76 on 13/08/2010 - 08:44

        You really missed the point I think. Nevermind. Let's just hope nobody falls for it.

        • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2010 - 09:30
          +2

          Just remember its the nicest people who can be a conman.

          How many times are you told after a successful con, that they didn't look suspicious, or they were such a nice person.

          Conmen who have conmen tattooed on their knuckles dont last long. The others are masters for a reason….

          • shmahoo on 13/08/2010 - 22:38

            @[Deactivated]: And the guy who just shot up a workplace was "such a quiet man, wouldn't harm a fly" … until he opens fire or plants the bomb etc…

        • anthony on 13/08/2010 - 10:24

          Well they cant give their paypal details over the phone. People are being asked for their credit card details over the phone in this scam.

          And paying with a credit card over the internet gives you no extra protection than paypal does.

  • bartracer on 12/08/2010 - 23:27
    +6

    i get about 4 scam calls a week from
    windows tec support
    i have a bit of fun with them untill they hang up
    longest time was 1.25hrs

    i just tell them that im trying to go to the web site but with all the problems they say i have with my system its not working and keeps crashing

    • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2010 - 20:59

      LOL…thats good use of time…~

  • Gaxx on 13/08/2010 - 02:57
    +1

    I never even use a legit phone number for freebies anyway. So balls to whatever company is trying to scam me.

    • andy19363 on 13/08/2010 - 09:22
      +2

      presumably you use an address for the freebie to be delivered, then….anyone can just look up your address in the 'white pages' and get your number from that.

      • tomsco on 13/08/2010 - 10:17

        not if it's a PO Box :p

        • andy19363 on 13/08/2010 - 13:53

          many companies won't deliver to PO boxes though

          • tomsco on 13/08/2010 - 13:55

            @andy19363: oh sorry… /sarcasm

          • anthony on 13/08/2010 - 14:12

            @andy19363: They only wont (because they cant) if they use a courier.

            • [Deactivated] on 14/08/2010 - 08:24

              @anthony: And if it was a scammer, they would most probably use this excuse - as they have no intention of delivering - they just want your address

      • cwongtech on 13/08/2010 - 13:47

        Unlist your number from whitepages?

  • mikkim4eva on 13/08/2010 - 15:22

    So what freebies or deals do they say they are giving you?

  • montorola on 13/08/2010 - 17:20
    +3

    Well if someone is asking you to "confirm" your credit card details, can't you ask them to confirm it by reading it out to you first?

    • Davo1111 on 13/08/2010 - 18:03

      LOL

      • [Deactivated] on 14/08/2010 - 08:29
        +6

        Well they will say that its against their "privacy" rules, then you can say well whats the 5th digit etc, and they again refuse, say then I will give you the 5th digit and you tell me if that matches. Then give them a false digit, if they say it matches bingo… and then keep playing this until they get it wrong, or just tell them they go it wrong anyway… Meanwhile mutter in the background, is the trace complete????

  • SmokeandMirrors on 13/08/2010 - 18:46
    +4

    I have a bit of an idea on how to find out who the culprit is - the users who get calls should post here or email one of the admins. Then Scotty or one of the other guys can do a query on the common deals that were voted positive by the users. What do you guys reckon?

    • spal on 13/08/2010 - 20:34

      That is a good suggestion to start.

      It would have started from somewhere, and it would be a chain of events. We need a week link to start the investigation.

      We may be better protected if we knew how they do it, rather than saying nothing much can be done.

      We they can do it, we could return the favour.

      As a first step, we could put together a list of dos and donts. Eg don't give your CC # on the phone. Two ask the other person the credit card number they have. Three get their contact number and let them know that you will call them back.

      Before we know, more people would know of the list and it would be all over the internet. Something similar to Commonwealth Bank ATM scam email.

    • Davo1111 on 13/08/2010 - 23:47

      if the users who recieve a call could please use the contact mods forum and let us know what companies they've purchased from in the last month? So far we have ideas, but no where near enough evidence to make a conclusion

      • some_one_some_where on 14/08/2010 - 06:50

        Once you guys have a narrow list I think it is worth while to let people know by email or may be here that if they have bought stuff from XYZ just be careful.

        As for the windows tech calls, after about an hour when the guy thought he had solved my problem and asked for CC I told him I only use bank drafts or cheques and do not have CC, so if he gave me the company name and address I shall mail it out! Never got called after that :))

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