Don't Fall for Phone Scams Asking for Personal Info

The following was provided by the Bucks County Office of Consumer Protection:

Q. I received a telephone call from a woman who claimed to be with a debt consolidation company out of California.  She went on to explain to me that she could put together all of my bills and then I would only have to pay one small, easy payment. It sounded like a great idea. She asked for my personal information such as my name, address, birth date as well as the amount of the bills that I owe and to which companies, my social security number and banking information. After I hung up, I gave it more thought and am now concerned that I may have given her too much information. What should I do?  N.T., Telford

A. You are right to be concerned.  There are a couple of things you should do immediately. First, contact your bank, explain the situation and make sure that no money has already been withdrawn from your account. Then ask what they can implement to make sure no monies are withdrawn without your consent. If you are not satisfied with their solution, you may want to change your account to make sure nothing can be withdrawn in the future without your consent. 

Secondly, contact the credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your accounts so that a scammer will not be able to open up any loans or credit cards using your information. To do this you should contact Equifax at 1-800-525-6285, Experian at 1-888-397-3742 and Transunion at 1-800-680-7289. 

Consumers should always be leery of calls that are coming into their home asking for personal information.  They are called “Cold Calls”.  Remember, the person on the other side of that phone could be out to scam you. 

Don’t ever give your personal information over the phone unless you are the one that initiated the call and are familiar with who you are dealing. Some examples of people that you call that may require personal information may include your doctor, insurance company, bank, or credit card company. Always use caution when responding to incoming calls, emails, and postal deliveries.

Our intent here at the Bucks County Consumer Protection Department is certainly not to frighten anyone but to educate consumers because of how many people continue to fall victim to these types of scams.