Sep 15, 2017
The Equifax data breach will likely affect every other American who has established credit. If you weren't part of the unlucky bunch that had their data distributed by hackers attempting to hold the data ransom, you could be the unwitting victim of this next scam if you're not careful.
People have been reporting to the Federal Trade
Commission that scammers are calling purporting to be from
Equifax and calling to verify your account information. These and
other callers are looking to trick you into giving your personal
information over under the auspices of verifying account
information. Here are a few ways to avoid phone scams and imposter
scams.
1. If you get a Robo call, just hang up. It's a good practice to wait a few moments when answering a phone before speaking. If someone is legitimately calling on the other line they will assume they didn't hear you and start talking, but a Robo call won't do that. Robo dials are waiting for your voice to activate their system whether it's a scam call, genuine automated sales call, or just an auto-dialer trying to verify if the phone number is a valid number or not. So when you answer the phone, just listen. It could save your financial life.
2. Never count on caller ID being accurate. With the ever improving technology at our fingertips, anyone can spoof a caller ID so it doesn't necessarily mean that's who is really calling. And remember the IRS, other government institutions, and many businesses won't call just to, "verify your information."
3. Avoid divulging financial or personal information at any cost. If there is a genuine problem with your account the caller will not be offended if you asked to take their name and badge ID number. and then call back to the company they say they're representing on a telephone number you already possess off of your account documents or statements. If you get any arguments or backlash, just hang up.
4. Take Action. If you think you may have accidentally divulged personal information or been a victim of a scam call, immediately notify all of your creditors and change out passwords and other personally identifiable information you may have inadvertently handed over.
If you ever receive any type of scam call whether it is an Equifax call or otherwise, be sure to report it to the Federal Trade Commission as well as our Submit A Scam button here at MoneyCreditAndYou.com