Citizens For A Better Norwood

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Beware of callers asking for your credit card number!

Yesterday, one of us received a phone call from a man claiming to be with the Barak Obama campaign. Using the correct last name, he asked to speak to either the Mr. or the Mrs. He asked if we were familiar with the fact that Barak Obama was a Democratic presidential candidate. Upon hearing an affirmative, he said, “Good, because that saves me a lot of time.”

Next, he asked if we would be interested in contributing money to the Obama campaign. Having no interest in making a donation but curious about exactly where this was going and how, he was given a weak “perhaps,” response. He asked if the amount might be $300. “Absolutely not” he was told with some irritation in the voice. Red flags started sprouting up when, from there, he asked about amounts ranging from $250 down to $125, getting “no” reponses for each. Finally, he suggested that any amount was acceptable and could be donated on the spot by giving him our credit card number. He was told that under no circumstances would credit card information be handed over to a stranger calling the household. Not bothering to confirm our address, he said he would drop something in the mail and ended the call.

Everyone knows not to give financial information, credit card numbers and the like to strangers over the phone, but we’re sharing this suspicious call just to warn everyone to never, never let your guard down. Never.