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Scandalous scams - Letter from the Algarve by Frances Ruddick
• 24 Jan 2008 •
 A FRIEND of ours who lives near Lagos has been the victim of a devious scam. So clever in fact that, according to the British police, they receive reports of several similar incidents each day.
This is what to look out for.
Like most expatriates living abroad, our friend continues to have a bank account in England. It entitles him to have a Visa card and last week he received a phone call from – supposedly – their Security and Fraud Department. A charming and concerned woman told him that his card had recently been used in England and had been flagged up because of an unusual purchase pattern. Had he, for instance, spent £499.99 with a marketing company in London?
When he said that he had not, the woman politely informed him that before his next Visa Card Statement, all of the money would be re-credited to his account. No worries, or so he thought.
Reassuring our friend further she told him, “This is a marketing company we have been watching. You’re not the first person they have tried to cheat. Now can I just check with you that this is your Visa card number and address?”Our friend got out his wallet and took out the card. The caller repeated all the details correctly and when she asked, “For confirmation, can you give me your three figure security pin on the back of your card?” our friend did not hesitate.
This, as it turned out, was the scam, since anyone you’ve done business with could have your card number and address. Only the holder of the card has access to the security pin.
Not for one minute was our friend suspicious but, 20 minutes or so after the call, he was curious to know who the marketing company might be. He telephoned the – real – Security and Fraud Department at Visa and guess what? They told him that they hadn’t called earlier but, in the last 20 minutes, several expensive purchases had been made on his card.
He filed a crime report over the phone with the police in England and that is when he found out it has become a common scam. He happens to be a Visa holder but there have been others victims who use MasterCard. Fortunately – and because he rang Visa within minutes of the illegal transactions – he won’t lose any money. Nevertheless he agrees he was gullible for giving the caller his security pin.
“The caller sounded so convincing,” he told me. “Warn your readers so they won’t get sucked in like me.”
I am reminded that years ago in London I was almost sucked in, swallowed and spat out by a face-to-face scam.
It was 4AM when the doorbell woke me and I peeped out of the curtain to see an apparently distraught woman standing on our step. Half asleep, I went to the front door.The woman must have trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art because she convinced me:
(1) She lived across the road, further down the hill;
(2) She’d just received a telephone call to say that her husband who was in hospital had taken a turn for the worse;
(3) Her car was out of petrol;
(4) She had no money;
(5) She urgently needed £20 to pay for a taxi.
Feeling troubled by her desperate situation, I turned to go indoors and get my purse. Just at that moment, my husband in his dressing gown appeared.
Taking stock of the situation, he smiled gently at the woman and benignly offered to drive her to the hospital in his car. At the same time as I was thinking, “That’s kind of him and selfless,” the woman ran out of our driveway, helter-skelter down the hill.
I stood there, mouth open in amazement.“She was only after your money,” my husband revealed. “I thought I’d test out my acting techniques on her and lo and behold they worked. I knew I wouldn’t have to take her to the hospital.”
On that occasion not only had the woman convinced me of her plight but my husband had successfully duped me too.. |  Return to Top
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