David N. Kirkman
Task Force Alert Chair
Asst Attorney General
Consumer Protection
NC Department of
Justice
P.O. Box 629
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-716-6000

North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services

Cell Phone "Phishing" Scams Reported

So-called “phone phishing” scams persist. Some North Carolina customers of Sprint cell phone service recently reported calls from a scammer posing as an employee of that company. In an incident that was reported to the Consumer Protection Division late last week, a caller told a Sprint customer in the Raleigh area that the company mistakenly withdrew $200 from her bank account. He claimed he needed more bank account information from her in order to re-credit the account. The caller used the name of a manager of a nearby Sprint retail store in Raleigh. The Sprint customer was suspicious of the caller and hung up. After speaking with Sprint Security and with the store manager whose name was being used by the scammer, the customer learned that other consumers were receiving similar calls and similar requests for sensitive bank account information.

Any company that has the information necessary to debit a customer’s bank account possesses the information needed to return the funds to that account. If a caller claims that his or her company has withdrawn money from a checking or credit card account by mistake and needs more account information to process the return of the funds, the receiver of the call should hang up and immediately contact the company using the customer inquiries telephone number on the latest bill or monthly account statement.

******End of Alert******

December 27, 2006

Consumer Fraud / Alerts

Federal Trade Commission Alerts
(Protecting America's Consumers)

Related links

The United States Postal Inspection Service - Watch