Refinance scams always hang up

Hi, all! New to the site. Got a bit of 'baiting under my belt, but there’s one script I just can’t seem to crack. Anyone ever hear of these refinance companies calling (generally an Indian on the other end, and the usually beeps and unprofessional chatter in the background that give it away as a scam) and they ask you what kind of card you have, how much debt you have on it, and how much in total. I’ve given them every number I can think of, from a few hundred to tens of thousands, and they always just hang up after that. What are they looking for? What gives me away?

@razielkoh#136390 Never come across such a scam ! What what the contact number ?

@razielkoh#136390 Yes I have come acroSs. Almost all Indian scammers.Typically say you have credit card debt of $9,000 at an annual rate of 17%. Looking for monthly payments under $300.

@drwat#136817 For the zero interest rate guys, I almost always have a balance on my Mastercard of between $4000 and $5000, which seems to work well. To keep them on the line, when they ask how much total I have on all my cards, I usually pretend to do some calculating in my mind and then tell them somewhere around $20000… that of course includes almost $8000 on the Bed, Bath and Beyond card, as the wife really enjoys buying kitchen mixers, and probably another $6000 or so on the Burdines card (went out of business in 2005 or so) because of her obsession with shoes :slight_smile: Lets not forget the few thou here and there across my gas cards, like Shell, Exxon, BP, etc…

Then to really screw them up, I try to use a card from very small obscure banks, and when they ask for the toll free number on the back, I give them the generic phone number : 1-800-627-8372 for Mastercard, or 1-800-847-2911 for Visa. It's way funny to hear them complain about the numbers, since they are indeed the customer service numbers for the card (just not the bank). "Hey - you asked for the number on the back of the card, and that is what I gave you - what more do you want me to do, make up a number or something?". Gets 'em every time!

@Otis#136859 One time I used “my” Mastercard from the National Bank of Dubai, Ltd. and he freaked out and ended the call. These bank card people are relentless, carrying on during the start of lockdown even as others like SSA has waned considerably. I’ll take your cue … next time I’ll complain about my Montgomery Ward credit card and how they’re charging me 19% interest.


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@jaymee#136880 One time I used “my” Mastercard from the National Bank of Dubai, Ltd. and he freaked out and ended the call.

LOL - I do that quite frequently actually! Many times after they are unable get a statement for a US based card I give them, they ask if I have any others... I'll say something like "Well, yes, but it's not a US based bank - does that matter?". Most times, they will just go ahead and ask for the expiration date and number. It can take many turns from there... if they look up the card, it will come back as from a bank in Pakistan (either Union Bank, Ltd., or from Allied Bank, Ltd.). Sometimes they will just curse me out and hang up right then, sometimes they ask if I'm messing with them... which usually gets "Why no, that is the card I use when I am in Pakistan - although I don't think there is any balance on it right now". If they ask what I do in Pakistan, I tell them that "That is classified and I'm not at liberty to discuss it. I've actually said too much already"!

If they ask for the toll free customer service number, I tell them there is no toll free number, but there is a customer service number to call. UBL is 212-412-527 and Allied is 111-225-225. If they are not paying attention, they will say that I'm missing a digit. I ask where they are, and if they say in the US, I'll tell them: "Oh, then you need to first dial "011" followed by "92" then that customer service number I gave you." They usually don't go much further than that, curse a bit and hang up.

They aren't the sharpest pencils in the box, and it's really easy to throw them from their script.

I just got an inbound call on my home landline, CID said “toll free number”. It was Mr. Bruce Thomas, offering me zero interest on my credit cards because their records show that I have never missed a payment in the last 18 months and have been paying more than the minimum.

Gawd, you should have heard the background noise,. It sounded like a hundred scammers speaking at the same time. So I asked, what's all that background talk? Bruce said co-workers offering lower interest rate to customers. Aren't you in lockdown? Where are you located? He said Downtown Chicago. I said, near the Golden Gate Bridge? He said no, far.

What card do I have the biggest balance? Montgomery Ward, they charge me 19% interest. That got him thinking for a bit, finally said they only deal with Visa, "Master", Discover and American Express. Do you have one of those cards? Yes, a Mastercard issued in Dubai when I lived there. That's when he started to cuss me out in what I assume is Hindi. What is it about Dubai that triggers them?

We exchanged a few pleasantries, using my limited "___chod" vocabulary and a few choice Spanish curses. He latched on "puta", probably familiar with the word, so he kept repeating it. What a nasty asshole.

The "toll-free" number actually belongs to Key Bank, so I called the same number and gave the operator a heads up that their number is being used by scammers as the caller-id. BTW, we don't have a KeyBank branch in our state.

@jaymee#137007 Yup - it’s exactly the same script each and every time :slight_smile:

When they say I qualified based on my good payment history and occasionally paying more, I usually launch into some far reaching story involving one of my relatives who I lent the card to a year or two back. It usually revolves around either a divorce and frozen assets, or some type of felony like murder or something - and how they ran the card up to over $30,000 at one point. They apparently also either missed or was late on a few payments, which is what caused the interest rate to skyrocket. One of my favorites was how a brother in law murdered his boss (he worked for the US Postal Service :) Of course he used the credit card to get bail, then took off over the border. Was later captured by the Canadian Mounted Police and returned to the US. He apparently had robbed a bank up in Canada, so he had wired me the money to pay off the credit card, but then when he got arrested, he needed it again to pay his lawyer. Unfortunately, his original lawyer frauded him out of $20,000 and left the country (presumably to the Bahamas)... and on, and on, and on. After about 10 minutes, they are screaming for you to stop and begging you to listen to them!

Without the drama, I can usually keep them going for about 15-20 minutes. But once I launch into story mode, I've been able to keep them on the line for over an hour!

One problem with the credit card scammers is that they rarely have call back numbers and make it impossible to proactively engage them. Love to see some numbers posted. The call from numbers are always spoofed

@FattyMatty#137025 That is the downside. I have pressed them for a call back number multiple times - like when they are unable to pull up a statement and ask if I have a recent one… I’ll tell them that the wife handles the bills, but I’m sure she has them filed somewhere, so I will go try to find it and call back. On the couple of times they did give me a number, it was for the real CC company, like Chase, which does no good. Fortunately, these guys typically call me 2-3 times a day or more. I think I really pissed one off a while back and to get ‘revenge’ he said he was going to list my number on all of their calling lists <grin>

BTW: One called me as I was typing this response. I gave him the Bed, Bath and Beyond line and he asked me what the expiration date on it was! Completely clueless.

@Otis#137027 I keep a used $5.00 debit card handy and I also combine the first 8 digits of my chase Visa card and the last 8 digits of another card. With those first 8 digits they they think they have a live one. I tell them in my best old mans voice that I’m 87 years old and I don’t “see so good” and we have a lot of credit card bills because of my wife’s cancer that she’s dying from. I tell them I have to get my glasses and I end up changing the numbers because my glasses help me see better. Filthy mongrels couldn’t care less about my “plight”. Eventually I give a hard reveal and call them Dalit which is the lowest Hindu caste. Frigging scum bags

Another one called today, a Mark DeCarpio "from your own credit card services company that delivers your statements to your doorstep. " Didn’t get fazed by my “Montgomery Ward” credit card ruse. Just carried on with his script. He started by asking for the expiration date of my Visa or Mastercard that has the highest balance. Then casually asked for the 16 digit numbers on my card. And followed by the last 4 of “your social” then billing zip code and finally, the CCV number on the back of the card. I gave him a credit card number from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria in Spain. He puts me on hold for a couple of minutes, “to pull up the statement”, but probably trying to run a charge. He came back on the phone to confirm the credit card number, and when I started to confuse him, he got royally pissed, calling me a SOB then hangs up.

The frustrating thing about these credit card services is they never leave a call back number, as you folks already noted.

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@jaymee#137211 He puts me on hold for a couple of minutes, “to pull up the statement”, but probably trying to run a charge.

Not sure about that... from my experience, they just use the info you gave them initially to verify the card balance and interest rate. They pose as you or perhaps your representative, and call the customer service number for the bank (or the one that they so desperately try to get from you from the back of the card if it's a smaller bank). They need your card number, last 4 of your SSN and zip code to verify they are who they say they are.

My guess is it serves a couple of purposes. First, it validates that the card number is good since the bank was able to run it and give a balance. Second, they get the info needed (balance, interest rate, payment history, etc...) to get back to you and sound as if they are legit - in other words, they are putting on a good show to really sell the scam. And finally, they have verified info about you that they can sell to other scammers.

From there, they then claim they will lower your interest rate, but want a 'fee' for doing so upfront. If you agree, they will __charge your existing card__ (_the one they just verified_) that amount, then move the balance over to the new card they will issue for you. Notice that they will absolutely NOT put their fee on the new card, ever... because they have no intention of ever going that far once they have your money!

@Otis#137222 That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I remember from years back, I reached the point where they pitched me a fee that would save me thousands of dollars compared to the interest rate I was supposedly paying.

I don't know why this scam still goes on after so many years. I guess they don't run out of victims. Rachel from credit card services was even a punch line in a stand up comedian joke.

@MaxGame#136783 They always call me from spoofed local numbers, and they won’t give me a callback number. I’ve asked who they work for, I’ve asked if I could call them back, I’ve tried every permutation I can think of; they just hang up on me.

Wow. This got a lot more traction than I thought it would! XD I’m glad I could start a conversation!