Police have urged people to be wary after a woman claims she was asked to reveal her Visa number by phone callers telling her she had won a holiday prize.
Gayle Schneider said she was told she had won a $1,800 trip for keeping up to date with her Visa payments.
There was one condition, she said – she had to give out her Visa number so $398 could be charged for paperwork, insurance and handling fees.
She refused and after saying “this conversation is over,” hung up, she said. She added she got in touch with Visa, who denied offering holidays to good customers, and also contacted the RCMP.
Schneider said she received a recorded message on Oct. 22, telling her she had won a trip to Orlando, Fla.
“If I was interested I was to push number 9, which I did, even though I figured this could be a problem,” she said.
She added she was put through to a lady calling herself Sarah Oliver from Start Saving on Travel, who told her she had won a $1,800 trip, good for three years, to Florida, Daytona Beach and the Bahamas, staying at five-star hotels.
Schneider said the woman then put her through to a man who asked for her Visa number to cover fees associated with the prize.
“I said, ‘I don’t give such information over the phone and would have to forfeit the trip,’ and he replied, ‘we are a legal company,’” she said.
The man then asked her to go to a web page, she added.
“I told him ‘I don’t know who you are. Anyone can make a web page,’” she said. “I said ‘this conversation is over’ and I hung up.”
Schneider said the man and woman had spoken with English accents and she could hear a lot of people in the background during the conversations.
“It sounded like one of those call rooms,” she said.
Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds said people should be wary.
“It’s the old adage. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he said.
Erin Sufrin, from Visa Canada’s corporate and public affairs department, said Visa was not offering holiday prizes.
He said the public should be wary about any unsolicited attempts to obtain an account number or other personal information in the mail, by phone or via email.
Sufrin said Visa never calls or writes to cardholders for personal account information.
He offered the following security tips to the public: Never provide information unless you initiated the communication; don’t feel obligated to provide card numbers by phone; get details – if the caller can’t answer, it’s not legitimate; rather than asking for a “call back number,” research the caller on your own along with their legitimate phone number; report requests for personal information to your card issuer by calling the number on the back of your card.
Two emails to Start Saving Now Travel &Tours, which has a website startsavingontravel.com, went unanswered before press time.
A man who answered the company’s customer care number said he did not know any employee called Sarah Oliver.
When told about Schneider’s experience, he said he had no knowledge of it.
“I am sorry I have been told a lot of things,” he said.
“Was she billed for something she did not receive?” he asked repeatedly, before hanging up.
