Say you get a call supposedly from the security department of your credit card company. They want to confirm a purchase made on your card. You inform them that you didn’t make the purchase.

The caller seems to have all your details, including card number, name and address. It sounds convincing and authentic. He even gives you a reference number and the toll-free number on the back of your card. He assures you the purchase will be cancelled.

Oh, and just before terminating the call, he asks you for those three security digits on the back of the card, to prove you do indeed have it in your possession.

Wham-O! That is the point of the whole exercise. With those three numbers, the crook can max out your credit card in minutes. Never give those numbers or any other information to anyone unless YOU initiate the call or contact.

In a case like this, ask the caller for his phone number, and say you will call him right back after verifying the number. That will usually send him scurrying back to the rathole he crawled out of.

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