Experts
report that telephone fraud costs consumers an estimated $4
billion every year.
At CA Affinity, we believe that keeping our customers well-informed
about fraud is an important
way to safeguard against fraud. The following are some industry
tips to defend yourself
against unscrupulous telephone criminals.
Safeguarding
Your Calling Card
- Memorize
your calling card number.
- Be aware
of people loitering around payphones and be sure to shield
the keypad
as you enter the card number and PIN.
- Do not
use your calling card for identification purposes. Guard that
number as you
would a credit card.
- Report
lost or stolen CA Affinity calling cards immediately to our Customer
Service
Department at 1-800-964-3863.
What
is Toll Fraud?
Toll
fraud occurs when someone charges his long distance calls to
your phone number.
In many cases, a criminal will call pretending to be someone
from a phone company or
government agency investigating a problem. This person would
try to get you to accept
charges for a call. If this happens, hang up immediately because
legitimate telephone
or government workers would not operate in this manner.
Tips
for Spotting a Telemarketing or Internet Scam
Be
wary if...
- The company
has a name that is intended to sound familiar or like
a government agency.
- You must
act NOW! The caller uses high-pressure tactics.
- The company
will not send you written information or give you references.
- The company
will not give you a written guarantee or company contact
information.
- The caller
asks for your calling card number or credit card number to
enter
in a contest.
- The caller
claims you have won a prize and you haven't entered a contest.
- The caller
asks for your social security number so you can purchase products.
- You need
to pay before receiving the product or service.
- The caller
asks you to send money via a courier service.
- The offer
sounds too good to be true.
