Off-Topic: 1-800 Scam Problem

[AJ9U]

This is off-topic but I thought I’d ask anyway….

Recently some of our customers have been complaining to us about a scam. When they call our 1-800 customer billing support number, someone offers them a gift card from a big box store if they verify their credit card information. We are not doing anything like this, so somehow our calls are being diverted to a scammer. It is not happening on all the calls, just every now and then. One customer reported that he got the scammer the first time he called but got our company on the second call.

The reports always say that the customer initiates the call by dialing the number printed on the bill. They are not getting calls from us first.

Has anyone heard of this sort of thing happening? Any ideas how the scammers are doing this?

 

[KCFLHRC]

I have never heard of this but that is very scarey. They definitely need to report the problem because the FCC needs to know about this. I would also notify your carrier, the owner of the 800# and let them know also.

 

[jaxuser]

My first thought would be that customers are dialing incorrect toll free exchange, ex: dialing 1866 when it should be 1800. Have you tried these variations of your published billing number to see if you get the same result?

 

[BuffaloBilly]

Jax is correct. I've had this experience in the past. The customer "thinks" they are calling the correct number when in fact they are not.

Try calling different variations of your toll free number ie. 800-555-1212, 888-555-1212, 877-555-1212, etc... There are times when it was requested by management to have the toll free number for a promotion changed to another number because a variation of the TF used was a porn line, scam line, etc...

Good luck!
Bill