The Better Business Bureau is warning Saskatchewan residents of a new telephone scam which has been reported by at least one Saskatchewan resident. The consumer reported that a man identifying himself as Joshua from the Better Business Bureau called, and claimed to be investigating a credit card transaction from several months ago. The caller used high pressure scare tactics and offered ease of solution at low cost as his approach. The consumer asked many questions, but a fear of expensive outcomes as outlined in the scare tactics convinced her to give the caller her credit card number. The telephone number was all zeroes, indicating a computer controlled auto dialer environment.
In this case, the consumer acted on the advice of the BBB and contacted her bank and credit card service provider. Her service provider advised that in the short time period of 45 minutes, a transaction in excess of $70 had been processed and charged to her account.
The Better Business Bureau does not engage in collection disputes, does not act as a collection agency, will never call consumers to collect money for historical transactions, will not negotiate discounts for the purchase of services over the phone and will not use high pressure sales tactics.
The BBB recommends that if one is unsure of a caller, they should get a number to call back later after checking claims, hang up if scare tactics are used, and to never give a credit card number out over the phone to any unsolicited calls. They recommend contacting the BBB if any suspicious calls are received, by calling 1-888-352-7601 or by email at [email protected].
