Not all customer service offers great service. Some are identity thieves waiting to steal your personal information. Beware of fake customer service offers.
They’ve tried stealing your mail. They’ve tried putting phishing website links in your email, and they’ve even tried to steal your garbage. Now, they’re at it again and this time, they chose to play pretend while they get a hold of your personal information.
This is one of the most irritating things about identity thieves: They just have so many things up in their sleeves. Now, with just one phone call away, you can become at risk of identity theft as thieves disguise themselves as customer service representatives. Here are the dangers of encountering one.
There is nothing wrong with calling customer services for your various concerns but you should be careful in giving out your personal information to customer service representatives. Some thieves who are into fake customer services attempt to ask for your identity information such as your birthday, address, social security number, and your mother’s maiden name. This may seem standard protocol but what is really happening is that they are already stealing your personal information for their own benefit.
4 Quick ways to protect yourself from customer service predators
Fake customer services don’t just make a move through the telephone. They are on the internet as well. Some thieves attempt to trick customers to send in their personal information through forum sites and chat sites that appear as if they are legitimate websites. Some try to send links to phishing sites to consumers and tell them to enter their login information. Some pretend they are from Tech support and what you end up supporting is the theft and use of your information.
Don’t be a victim. Guard your identity and prevent identity theft. If you are wondering how, here are some tips you can follow that can help you secure your finances and your identity while interacting with customer services.
1. Never share your personal information if customer service called you.
It’s easy for fake customer service predators to find your contact information and attempt to lure you into sharing personal information over the phone or through email. They may use tactics making it seem like there is an emergency, or that you are missing out on a potential deal and time is of the essence.
Take note that it is unlikely that REAL customer service representatives will call you or send you mail through social networking sites. That is why you should not give away personal information over the phone unless you are the one who called customer services. Fake customer service representatives can be very persuasive so if ever you encounter this kind of situation, do not entertain the caller and just hang up.
2. Pick the right kind of customer service provider.
It is also best that you choose the best service providers first before you engage in any transactions. Consumer protection is a must. Not all companies offer secured access to customer services and security measures that protect consumers from identity theft. If you want to make sure that you have the right kind of services, you can call their customer service first and see for yourself before you do business.
3. Monitor your credit and bank accounts.
You must be able to check your credit history and your bank accounts regularly in order to make sure that everything is where it should be. Most criminals who engage in identity theft often get away with it because victims don’t know their identities have been stolen right away. By monitoring your credit and bank records, you can check if there is something fishy going on with your finances.
You can also consider credit monitoring services that give you real-time results regarding your credit history and score. Some credit monitoring services are equipped with customer service fraud alerts and identity theft protection that forces all your banks to balk before approving any transaction is approved in case the threat of id theft is eminent. You may also want to consider asking help from a las vegas white-collar crime attorney in case you experience this kind of crime.
4. In case of doubt, freeze.
Some consumers immediately close their accounts whenever they think that they are victims of identity theft. This is actually a bad thing to do because closing all your credit accounts may result to a bad credit score on your part. Instead of closing, you can just freeze your accounts.
Freezing your accounts is sometimes more effective than alerts because it completely prevents any company from accessing your credit unless you already did business with them. On the other hand, it has some disadvantages, especially if you have a pending loan, as unfreezing your accounts can take a few days. At least it’s better than closing your account entirely immediately, if the problem is severe that action could come later.
Identity theft is a common concern among all consumers. That is why these tips can help you prevent id theft from fake customer service while talking to customer service representatives. Avoid becoming a victim and guard your identity.
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