lucky penny
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 735
I thought I was way too smart to ever fall for a scam - but apparently not.
After calling the number on the back of a gift card to check the balance, I just provided a lot of personal info before wising up.
I'd gotten a JetBlue gift card from a relative several years ago, never used it but remembered it after booking a JB flight last night. When I called the number on the card, I spoke to a pleasant guy with a heavy accent & started telling him of a problem I'd had in booking the flight -- thinking he must be associated with JB. He listened very patiently as I described the problem, then said he could help & asked me some questions for "verification." What can I say I ended up giving him my name, address, DOB, phone #, email & maybe the confirmation number for my flight -- & not until I was starting to give him my credit card number did I start getting suspicious. I asked if he was connected with JetBlue & he kept mentioning verification. Finally, probably after realizing he wasn't getting any more info from me, he gave me another number to call. That was it. (The new number turned out to be an automated number offering a $100 gift card for $2--obviously another scam.)
Then I was a wreck, up all night with stress levels soaring. I immediately froze my credit reports, then cancelled the credit card after getting assurance that the flights I'd just booked would be paid for. Is there anything else I should do? I keep checking JB to make sure my flight on Sunday is still OK (tried to call to speak to someone there & was told the estimated wait was 203 minutes.) What happens now?
My [-]excuse[/-] mistake is that I assumed the guy was associated with JetBlue & I had questions about the flight I booked, so I guess I was thinking he needed info to confirm I was the customer. Plus, it was very late & I was already very tired & stressed (the trip I'm taking is for a relative's funeral). The gift card looked fine, though a google search shows a few years ago JB gift card/scams were a thing.
I am chastened & humbled. And calmer, but worried.
After calling the number on the back of a gift card to check the balance, I just provided a lot of personal info before wising up.
I'd gotten a JetBlue gift card from a relative several years ago, never used it but remembered it after booking a JB flight last night. When I called the number on the card, I spoke to a pleasant guy with a heavy accent & started telling him of a problem I'd had in booking the flight -- thinking he must be associated with JB. He listened very patiently as I described the problem, then said he could help & asked me some questions for "verification." What can I say I ended up giving him my name, address, DOB, phone #, email & maybe the confirmation number for my flight -- & not until I was starting to give him my credit card number did I start getting suspicious. I asked if he was connected with JetBlue & he kept mentioning verification. Finally, probably after realizing he wasn't getting any more info from me, he gave me another number to call. That was it. (The new number turned out to be an automated number offering a $100 gift card for $2--obviously another scam.)
Then I was a wreck, up all night with stress levels soaring. I immediately froze my credit reports, then cancelled the credit card after getting assurance that the flights I'd just booked would be paid for. Is there anything else I should do? I keep checking JB to make sure my flight on Sunday is still OK (tried to call to speak to someone there & was told the estimated wait was 203 minutes.) What happens now?
My [-]excuse[/-] mistake is that I assumed the guy was associated with JetBlue & I had questions about the flight I booked, so I guess I was thinking he needed info to confirm I was the customer. Plus, it was very late & I was already very tired & stressed (the trip I'm taking is for a relative's funeral). The gift card looked fine, though a google search shows a few years ago JB gift card/scams were a thing.
I am chastened & humbled. And calmer, but worried.