Seal Beach Daily

This morning when my phone rang before dawn, I jolted awake. Any call that was coming in at this hour must be an emergency. But, it was a robo-call purporting to be from Farmers & Merchant’s Bank stating that my credit card had been suspended for unusual activity and telling me to call an 888 number for more information. Now, I don’t have a card with Farmers & Merchants and was sure it was a scam, and when I called the number it was confirmed: a fraudster was fishing for a credit card number from an unsuspecting F&M patron using a phony answering system that asked the caller to key in his credit card info.

The Long Beach Police Fraud and Forgery Department confirmed this morning that there is a scam using F&M being run in the 562 area code. They got several reports about it, but there is nothing they can do to stop the calls, which come from a constantly changing series of telephone numbers used over the internet. It’s a criminal practice called “vishing,” a telephone — or voice — version of the e-mail fraud known as phishing in which users are encouraged to go to phony bank or merchant websites and enter secure information.

Your only protection? Vigilence. Don’t call a number provided to you by such a call. If you are worried that there is actually a problem with your credit card, call your bank using the number provided on the back of your card or on your monthly bill.

Do you have senior relatives in the 562 area code? Today would be a good day to touch base and let them know about how vishing works and what they can do to protect themselves.