Ashford parish magazine reveals details of scam

The person, who is unnamed, said the scam works by someone ringing up and claiming to be from the fraud department of Visa or Mastercard, who ask a series of questions saying that a dodgy item has appeared on the card-holders bill.

The caller then says they will be launching a fraud investigation, and says if the card owner wants to ask any questipns to ring the number on the back of the card.

The writer said: "Here's the important part on how the scam works. The caller says 'I need to verify you are in possession of your card.' He'll ask you to turn your card over and look for some numbers."

The caller asks for the three digit security number on the back to prove it is the card-owners.

The writer said: "After you tell the caller the three numbers he'll say: 'That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen.' He then thanks you and says to call back if needed.

"You actually say very little and they never ask for or tell you the card number, as they already have it. We called back within 20 minutes, and we were glad we did."

The writer said the real Visa security department said nearly £500 had been taken out of the account in the last 15 minutes.

The writer closed the account, reported it as fraud to the police, and got issued new carddetails.

The writer added: "The real Visa told us they will never ask for anything on the card as they already have it. What the scammers want is the three-digit security number. Don't give it to them but tell them you will call Visa or Mastercard for verification of the conversation."

The next day the writer got a word to word repeat of the scam from someone claiming to be from Mastercard, but hung up the phone.