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Dumpster-Diving Scammers Use Scraps To Rip You Off

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 15, 2006
If you're not running old credit card receipts through the shredder, you should be. Police in South Bend, Indiana are investigating a series of clever scams where "dumpster divers" have obtained receipts from the trash and used them to make unauthorized purchases.

Receipts, of course, don't have your full credit card account number, for obvious security reasons. But that hasn't stopped the more ambitious scammers. They simply call you up and trick you into revealing the full number.

What receipts do contain are your name and the last four digits of the account number. It's easy to look up names in a phone book, and almost as easy to get people to reveal the hidden numbers.

Police say the scammer contacts the victim by phone and tells them they have won a $500 shopping spree. In order to get it, they have to verify their credit card number. To add credibility, the scammer gives them the last four digits and asks them to supply the rest.

Of course, that should be a huge red flag. No legitimate enterprise would ask you to reveal sensitive financial information over the phone. Police say if you get a call like that, the best course of action is to simply hang up.

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