potential scam targeting med school applicants?

[the other Dr.]

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I think someone cracked a med school applicant phone number list and is trying to steal credit card numbers. They call from the number (516) 576 8785.

Yesterday I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize on my cell phone. The ONLY people who have my cell number are med schools, since I just bought it specifically for the application process (okay, so I am paranoid about missing that last minute invite for an interview). I missed the call, and whoever it was did not leave a voice mail. I tracked the area code on the web to somewhere near NYC. I returned the call last night and got a recording that "Customer service is closed". I had orginally thought I missed a call from a NY med school, but now I was suspicious.

By lunchtime today I had missed FIVE calls from this number. I called back, now during "business" hours, and heard a recording that said "Your call may be monitored for quality assurance," then I was transferred to a live operator.

Operator: Thank you for calling Card Services, this is Tia, may I please have your account number?
Me: Who is this?
"Tia": This is Tia.
Me: No, who IS this, I mean who is this number?
Tia: This is card services. We handle credit cards. May I have your last name?
Me: No! I just want to know why you have been calling me incessantly for the last few days!
Tia: Thank you, have a nice day. <hangs up>

I have not bothered calling back, because this sounds like a classic scam. Had I given them an account number (which account were they after, I wonder?) I am sure that next they would have asked for my social security number, for verification purposes of course, and then probably a D.O.B. or current address. At that point, they would have enough to purchase airline tickets, merchandise, even a car.

So watch out! And if this has happened to anyone else, please ring in.

 

[avinash]

humm

sounds suspect to me aswell

I would warn your credit card company about this so you dont get charged for stuff you didnt buy n whatnot.

 

[tastywithmilk]

They could have been calling you up to try and get you to sign up for their card. Most companies that do phone banking set the caller id to display their customer service line.

My guess is the probably just wanted to sell you a credit card.

 

[the other Dr.]

They could have been calling you up to try and get you to sign up for their card. Most companies that do phone banking set the caller id to display their customer service line.

My guess is the probably just wanted to sell you a credit card.

Five times in one day? From a non 800- number? And they ask for an account number right off the bat?

Call them yourself and see what you think 🙂

 

[tkim]

The number comes back to Speigel card services:

Card Processing Center
PO Box 9204
Old Bethpage, NY 11804

 

[the other Dr.]

The number comes back to Speigel card services:

Card Processing Center
PO Box 9204
Old Bethpage, NY 11804

Whew, glad it seems to be just consumer harassment and not an identity fraud scam! I guess I am paranoid because my school's records got cracked recently and I know people who have already been victimized by identity theft as a result (ironically the theft was traced to somewhere in NYC!) and I was worried that my fellow applicants might be at risk (given the spam accusations against Einstein, complaints about the security of online apps, and so forth). Just for future reference, how did you track that number's source? I tried a couple of websites which did not tell me more than a general locale based on the area code and prefix.

Either way, it sucks to get telemarketing solicitation on one's cell!

 

[Jason110]

Just for future reference, how did you track that number's source? I tried a couple of websites which did not tell me more than a general locale based on the area code and prefix.

Either way, it sucks to get telemarketing solicitation on one's cell!

I use the Reverse Phone Directory when I have to track the number down:

http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/

(You should check all three listed directories because sometimes the number may come up in one of the three directories but not the other. You also need to enter the 10-digit number without any punctuation (perentheses or dashes)).

Jason

 

[Swack]

I'm just amazed that you bought a phone just for invites 😱.

Some people tried to scam me once in a very similar manner. I got a call very early in the morning and they told me I won a prize, all they needed was my check account number. I was really suspicious, because NOONE ever asks for a checking account number. I heard a lot of people and phones in the background, I guess to sound more legit. They gave me their company name and a phone number I could call for additional questions. I refused to give them my info and the manager came on and tried to convince me (they seemed very real). I eventually hung up. I looked up their company name online and there was no such company. I called the number they gave me, and there was no service....I was amazed that people put together such a realistic scam 🙁

 

[Psycho Doctor]

a 516 number is a LI number, Nassau County to be exact. There are no med schools on LI.

is it really a scamor could someone have written the wrong number down and thought they were calling a correct number for someone else?

sorry if this makes no sense or someone else said it already; i didn't read the thread

 

[the other Dr.]

I'm just amazed that you bought a phone just for invites 😱.
(

So am I. But I can't take/make calls on my line in lab, and I heard that some schools request that you call them during the day to inquire about wait list movement, so I broke down and got a cell phone just in case 🙂

 

[VienneseWaltz]

is it really a scamor could someone have written the wrong number down and thought they were calling a correct number for someone else?

This was my first thought, but what makes me suspicious is the other person's reaction. I had a similar scam attempt from a group who cracked an e-tailer's database. Fortunately my complete card wasn't on record (that's why they called, I assume), and I smelled trouble when she got cagey about telling me what exactly her company was. I was insistent, and instead of answering my question, she hung up. If the call had been legitimate, Tia would have said why THEY called YOU instead of demanding an account number.

Now where they got your number is another question ...

 

[jeatmonkey]

a 516 number is a LI number, Nassau County to be exact. There are no med schools on LI.

is it really a scamor could someone have written the wrong number down and thought they were calling a correct number for someone else?

sorry if this makes no sense or someone else said it already; i didn't read the thread

none except for stony brook.. 😛 😍
ohh.. and nycom for the DO's out there

 

[albanQ]

yea, stony brook is in suffolk county though. 631 is the area code there

 

[Dr Turninkoff]

i'm sure your phone number was recycled. i get a ridiculous amount of sales calls in spanish thanks to whoever juan martinez is. just make sure you tell them to take you off their list and threaten to file an fcc complaint if they continue to call you. good luck.

 

[jeatmonkey]

yea, stony brook is in suffolk county though. 631 is the area code there

yes i know this.. i was just stating that there are in fact 2 med schools on long island.. i know.. i live there.. 😀