Just yesterday I received the following phone call:

Caller: “Mrs. Toledano?”

Me: “Yes”

Caller: “I am calling about your credit card” (already sounds fishy)

Me: “I’m sorry, WHERE are you calling from?”

Caller: The head office of your credit card company” (sounds even more fishy)

Me: “Which credit card?”

Caller: “YOUR credit card.  you have a Visa card, do you not?”

Me: “If you were from my credit card company you’d clearly know which card I have, so I guess I’ll have to report his number for fraud.”

I hang up.

A quick Google search confirmed that my suspicions were correct as others have received the same call from this number.  The number was 416-786-1214.

I reported the incident to The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center whose link I found on the RCMP’s website. (i would have reported it even in the absence of my Google findings)

Given that the caller had addressed me by name, I then proceeded to warn my family members that there was a possibility that they were hitting up the Toledano section of the phone book.  Guess what?  Within an hour I had an email from my sister-in-law that she received the same call and when my mother in law returned home the same phone number was on her caller ID.

In addition, Hubby & I had a discussion with the kids last night.  I told them what happenned and we let them hypothesize about why someone might make that type of call.  Yes, we educating our kids about identity theft. (This discussion will continue when we discuss sharing via social media and digital footprint but that’s for another post).

In addition, given that every so often they do answer the phone, we reminded them about using language like “Mommy can’t come to the phone right now” as opposed to “Mommy’s not home”.  Although they are never left without proper supervision, it’s a matter of safety training.

We discussed what to do in the case of a caller asking them for personal information. Don’t give it.  Just hang up the phone. If somehow it was one of Mommy or Daddy’s friends, they will understand.  Don’t engage- don’t even say : “I don’t know you”.  Just hang up and let Mommy or Daddy know about the call.

That’s all for  today, folks, I just wanted you to be aware and BEWARE.  Take note of the number above as it is the number of SCAMMERS.

Have you ever been the victim of identity theft, fraud, or an attempt at either?  What did you do about it? Please share!

Have a fabulous & fraud-free day!

Tanya