Police caution residents about phone scams

 

MARTINSVILLE, Va. –   The Martinsville Police Department has been notified of a phone scam that is being propagated throughout the Martinsville and Henry County community. “We have been advised that residents are receiving messages on their answering machine or voicemail that are not credible,” said MPD Lieutenant Jim Minter.

         “This is a scam, known as “vishing”, short for “voice phishing”. The caller is not associated with MDCU, and does not have anyone’s account information. The caller(s) are dialing local phone numbers, not knowing whether the person(s) called have accounts at MDCU. They simply hope individuals that do have accounts at MDCU will respond and reveal their account information,” said MDCU President and CEO Darrell L. Minniear.

            In these messages a recording states, "This is the Security Department at Martinsville-DuPont Credit Union. Your card has been deactivated. In order to reactivate your card, please call the following number.” A phone number beginning with the numbers 405 is given.

            When this number, beginning with 405 is dialed the call is answered by a recorded message of poor quality with a lot of static. The caller is then instructed to enter their credit or debit card number.

            One of the calls has been traced to an undetermined location in the province of Quebec, Canada. These calls are part of a scam. Police and MDCU officials warn customers to not respond to any calls of this type. Do not release your credit or debit card number or any personal information in response to these calls or any communication of a similar type.

            “Our goal is to inform and protect the public against scams like this. Unfortunately, since the calls appear to be coming from a foreign country, there is little that we can do as far as legal action against the perpetrators. However, by getting the word out, we can prevent our residents from being victimized,” added Minter. 

            If you have received one of these calls and have given out any personal information, you should contact MDCU at 632-1679 #0 or 1-800-475-6328 #0.