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Philippine Showbiz Today
Community News
December 8 - 21, 2018
0% Interest or 100% Scam?
With the Better Business
Bureau (BBB) urging consum-
ers to protect themselves during
the holidays by using credit cards
to do their shopping, scammers
have now dusted off old tricks to
take away people’s money.
It all starts with a pleasant,
friendly voice on the other end
of the telephone claiming to rep-
resent your favourite financial
institution. You’ve been a loyal
customer and the news you’re
hearing sounds like you’re about
to be rewarded for your commit-
ment - 0% interest on your credit
card for 6 months, 1 year or bet-
ter yet for life, for making con-
sistent, timely payments on your
account. Sounds too good to be
true right? Well there is a great
possibility that it is, and could be
the rebirth of an old, but familiar
scam.
Be on the lookout for phone
calls claiming to be from your fi-
nancial institution, offering 0% or
extremely low interest rates on
your credit card for free or at a
fee. The aim of this scam is to
lure people into sharing confi-
dential information such as your
credit card number, your address,
SIN number, date of birth, the 3
digits at the back of the card or
your pin code.
Things to Consider:
Most financial institutions are
focused on building profitability.
When they announce a promo-
tion, the general aim is to attract
new clients or get existing clients
to either utilize an existing or new
product. For the financial institu-
tion, this could mean more cus-
tomer deposits or more loans.
Because of this, the concept of
0% interest for life is quite unlikely
as it is simply not profitable and
would result in them lending cus-
tomers money for free!
No reputable financial insti-
tution will call its customers and
request that they share private in-
formation. Normally, customers
are only asked to provide informa-
tion when they have contacted the
institution and the representative
is trying to verify the owner of the
relevant account. Additionally, if
they contact you, they would not
need you to share the information
Choirs at City Centre
Library throughout
December
Get into the spirit of the holiday season by enjoy-
ing choral singing at City Centre Library. Throughout
December, a variety of choirs will be performing on the
grand staircase, highlighting the inspiring acoustics ar-
chitect Bing Thom designed into the Library.
Our Lady of Good Counsel Primary Choir
Thurs, Dec 6 11:00am
Our Lady of Good Counsel Intermediate Choir
Thurs, Dec 6 1:15pm
Kwantlen Park Glee Club
Sat, Dec 12 4:00pm
they should already have on your
file.
How to Protect Yourself?
Assume the call is a scam
from the beginning. End the call,
especially if you receive an auto-
mated message. Do not select
any of the options indicated.
Never share confidential in-
formation to anyone over the
phone. Only share those details
during calls to the number at the
back of your card that you have
initiated.
Never agree to pay a fee to
anyone to help you lower the in-
terest rate on your credit card.
Most financial institutions offer
low interest rate cards which peo-
ple can apply for independently
and directly with them.
Do not feel pressured to ac-
cept any unsolicited offers until
you have verified with your finan-
cial institution that the promotion
is legitimate.
Never use the numbers pro-
vided by the caller to verify the
promotion. Use the number at
the back of your card.
Shred everything! Destroy
any documents with your credit
card number on it to avoid your
account being compromised.
Follow BBB on social media for
details on upcoming Shred Day
events.
Review your credit card state-
ments regularly so you can moni-
tor the transactions being made.
The moment you detect a fraudu-
lent purchase, contact your finan-
cial institution so they can take
the necessary actions to protect
your account.
Report the scam to BBB by
visiting www.bbb.org and clicking
Scam Tracker.●
- [email protected]
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