Dealing With Fraud and Theft While Traveling A few days ago, I gave access to my Verizon account and a credit card to some ridiculously savvy assholes. I received a call from a robot voice saying my Verizon service had been suspended and to press 1 to make a payment. I was actually behind on my bill because my auto-pay card had been canceled, so I pressed 1 and told the callers that I knew I needed to make a payment. The person was so damn polite that I was actually impressed by their customer service. These Issues Are Scarier When Traveling The fact that I am traveling and would have serious challenges if my phone service stopped working was definitely a factor in how hastily I reacted. I also discovered that dealing with fraud while traveling can be very difficult.

Never Give Anyone Any Information Who Calls You

The callers told me they were going to send a code to my phone to verify me. I now realize that was dumb because they had called me, but then the code came from Verizon in their usual text thread. Unbeknownst to me, what they were doing was using password reset on the Verizon website. I read back to them the code I was sent. Once in my account, they knew my past due balance, further making me feel they were actually Verizon. I gave them my credit card information to make the payment.

As this was happening, I received a text saying that my email address had been updated. Then one saying my billing address had been updated. I noticed that the message I had received with the code I had given them said Verizon will never contact you for this code. I asked the guy about it and he said, “Yes, after this call, nobody from Verizon will ask you for this code again.” It didn’t sound quite right and I started to get a little more suspicious.

If You Engage at All, Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions and Insist on Answers

When I asked why my email address said it had been updated, the guy said, “Just a second.” When he came back on the line, he said, “So, your total due is X.” That was actually one of the biggest tip-offs. All of a sudden this guy with incredible customer service is dodging my question. When I pressed him, he asked me to hold, and then we got disconnected. That didn’t seem entirely crazy from Mexico, but I started to get more suspicious. Matter of fact, my stomach was in knots. A moment later, I got an email from Verizon saying my payment was processed. That was interesting. I started to question whether I was just being paranoid. Maybe it was legit after all, but something just did not sit right with me.

Mission Impossible: Reaching Verizon from Mexico

After I was pretty sure this was a bad situation, I started looking for a non-800 number to call Verizon. First of all, they do not make these numbers nearly easy enough to find. In this situation, I was racing against the clock on these guys committing more fraud or theft with my account or credit card. Meanwhile, I had to scour several pages of their site before I could find an international support number. Eventually, I found one, and it consistently just disconnected on me. I was starting to get incredibly frustrated. I ended up having to call my father and asked him to place a 3-way call to Verizon. The fact that my father had to sit on a 40-minute call because they can’t provide a number that works is annoying.

What Did They Actually Do with My Account?

With my dad on the line, we called Verizon. I found out that these guys had gone into my account, changed my email address so that I would not receive notifications, and then made my payment. Then they placed an order for an $800 iPhone to be delivered to another address. This scam is better than stealing my credit card because I would have been unlikely to notice this until my next bill came. By then they would have the phone already.

I am not sure if they made the payment to make me think the whole situation was legitimate, but it did have that effect. I questioned whether I needed to follow up. The Verizon rep told me they may have done it because they couldn’t purchase a phone if my account was past due.

Once I got them on the phone, Verizon, as always, helped me deal with this fraud thoroughly. They helped me secure my account, canceled the phone order, and I even got the information the criminals had entered into my account. I then canceled my credit card.

Getting Justice or Even Help from Outside of the Country is Unlikely

The next day, I called the Santa Monica police department. The culprits had ordered a phone to a Santa Monica address, so that seemed like the smart thing to do. However, the first person I spoke to said I need to file the report where I live. I explained that I was in Mexico and that it made no sense to file a complaint in Orlando, where my mailing address is. Eventually, I was connected and someone listened to my complaint and informed me that the address the criminals used was a DoubleTree Suites. He said that they may have booked a room there under my name. He told me to see if they had, while also telling me that my only recourse would be to file a report with the Mexican police. That sounded like the dumbest shit on earth for a crime committed against an American by people in Santa Monica.

DoubleTree Needs Better Security

I called DoubleTree Suites and spoke to a woman who said she receives most of their packages. She told me nobody had reserved a room under my name. I asked her if they even needed to, or could they just go to the counter and ask for a package under my name with no room. She said that they do not check if the person has a room, which seems like a massive problem. She acted like it’s a problem with hotels in general.

Lessons for the Future

The criminals are not going to get caught. I just hope the next Southern California earthquake opens up a hole that swallows them into a pit of lava. That said, I’m glad I caught it right away and Verizon canceled the order and restored security to my account. In the end, all they accomplished was processing my Verizon payment for me using my own card. It could have been much worse, though, especially if I gave them more information.

The obvious lesson is that no company should be calling you and asking you for codes or account information. I know we hear this all the time, but these hacks are getting more and more sophisticated. As such, never give any information to any caller, period. If you have an issue you think you need to deal with, find an official number for the company and call them back.

Be Extra Careful When Traveling

This hack definitely worked better on me because I was traveling and afraid of being stranded without phone service. If you are traveling, be extra cautious about things like these. It is much, much harder to deal with fraud while traveling, and you have very little recourse while you are out of the country, especially without a home base.