A Burlington couple was almost scammed hundreds of dollars after they received a phone call from a fraudster who claimed to be a Visa representative.

The call came from a man who said the couple had incurred a $300 fraudulent credit card charge, according to a statement from the Halton Regional Police released Friday. The call ID displayed "Visa" followed by a 989 area code phone number.

The caller then asked the couple for their personal details including what credit cards they possess and their credit card numbers.

Believing the call to be legitimate, the couple gave out their credit card information.

Later they followed up with their financial institutions only to find out there had been no fraudulent activity on their Visa. Instead, their MasterCard showed a fraud attempt to electronically transfer several hundred dollars to an overseas account.

This transfer had been flagged as unusual and not authorized.

The couple cancelled their compromised credit cards.

The Halton Regional Police ask the public to report fraudulent activity so others can be alerted to the best method of prevention.