It now says Merchant Bank..

I just received a voicemail on my cell phone letting me know that my Mastercard needs to be validated. It wanted me to enter a card number.  Bogus fraud call

Received an automated voice message indicating urgently that my MasterCard with DIRECT EXPRESS needed to be updated for "Security Purposes" and to push #1 to begin the process. I do not have a MC and don't have an account with whatever Direct Express is. This call sounds like phishing or a scam. I will proceed to block them from my phone.

This number called wirh automated voice claiming yto be "direct express" and said push 1 to update my MasterCard. I don't have an account with either, if "direct express" is an actual company. Sounds fishy. I will try to report to Birmingham PD or other law enforcement.

Recieved call at 9:45 fron this number. I figured it was a scam and hung up.

I received a call from this number on 5/27/2012 around 7:20AM EST in Atlanta, GA. The call was an automated recording stating that my credit account had been suspended. The recording asked me to "press 1 to reactivate" my account. After pressing 1, the recording asked me to press 1 again to continue or 2 to leave. I did, and hung up. I attempted to call the number back, but received a recording saying that this number was not in service. Sure would like to get hold of one of the individuals responsible for this kind of crap and have a few minutes with them in the ring with no witnesses....&@#$%

Scam to get your Credit Card number.

The joke is on them! I do not now, nor have I ever, had a credit card OR bank account! (I think they are all scammers and con artists!) So, since these imbeciles called me, asking for MY credit card info, they are, clearly, scammers! What losers! Calling my number shows they're not even good crooks! LMFAO!

Phishing scam targeted thousands over the weekend

http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art ... EWS01/705229853

By Brent Curtis
STAFF WRITER

Just about everyone in the 802 area code was the target of an international scam during the last few days, according to the Attorney General?s office.

Starting slowly late last week and then escalating on Saturday and Sunday, scammers made calls and sent text messages throughout the Vermont calling area in an attempt to gather confidential bank information from Merchants Bank customers.

But recipients of the phony messages weren?t limited to just Merchants Bank customers, according Thomas Leavitt, the executive vice president of operations at Merchants Bank.

?The calls were pretty comprehensive in the 802 calling area,? said Leavitt, whose bank had received calls from people with phone service from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Tracfones and a few other wireless carriers.

How many people had fallen victim to the scam by Monday morning was unclear, but Leavitt said the number was in the ?low dozens.?

Money from some of those accounts had already been withdrawn via automated transactions at a location outside the United States, Leavitt said. He said the bank responded by temporarily blocking any further transactions from the foreign country which he declined to name.

Leavitt also emphasized that the scammers hadn?t managed to hack into the bank?s account files.

?There was no penetration of our security,? he said.

The scam isn?t the first to target phones in Vermont?s 802 area code, but it is among the most widespread in terms of people reached, according to Leavitt and Jason Duquette-Hoffman, coordinator of the Attorney General?s office?s Consumer Assistance Program.

?We don?t know how many but it was a broad area that was affected,? Duquette-Hoffman said.

Earlier this year, scammers ran a similar operation targeting the customers of two credit unions in the state, he said.

But those phony calls and text messages didn?t reach as many Vermonters. And because Merchants Bank, which operates 33 offices throughout the state, caters to a large percentage of the population, the potential number of victims from the latest scam was much higher, officials said.

?It appears they?re moving toward targeting consumers using the names of local banks,? Duquette-Hoffman said. ?Consumers have a closer relationship with their local banks and they?re more likely to respond to these kinds of requests without considering that it might be a scam than they would to the same kind of message from a bigger bank.?

Email scams targeting customers of bigger banking institutions are far more commonplace than the type of area-code saturation that struck Vermont over the weekend.

While no directory exists publicly for cellphone numbers, Duquette-Hoffman said scammers get around that by identifying the local exchange that companies like Verizon, AT&T and other companies own in the area.

They then use automated dialers ? the same kind of tools used by political surveyors ? to run through every four-number combination to find the right telephone numbers.

?It?s likely that they have no idea who you are,? Duquette-Hoffman said. ?It?s a scatter approach.?

In the phony texts and messages delivered to Vermonters, the scammers informed recipients that their Merchants Bank accounts had been compromised and they asked people to call them to ?verify? their account information. Those who called the number were asked to provide their account numbers and user pins, Leavitt said.

Tracking the scammers is next to impossible, Duquette-Hoffman said. While caller identifications showed that the phony phone calls were made from the metro New York, Alabama and New Mexico areas, Duquette-Hoffman said those area codes were as fake as the fraudulent messages.

?Those aren?t real,? he said of the phone numbers. ?There are ways to disguise your number. They can make it look like your neighbor is calling if they want to.?

Even if the Attorney General?s office was able to trace the calls, investigating criminal activity committed oversees is outside the office?s jurisdiction and beyond their means, he said.

?The only thing we can do is get the word out so people will know what?s going on and not fall victim,? he said.

For further information or to report damages from the fraud, Merchants Bank customers can call (800) 322-5222 or the company?s card support services at (800) 554-8969.

To report fruadulent calls to the Attorney General?s Consumer Assistance Program, call 656-8755.

brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com

Fraudulant automated (computer voice) call claiming to be from "Merchant Bank", same MO as other comments... press 1 to update Mastercard.  Of course I don't have such a card.  Just waited a while and it hung up.

Yet another scam!

I got a voicemail with the same message.  I sure hope my credit card doesn't stop working.  I had better answer the call if it comes back in again.

Just received a call from this number saying my mastercard needed to be updated and press 1 to continue. I hung up.

Just Got nearly a same message as above from Merchants-Bank caught me off gaurd, I had to check to see if I had anything with an account with them.

Also found this
http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art ... EWS01/705229853

I too received '"the call" naming my Mastercard as needing 'updating' and to press 1. Of course I didn't do it, but so tired of these scammers taking up my time. <sigh>. get a REAL job already.

Just got a call on our corporate cell, stating that I needed to "Press 1" to update my Direct Express MasterCard for security purposes.  Um...no?  Idiots.  Beware of this scammer!

Tried to call the number they called from back and got a message from the operator that this number was no longer in service.

How do you report something like this -- seems like they must be stealing something from those willing to give them their credit card information.

I just got a message from them asking me to update my MaterCard as well.  I do not have a MasterCard so is seems as though this company is phishing for info to steal something from someone.

Second call today from "Direct Express" notifying me that I needed to press 1 to update my security for my master card

I've gotten 2 calls from this, both state Merchants Bank.

Yep, same thing here in Vermont. Got the call today and instant messages yesterday about a Merchants acct. on my cell. I just ignored it. Lots of folks have been falling prey here recently. Hard to believe anyone falls for this.

Received both a text and about 2 hours later a robo-call claiming to be from Merchants Bank which is a bank in rural Alabama but does not appear to have any branches in the 205 area code and is certainly not a bank I am doing business with.  Did not even enter the requested 1 to valid my credit card which I do not have with them anyway!  Looks like a fishing scam to me.

Same call, same number, 205-321-0411 and same message but this time they used Merchants Bank Credit Card and for me to press one to update my information -eyah - right!!! I don't have a single credit card, haven't for years, so I knew right away this was a scam. SOB's!!

Just received a call from this number. Basically the same stories as previously posted. Claimed I needed to reactivate my security code to use my card again.
Claimed to be Merchants Bank MasterCard. We have a local bank of the same name but I do not have a card with them.

Got a call from the same number yesterday.  They asked for my "credit card account number to check on some charges".  Obviously I did not give it to them.

Both our cell phones rang at the same time from this number at 5:09PM on Apr. 24th.  The automated voice message was nearly the same as those posted above.  I did not press "1", and hung up.  When I checked to see what number the call came from - all that was showing was an "0".  Very strange, and scarry. My wife did not answer her phone and this number did appear as a missed call.  This must be a very sophisticated scam automated system.

This is a phishing scam. I received a call from this number on 4/26/2012 around 6PM CDT in the Austin, Texas area.  The call was an automated recording stating that my credit account had been suspended. The recording asked me to "press 1 to reactivate" my account. After pressing 1, the recording asked me for my credit card #, to which I did not oblige and hung up. I attempted to call the number back, but received a recording saying that this number was not in service.

I received a call from this number on 4/26/2012 around 6PM CDT in the Austin, Texas area.  The call was an automated recording stating that my credit account had been suspended. The recording asked me to "press 1 to reactivate" my account. After pressing 1, the recording asked me for my credit card #, to which I did not oblige and hung up. I attempted to call the number back, but received a recording saying that this number was not in service.

Received call last night at 6:15.  ID said it was from Alabama.  I did not answer.  Checked the voice message and heard only static.

Got the same call yesterday around 5:30 telling my Chase credit card was now locked....do not have an a with them....total scam.

I got a call from the same number about 4:34pm 4/26/12. I was at work so I didn't answer it. But when I called back they said it was not a working number. Here's a number my Boss at work gave me a few months ago cause I was having problems with sells people and numbers like this. Some numbers slip thru but I think it works great. But once you're on the List you're fine. They explain everything you need to do before you do anything . it's a No Call list. No Call: 888-382-1222. Check it out, Hope it helps.