Lower Interest Scam

On Friday, I received a call from 503-902-8480 and the name on my caller ID was Lower Interest. I shouldn't have even answered it because I was busy and had a lot on my mind trying to get ready for a trip(that I didn't end up going on), but for whatever reason, I answered.  I have received these calls many times before but never agreed to talk to someone. This time I guess I was curious and the fact that it was going to "expire soon" made me wonder if it was one of my two credit card companies calling with a promotional deal to lower my interest. Taking the call was my first big mistake.

The dumb thing about the whole situation is that, while we do have a current balance on 2 cards right now, it is not a high one. And because of the way Eric gets paid with periodic bonuses, if we accumulate anything on our cards from going over our monthly budget, we are always able to pay it off in about 2-3 months time with the bonuses.  So, lowering our monthly payments or interest, really wasn't going to do anything for us since we don't normally carry a balance or pay much interest anyway. This is the second reason I shouldn't have taken the call in the first place.

But, I took the call. I believed them at first when they said they could lower the interest rate on any current card that I had by negotiating with the current credit card company. It kind of made sense, but my gut feeling was saying there had to be a catch. I gave them my card number with the highest balance and they were able to give me all the information about that card including balance, etc. Things seemed to drag on. The same questions asked over and over again. After awhile, I started getting really impatient because I had things to do and no one seemed to be getting to the bottom line and I kept getting put on hold. After being transferred for the 3rd time, somehow I was now talking to Tiana, account manager (yes, I know, Tiana probably wasn't her real name). She told me to write her name down, so I did.  I should have known that only the suckers made it all the way to Tiana. Her real title was probably, "Sucker Department Manager" or "Almost Hooked".

I guess the reason that I got transferred to her was because I hesitated with the guy before and said I thought this might be a scam, to which he assured me that it wasn't and I would be talking to my credit card company directly, so how could it be a scam. (Of course he wouldn't have told me if it was a scam anyway so I don't know why I even said that. )  The longer I was on the call and the more information I gave, the more apprehensive I became. When Tiana finally told me that they could save me thousands of dollars of interest (which she specified exactly) and I would get the service for free because of my excellent credit, but somehow $990 would be tacked on to the end of the balance "which would all be absorbed in the interest I saved" she quickly mumbled. (Ah, so I get it for free but it costs $990, interesting?) The bottom line was they would be charging $990 to my credit card.  At this point, I KNEW it was a scam and I was not about to continue, so I said, "No, I don't want that." Then the call immediately and mysteriously was disconnected.

As I sat with the silent phone in my hand, I panicked. I was scared. They got the info they needed from me and then hung up. I started to realize all the information I had given them. My credit card number, name, address, last 4 of social security number, and even my husband and my mother's maiden names. I started to panic because I was afraid I was the naive victim of identity theft. I immediately called the one credit card for which I gave them information and cancelled it. Then I registered an official complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.  I should receive my new cards today.  I wonder if there is more I should do.  I am blogging about this for others who may be naive like me.  The "Lower your Interest" calls are a scam!