In the U.S., at least, 'tis the season to be spending, and also open season on unsuspecting folks who answer their telephones to find their "bank" or "local merchant" or even their "local law enforcment agency" calling them about money or information useful for stealing money.
The simplest scam is for your "credit card company" to call and say they need to verify information. They want you to "verify" (which means give to them) your name, address, credit card number, social security number, and who knows what else (bank account number? balance?). Any and all of this information is useful to someone wanting to use your identity to steal money.
They are GOOD at making this sound official, and good at starting within your comfort level (asking your name, for instance) and then gradually expanding it to things you might be suspicious of if they started with them. I may be overly suspicious, but I get irritated when someone I do not know wants me to tell them my name on the phone, often before anything else has been said.
They may tell you something about your recent activity that's actually true. There are various ways people can get information about transactions to look legitimate, including standing near you in a checkout line.
IF YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: CALL THEM BACK ON A NUMBER YOU LOOK UP. Do NOT let them hurry you, do NOT call a number they give you. Remember you are calling them back because they might be THIEVES.
There are various other scams, up to and including calling to say the police are on their way to arrest you unless you pay something immediately. I don't know how they make that sound legitimate, but people get fooled by it all the time, and I have been fooled myself by something only slightly less outrageous. Sometimes they have a second call come in on another line to back up their story. They may offer you a great deal, they may tell you you have won something, they may tell you a relative is in jail and needs bail money immediately. There is no end to the things they can make up to get your information and/or money, and the only way to keep from being a victim is to be suspicious of anyone who calls you.
The scammers commonly spoof caller id numbers to be local, or 800, or anything. I suppose it's only a matter of time before they're spoofing to numbers that belong to someone you know, or spoofing their number to look like the bank's number. Remember that caller ID is useless for determining who someone is, just like the "from" line in an email; the thieves can put in anything they want there.
I make one exception: my credit union has occasionally called me to question a CC charge I made within the previous 30 minutes because it was unusual - in a different city than I usually charge, for instance. They ask for NO other information -- they call, explain who they are, say they have this charge for this amount, and want to know if it's legitimate. I answer that one. They do not ask for my credit card number, or even my name, they HAVE all that information, and are sensitive to sounding like a scam themselves. I could, in fact, have called them back, but since the only information is something available to anyone who was standing in line near me at the checkout, I do tell them that. I'm glad they're checking. And if something sounded fishy to me about that, I would, in fact, call them back on the number provided with the card, not one they gave me. And I remain suspicious -- I verify that charge (meaning I say yes, I made that charge at that place after they tell me who they are); if they were then to ask for other info, I would figure it was a scam from someone that knew I used the credit union.
