800-335-1517

Rec'd call re: some account activity. Foreign accent. Mispronounce my first name. Hard to understand message.

Caller ID provided the number 1-301-790-4200 caller stated that they were from Sears Fraud Department.  WRONG.  DO NOT GIVE OUT PERSONAL INFO TO THESE SCAMMERS.   HANG UP!!

Caller ID shows 520-662-2000 said her name was Vanessa(she talked really fast and had a Foreign accent) wanted a return call to 800-335-1517 to confirm some recent activity on Sears card, have account ready when returning the call.  Call between 7am & 11pm CST.  Who is this?

This call is definitely REAL.  I too got a call tonight, December 12, 2007 and the call went exactly as describe in previous reports.  The caller wanted to pass me through to their Identity Theft department for a 25+ minute call but I had dinner on the table so I opted to call back.  I did a little Google Search before calling and found this site.  Needless to say, I was scared after reading this because I did confirm my identity with the previous caller (except for SSN).  I decided to call the phone number on the back of my Sears Mastercard (Citi) to verify everything and sure enough, my account had been victim of fraud and the person I spoke to was indeed a member of their Fraud Department.  Everything is on the up and up.  The Customer Service rep I talked to was very helpful, she even took the time to verify the phone numbers I had received from the first call and verified all fraudulent charges.  I called the Identity Theft department, spent quite a while with them, they checked my Credit Report and put me through to Transunion to get a 7 year Fraud Alert added to my account for my protection.  Don't worry guys, this one is legit.
For those that do not know, Call Centers utilize a phone switch that distributes phone calls coming in to one phone number, usually a 1-800 number to several individual phone numbers.  Depending on the switch setup, the Caller ID will report either a central 1-800 number or the specific phone number that will be from whatever location they are calling from.  In this case, the original caller was in the 520 area code but the number they gave me was a legit 1-800 number.
Don't worry, everything is okay but don't take my word for it, turn your credit card over or take a look at a recent statement and call the 1-800 number on there.  Thats an easy way to get piece of mind but if you have gotten such a call, you owe it to yourself to get things straightened out.

Got a voicemail with caller ID 301-790-4200.  Caller said she was from Sears Fraud and asked me to call 800-335-1517.  I also did a Google search, found the references above and called the #on the back of my card instead of calling 800-335-1517.  They were able to verify my info (they were able to tell me the prefix of my work #, last card activity, etc.) and told me that a new card had been sent last month, at which point I looked at my card and noticed that it had expired recently, which then made sense that a new card would have been sent.  I never got that new card, so someone else must have.  Apparently, that person who received the card tried to call earlier today and unsuccessfully tried to get the card activated, which prompted Sears fraud to call me.  This seems legit.

A incoming call of number (301)7904200 asked me to call back at 1-800-355-1517 to verify some account activity, it turned out to be Sears Card Fraud Department. Somebody opened an account in my name and charged big money in one transaction. They just want to make sure the charge is legit, which of course is a fraud. I did google online to find Sears Card customer service contact number and double checked. This number is legit.

Yes, this is valid. 301-790-4200 is the number for Citibank in Hagerstown, MD. Sears Fraud is managed by citibank and their call center is located there. And yes 1 800 335 1517 is their phone number. If you're unsure or suspicious of a phone call received by a credit card company, don't call the number they leave you, call the number on the back of your card. If it is a valid phone call they will have the information noted on your account.

I got a call from the same 301 number (caller ID says "Maryland")  I too got a message from a very fast talking girl with a ghetto accent.  It was hard to make out the name of the company...we thought it might be Sears Fraud Department.  She also said to have my account number ready when I called back between 7 and 11.  The only problem is that I do not have a Sears account!  No card with a phone number to call to verify.  I called the 800 # she left (the same # as in above posts) but would not give her my SSN.  She looked up my name, then said that a new account had been opened in my name on Thursday, April 17th with a credit limit of $2800, but that the account had a zero balance.  Nothing had been charged.  She said the cards were being mailed to my home address.

She then offered me yet another 800 number to Citi Identity Theft and said it is a free ID theft service, but that they are currently closed.  In order to close the account which I obviously did not open, she needed to verify some info.  Again, I would not give it.   I heard a bunch of call center noise in the background.  She said she needed to authenticate my identity and wanted to call me "back at this number"   One minute later she called my house back...a no brainer if she had called ID so I was still not convinced that I was talking to Sears.  She was able to recite my social, and my address.  I did not volunteer any info.  I am just not sure about any of this, but I am going to contact Sears through published phone numbers to verify the whole thing tomorrow morning.

Got a call from this number. Called back but the number was not connecting .. something that pin is invalid. So called back the customer support number behind the card. They took my home phone number and called me back. Looks like sears had lost a bunch of credit card number . My account was charged for soemthing like $1500 ( 3 purchases). Take this call seriusly but call the customer support behind your card. They are sending me a new card and fraud affidivait letter to be signed and sent back.

Recieve a phne call stating that I have made charges to my Sear Card located in Long Beach in the amount of in the range og $600.00.

Sears Citibank Mastercard number and the identities of their owners have been hacked through Citibank computers at least 2 years ago.

I had this exact same thing happen to me when I received a call in June 2007. The MO was exactly the same and according to blogs, Citibank has known about the breach for at least 2 years.

After over a year of lies and deceit by Citibank, I kept investigating and pulling the thread until I found out that Citibank's servers were hacked by thieves in Russia.

This has taken me well over a year and many hours and much legwork to amass the information, but Citibank is indeed responsible for this breach. Supposedly, the FBI is currently aware of this and is tracking the culprits, but Citibank needs to own up to its responsibilities of releasing THOUSANDS of SS# numbers, birthdates and full names of Sears Citibank Mastercard holders.

If you've been a victim of Citibank's negligence, please contact me at slfinch@juno.com.

I happen to work there and it is legit.

Just to let all of you clients who are sears card holders to not be so suspicious of our number. The number you see on your Caller ID will not be a number you can return a call on because it is a CALL CENTER number and we all use the same line out. I have worked for Sears Few for 5 years and if you do not trust our calls always call the number on the back of your card or call your nearest Sears or Kmart store to get a customer Service number. And yes we do have your ssn and information you put it on your application when you applied. We verify you because we are protecting you from the real fraud. Would you rather we gave your information out about your account to anyone?

You are an idiot. This is not a scam.

This is the Sears Fraud Early Warning Department trying to make sure there is no fraud on your account.

It's this kind of business that made me cut up my Citibank card.  I HATE CITIBANK.

this guy has no idea what he's talking about.  he's trying to start another red scare and make money off of it.  any compromises are dealt with by citibank in a timely manner as they are staffed to do so.  in a case where thousands of account numbers are compromised, limited staffing does not allow compromises to be handled as efficiently.  however, citibank's sears credit card portfolio has never compromised ssn#s or birthdates.

You are the idiot, sadly misinformed, and definitely need to quit using all caps. It is simple people: Anytime you get a phone call or email from someone saying they are alerting you about a fraud or error on your account, say okay, hang up and then call your institution and check it out. With emails, do NOT click on or enter any information in that email or on a redirect. Contact your institution.
The phone call and/or email may be legit, but it doesn't matter. Scam artists are getting better and using more sophisticated means including "legitimate" emails, redirects to what appears to be your institution's website, AND phone calls. One of the easiest ways to protect yourself is by being skeptical and simply saying okay, and contacting the institution yourself. A legitimate caller will understand, the con artist will play their game.

So if you work at, do you know if Citi servers have been hacked? Sure seems to be a lot of ID theft on Sears/Citi cards lately.

I am NOT trying to sell something - Citi did have their servers hacked. Check it out: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/03/id_theft_onestory.html