813-422-5243

called then hanged up the phone....

They called and wanted to specifically speak to my wife, and she called them back a few minutes later.  They knew who she was and first person refused to speak to anyone but my wife and hung up on me.  

Anyway, my wife calls back and immediately is offered a $100 gift card to be used at "Target" or "WalMart" and some other places and when asked what the catch was, she replied there was no catch and then said something about a $1.95 processing fee which is how they get your credit card info - they already have the last four digits and name, address, phone when they call.

Please be careful because you don't know when (or who) they'll be calling you again to get your info or be giving it to others to do the same.  Have a safe and happy new year.

813-422-5243 called did not leave a message, so i called them back and they hung up on me several times and i continued to call they said they were card rewards, they would not say for who. they are using a cell number and it is actually a false numer for a company trying to get around the Natl. Do Not Call.

warning about phone call from FAFS 813-422-5243
They called and wanted to specifically speak to me, the wife. My husband answered they then quized him to get his information and asked him if he was an authorised signer for this card too. He refused to tell them his name. He had it on speaker so we could both hear. I took over and said no he was not. They then said for me not to worry nothing was wrong with my account. That I was a member in good standing. They had some kind of membership program I could cancel if I didn't like it either way they wanted to reward me with it and my free gift. They knew who I was and the offered me a reward gift card for a $1.95 shipping fee. Being aware of such scams, I refused. (That is how they get your full credit card information - they already have the last four digits and name, address, phone when they call.) Beware of this tactic. don't get caught in the snare.
I would like to know who these people are. does anyone know who they are?
and who else I can report them to?

I too receieved a phone call on my cell phone thanking me for being
preferred customer.  They want to send me a gift card.  They had the last for digits and exp date.  I hung up and noted the number.  I called the number back from a blocked number they answered it but did not say anything.  You could hear people in the background trying to solicit the same information.  

I called Bank of America and let them know.  So they can report it to thier fraud department.  Be careful.

Called today. Man asked for me using my name. Very suspicious, I asked who is this? And there was silence, so I hung up.

Thanks for the information. I have received a number of calls from this number. They have called today three times already, (I did not answer), I thought to look up the number. Really appreciate your feedback.

PS. My telephone number is unlisted...it's interesting how NOTHING is safe in life anymore!

Happy New Year,
Sharon

I had the same call from a woman (broken English, very hard to understand) she had the last 4 digits of my old VISA check card - wanted to verify my card number to get $100.00 gift card.  I told her to not call my phone again and remove my name from their list/data base.

I received the same calls everyday at work... sometimes they call my home.. we have also been receiving calls from an unknown number.. that shows up as Pennsylvania or California or etc.

I had this number call my cell, I asked who this was and the man hesitated. I asked him again and he was very rude. He said care rewards and I asked him for what and he would not answer me. Someone was talking him through the call and I heard the person tell him to hang up.
I got another call a few weeks later and this guy was nice and wanted to send me a $100 gift card to Wal-mart or Target for only $1.95. I told him I couldn't afford 1.95 and didn't want to be responsible for calling later to cancel anything. That was when he started to being rude and basically called me a loser.
I just got another call today but didn't answer and looked up this number online. It's nice to know I am not alone.

The problem is How do we stop the calls?

I had the same thing happen; they called my cell on 01/08/2009 @ 6:13PM (CST), and did not leave a message. I didn't call back because I know that I don't know anyone in Tampa, FL.

A man called my cell phone twice saying I was a preferred customer.  He spoke broken english and would not tell me who reccommended me as a prefferred customer or why.  I was also very disturbed when he verified every detail of my information such as my name, address, phone number, last four of my debit card, and strangely enough my work number as well (only friends and family know my work number for emergencies and I never use it on any applications).  I requested to be put on the 'do not call' list and he informed me that I may still recieve future calls due to the system taking a while to update the list (I suspect that he did not do as I requested).

Called today, I answered and there was just silence, so I hung up.  Glad I found this site.  Hopefully they will not call anymore.

Missed a call from 813-422-5243.  Called back immediately and they readily recognized my number and knew my name (which I thought was extremely odd).  They told me that because I was a preferred customer (quoted one of my Credit Card's last 4 digits) that I'd be getting a package over the mail for some program to look over (didn't really understand what it was for) and a $100 gift card regardless of whether or not I decided to stay in the program.  I would only have to pay for S&H.  I told the guy several times that I wasn't interested and he kept telling me that I would receive it anyway and that I could decide later when I review the information "at the comfort of my own home".  I told them that they can't expect me to pay anything (even S&H) if I'm not interested and that I wasn't going to receive anything from them.  He repeated that he wasn't calling for me to decide but to inform me that I was receiving this.  After going back and forth a bit and me getting more and more frustrated he said thank you and we hung up.  Definitely a scam since the CC # he initially quoted the last 4 digits for was a CC that I had the # stolen and that I had cancelled a few months back.  They already have a bunch of my/your information so don't surrender any more information and just hang up.

It was a call from a woman with a foreign accent.  They knew my name and the last 4 of my credit card.  I didn't give her the opportunity to continue.  I told her to remove me from her call list and that I would report her.

They then said for me not to worry nothing was wrong with my account. That I was a member in good standing. I was also very disturbed when she verified every detail of my information such as my name, address, phone number, last four of my debit card.I then proceeded to ask who this was and they told me Advance Benefits Plus.I ask how they got my information she wouldn't quit reading her dialoge I then said stop I want to speak to your Supervisior and she said I am the Supervisior. I was getting upset so she hung up on me but before she did She screams out well since you don't want your free prize I guess you want get it. I tried to call back and when I did there was no ringing on my phone and they were asking to speak to my husband and I told them I wanted to speak to a supervisior and she told me she was on break I said the last person I spoke with said she was a supervisior. Well she just went on break I said well someone is lying and that I would wait to speak to her. She told me it would be about a hour, I said that will be fine I'll just wait, about 10 minutes later another lady gets on the phone and the phone on her end just so happens to start messing up until we were disconnected. By then I was even more upset because after trying to call about 6 or 7 times from both my phones I was getting a recording. This is most difinately a SCAM!!!!!!!

Got a call from 813-422-5243 and didn't answer it in time but no message was left. On a whim, I checked the number on the computer before calling it back. Good thing. But how does this person get a number I don't use except for emergencies? It is also listed with FCC for no telemarketing. There's a leak somewhere!

I am also getting calls from this number.  Since I have caller ID, I never answer calls from unknown numbers and they never leave message but they do continue to call many, many times.  Obviously from reading this, it is a scam.  My question is does anyone know the proper channels to report this and get it to stop.  Do you call your bank, the better business bureau, someplace else?

I had been receiving calls from this number as well.  I haven't bothered answering because, being a victim of fraudulent activity already, I'm now very cautious about taking calls from people I don't know.  In any case, much like most of you have done here, I did my research, basically typing the number into Google to see if it would register anything, which brought me to this page.  I also have some Telco experience and decided to look up the first 7 digits of the number via fonefinder.net.  It's helpful in determining which phone company the phone number is registered from.  Since I haven't engaged these people calling me to get info as some of you have, there's not a whole lot I can do to put an end to this scheme, which is probably best termed "Phishing", however, if any of you want to take action (not legal action), I can suggest a few things to do:

1 - Contact the phone company that this number operates from.  As best as I can tell, this number operates either under the Verizon Wireless Network, or XO Communications, however, I've not known XO to have wireless services unless it was from some former partnership with Sprint/Nextel.  Once you've identified which phone company this comes from, request to speak to a department of their company that may deal with service terms, if one exists.  Granted, there's nothing wrong with anyone getting a phone line to conduct business, but if it's intended for fraudulent activities, they would have to take an issue with that, unless they are willing to accept that they harbor criminals.  No company wants that type of scrutiny, especially if it hits the media.  

2 - Try getting the gov't involved.  Contact your congressman or delegate to help you, after all, they are meant to serve the community.  Sometimes they might have leads or know of ways to deal with these issues, or know something that can help you.

3 - I did more research on this and found a website that deals with consumer fraud reporting.  The address is:

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/phishing.php

The page also lists a number you can call to, which is the NCIF Hotline:

NFIC hotline at 1-800-876-7060

Lastly, check with the company that was mentioned.  Since this act mentions Target or Walmart, it's best to check the claim with the sources.  Do a Google search on "Target customer service number" and Walmart customer service number", find the numbers, try to get a live person and see if what the people offering you money is valid (but I seriously doubt it).

Best regards to all who take action!

Adding on to what I just wrote above, here's a better site you can go to.

https://secure.nclforms.org/nficweb/nfic.htm

Fill out the form to report the activity.  This is serviced through the National Consumers League’s Fraud Center.  I'm doing this now since I'm getting the calls.