Robotic messages that call repeateldy stating that a loan approval with "your name on it," for $5000 is ready to be electronically deposited in my account upon verification of my personal information. Really? Unbelievable. I simply blocked the phishers from my phone. Resolved for me. Then thought better of it and wanted to warn others to not fall for their scam should they come your way.
One that I recently fell victim to was MyCashDay.com because I did initiate it online after receiving a phone call stating that I had been approved of a loan. Oddly enough, I really had requested a loan from a legitimate company that I have a history with online and was denied. So I proceded to follow the instructions on my voicemail stating that I was approved for a loan. Biggest mistake ever. Never do this. Learn from my mistake instead.
I put in the info needed for such a request: routing and account number, social security number (stupid, yeah, I know), and just a business po box for address though. Thank goodness for small favors.
Here's the thing, many phishers use a legitimate company's name and even duplicate their web site to look exactly like the origingal. Including using a TM trademark sign. The caller (live or robotic) tells you that you have been approved for a loan. They get your request for a legitimate loan that you may have been turned down from through systems on the Internet. Then they target you by simply gaining access to your number using many different avenues. The easiest are services like "checkmate." They pay the fee to gain access to personal information which I think Checkmate should be shut down as well. More often than not, criminals are the ones using it, not the good guys.
Anyway, here are some things to never do:
DO NOT give personal info on the internet to ANY company. Legitimate or not unless you have talked with them one on one yourself and YOU were the one that initiated the inquisition. Not them targeting you to gain inforamtion while offereing you a service.
DO NOT click on any links in an email to avoid them hacking your computer and/or causing it to crash. Instead, type the name of their website into your url yourself.
DO NOT give any personal information over the phone unless, again, you have initiated this business relationship in person. Even then, never give a pin number or social security number. Legitimate companies will not even ask.
DO NOT give money to get money. If you are offered a loan that you initiated, and not just told by them that you initiated it and you have no recall of it. No need to be desparate. If they request any amount of money in order to release your loan deposit, RUN like the wind. This is a scam.
GE Capital along with others have been targeted by phishers since they (GE and other companies) already have a legitmate company with many legitimate complaints on and offline. Whether the robotic phone call I received from GE or pretending to be from there, their intent was to steal my identity and my money.
No such luck! :)