Every person has heard the horror stories.  A friend or family member looked at their bank account to find all their money gone.  What could have happened?  All too often, an innocent transaction leads to such devastation.  Scams are everywhere.  The following will show how easy it is to be scammed, how to protect yourself and what Burnett & Driskill does to help protect our clients.

The Story of a Scam

Here’s an example: a lady calls a phone number that she thought was tied to our commercials.  She spoke to someone that didn’t identify themselves as a Burnett & Driskill employee.  After listening the person talk, she gave her debit card number so that she could be charged $49.95 so that she could get two separate gift cards – one for $100.00 and one for $50.00.  Sounds like a great deal, right?

This lady then said she wanted to speak with someone about possibly starting a claim.  After the person on the phone continued to put her off, she realized something was wrong.  She immediately called her bank because she was going to be a victim.  Luckily before her account could be drained, her card was stopped and her bank took care of her.  How easy was it for a complete stranger to take advantage of her?  You think you are talking to someone that can help you only to find out they are being devious.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only type of scam out there.  Card skimmers can be found on ATMs, gas pumps and other reputable sources.  Your wait staff at a restaurant can write down the numbers of your card and use it later.  Sometimes a card number can be taken through a hack with a reputable company that stored your card information to make checkout easier when you purchase from them repeatedly.  These are some of the most common scams but not the whole list.

How Do You Protect Yourself?

Scams occur every day.  To any person.  Here are a few tips to help keep your information safe.

1. Never give credit card information to someone who has called you out of the blue. Always take the step to call the company back at a number you find yourself – one preferably from a bill stored at your home.  If you aren’t expecting a phone call from your telephone company, they aren’t calling to collect on an unexpected repair.  Scammers can make the caller ID show up as the reputable company you’ve done business with for years.
2. Be aware that the more forceful someone is, the more likely they are trying to scare you into action. Don’t let them bully you.  Even collection agencies have standards on how they can collect your money.
3. Doing anything over email can be unsecure. Even if you know the company, don’t give your credit card information via email.  Call them up and handle the payment over the phone.
4. Take a minute to look at the machine you are putting your card into. Any odd-looking attachment should be reported to a store employee immediately.
5. Check your bank statements/credit card statements regularly. Verify you made each transaction on every statement.  If you have any questions regarding a transaction, call your card provider immediately.  They will cancel the card and issue a new one.

B&D Processes

Burnett & Driskill take the security of our clients seriously.  Our practices are meant to protect our clients.  Just to give you an idea of what our collection processes are, here are a few.  We do not store card information for any reason.  Our clients are welcome to call and make a payment via credit card over the phone but we input at that time.  There is no reason to store the card information.  We send out invoices by mail.  We have occasionally had to call to clarify a payment, but we do not call to collect on payments.  Statements are mailed unless you have asked to pick one up.  We welcome any call about our processes and will answer your questions.