The telephone scam that promises to reduce your credit card rates hasn't generated many complaints in the Fredericton area, according to Detective Sara McElman of the Fredericton City Police, but has generated a pile of complaints to Phone Busters, the national clearinghouse for telemarketing scams.

"There's a big push on now using that type of pitch," Detective John Schultz of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) who works at the Phone Busters operations center in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The scam - which we detailed http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred-news/2007/06/05/latest-telephone-scam-to-hit-town/"> in a blog posting yesterday - involves telemarketers convincing you to pay them an advance fee that will supposedly lead to reduced credit card rates for you.

But according to the Federal Trade Commission in the US, the most you're likely to get for the fee of more than $500 is a three-way phone call with you, the telemarketer and your financial institution in which the telemarketer requests the reduced rate and the credit card company says 'No'. Oh, and you might get an envelope in the mail with some tips on how to reduce your credit card rates.

Det. McElman says that local residents who receive what they think are fraud-related phone come-ons should report them to http://phonebusters.com/">Phone Busters. If you've fallen victim by actually paying money or handing over your credit card information, contact the Fredericton City Police.

She says the most common telemarketing fraud in the Fredericton area targets seniors and is what's known as the Advance Fee Lottery Fraud. This is where you receive a phone call or email saying you've won a lottery that you never entered and to collect your prize, you have to pay a service charge or similar fee.

"If you're a winner, you're a winner," Det. McElman says. "You don't have to pay a fee or service charge afterwards."

Cheers,
George