I came across an article recently on Yahoo which talked about a new scam. This scam revolves around traffic light cameras, and is designed to steal your identity.
When I began to read this article, I expected to read about some fancy IT person hacking into traffic cameras, and somehow using them to read information off of your EZ-Pass or some other recognizable thing on or in your car. But instead, crooks are using laziness and fear to take advantage of people.
The Red Light Camera Scam
What happens is that the con man will choose a number at random; and once a person answers the phone, they simply tell them that they have an overdue fine for running a red light camera. According to the article, they are then told that “the only way to avoid a significant late fee, mandatory court case, or even jail time is to pay the bill right then and there, over the phone. If you don’t pay up you’re threatened with a warrant for your arrest.”
Of course, when this happens, there’s no bill, no unpaid ticket, no red light camera, and the person who was calling does not work for the police station or the clerk’s office. They are just hoping to use your fear and laziness to get you to automatically make a payment. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer (and maybe even giving you a supposed ID number), fear may overtake you and cause you to do whenever that person on the other and says in order to avoid the consequences that he is promising.
What’s The Point?
Once you agree to pay the fine, the person on the other end will then ask for your credit card number and security code (that three digit number on the back) in order to process the payment. Once they have that, they can then move forward and ask for your billing address, date of birth, and even your Social Security number – assuring you that all of this data is needed in order to handle your payment.
Of course, you would assume that if the police station was able to get your phone number from whatever information came up on the red light camera, they will also be able to get your address, and at least have the date of birth of the person to whom the car is registered. But again, when the fear of a hefty fine or possibly even jail time overtakes someone, the ability to think clearly and to logically assess a situation is greatly diminished.
You can rest assured that there is no police department in the country that will conduct business in this fashion. They conduct all of their business through snail mail and will not call you and give you the option to make a payment over the telephone. Even if you’re at the point of debt collection, all of this is first handled via mail, and once the phone calls are initiated, you should verify everything in writing before making any types of payments.
Covering Their Tracks
According to the article, the thieves will sometimes place a follow-up phone call and tell you that it was a mistake and then assure you that your card has not been charged. They will even apologize for causing you stress or bothering you in the first place. The purpose of this is to cause you to be so relieved that you aren’t in any type of trouble that you won’t get suspicious, and to also ensure that you will not check your bank account to make sure the payment went through. This should give them enough time to place a number of fraudulent charges before you decide to check your account.
So remember that if you ever receive a phone call stating that you were caught with a red light camera, going through a toll booth without paying, an unpaid parking ticket, or anything else of this sort, you should hang up the phone and call the police station or the clerk’s office yourself and inquire about the matter.
In fact, you should avoid giving out any sensitive financial or personal data through the phone, unless you are the one who initiated the call and you are 100% certain that you were speaking with the correct party.
photo credit: sskennel
Reader Questions
- Have you every had anyone call you with a scam to get your information?
- Have you ever been the victim or known a victim of this type of fraud?
- How would you handle this phone call?
Thieves get more clever and clever. I had a friend who received one of these phone calls and since he didn’t have the money in a credit to pay the fees. In CA, they are up to $333 per red light offense. That he can go on the website and pay it. He did that before when he got a ticket in the mail. It turns out he didn’t get a ticket. The scammer was so bold to call again asking if he was ready to pay the fine.
Oh man, it’s a good thing he checked the website and was able to see it was a scam.
The minds of these crooks, just different from the rest of us it seems. That being said, people just shouldn’t give out personal information (or money) just so easily, and should know better. The reality is that some folks, even if it’s a tiny percentage, are probably prone to such nonsense. Thanks for sharing!
The ironic thing is that these crooks are usually very creative and if they just worked hard, they could make a lot of money without the risk!
Well, I typically don’t answer the phone if I don’t let recognize the number. and I would probably look up the number online.
It is also important to remember if you ever get a scam call like this is that you never need to supply the CVC number over the phone or your social security number.
I do the same thing with unknown numbers! It drives people crazy that I just let the calls go to voicemail.
I can’t believe people would do this, its disgusting. Scam artists have become such a problem, that I won’t share any information unless I called the company based upon verified information. You just can’t be too careful.
It’s definitely a huge problem that will only get worse from here. Hopefully, more people will become aware of these types of scams.
I hate to say it but it makes perfect sense. There are always people who are going to fall for a scam. It’s unfortunate but true. Whenever your scam involves some sort of new technology the success rate has to go up because they are going to be even more people who don’t know about it. It’s scary to think about all the things that can happen once a thief has your information. At least we have articles like this promoting awareness. Thanks
It’s definitely something that I see increasing as new technology comes out and people become more vulnerable.
Great public service annoucement Khaleef. I never encountered any phone scams myself, but do get those emails about wiring a financial windfall into my bank account. Great reminder not to give out personal data on the phones. Sickening that people prey on fear and laziness, but shouldn’t be too surprised. Thanks!
I can’t believe those emails are still popular, but that must mean they work enough of the time to make it worth while. I do hate that people prey on others, and we just have to be much more careful.
I just think it’s sad how so many people fall for nonsense such as this and so many others out there. So many people give out their information way to easily these days. I’ve had random calls saying I owed something and they can settle it over the phone with a check by phone or credit card. I simply tell them send me something in writing so I can ensure it’s legit. If they say they don’t have my address I do not give them it. I rather not give them more ammo to get my info. I ask them for a contact name and number for the company and they usually hang up at that point.
That’s a good way to handle it in my opinion. If you have a blanket policy set in place, then you don’t have to worry about someone putting enough pressure on you to get you to give up something.
I’ve never seen this scam, but WOW! Sometimes I just actually have to marvel at how brilliant some of these scams are becoming. Now if they’d only use their powers for good….
That is so true. They could do a lot of good for society if they were to use their creativity and ingenuity to build up rather than tear down.
Great article. That’s very unfortunate for those who fell for that scam!
Yeah, I’m sure they scam a lot of people with something like this.
Wow, it’s always scary reading about stuff like this. Preying on people’s fears like that is terrible. I like your conclusion a lot. Don’t give out your personal information when you aren’t 100% sure who you’re dealing with. In the moment it can be tough though for sure.
It definitely is scary to think about how many times this must work! I can surely think of times where I did something in the moment and looked back and realize that fear or pressure won out over my ability to think clearly.