Pflugerville Residents Report Getting Calls From Scammers Seeking Credit Card Data

PFLUGERVILLE, TX — Local residents have been reporting getting calls from scammers seeking to secure their credit card data, according to a published report.

The Pflugerville Pflag newspaper reports that automated calls are being made to residents asking them to call if they need help getting out of debt. But one resident told the newspaper that once he reached an operator, things took a nasty turn.

"They started asking me for credit card numbers," Joshua Gillard told the newspaper, adding that he knew immediately then that the call was a scam. And when he declined to provide the digits? “He started dropping ‘F’ bombs on me," he told a reporter. "I guess they were mad I wouldn’t let them steal from me."

The F word is not generally part of a scripted sales pitch, nor is it illustrative of good customer service. Clearly, the resident surmised, this was a scam.

The fraudulent tactics are similar to others that have emerged in the past year, according to Better Business Bureau officials. The automated message prompts a resident to dial 1 to reach a live operator who follows through with an aggressive push to secure credit card numbers and other personal data, the newspaper reported.

Often, the calls come from overseas "boiler rooms" working the law of averages. Even if numerous calls end with no credit card numbers disclosed, the ones that do bear fruit. A BBB official told the Pflag that such operations can yield up to $150,000 a day.

Other scams with the same aim of getting money are a tad more sophisticated. In February, anxious University of Texas at Austin students complained of getting messages from people pretending to be university staff members demanding money transfers. The electronic messages were invariably accompanied with incoming telephone numbers masquerading as university-originated calls and the name of the college president attached to boot.

Then, the sender would demand money via wire transfer or handed off personally at an agreed-upon location.

Make no mistake, officials say: Such tactics are not legitimate. University officials made a point to stress the behavior exhibited is not even close to the manner of outreach staffers undertake when communicating with students.

Don't fall victim to such scams. Those receiving such communications should notify the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint. The Pflag also noted the existence of a BBB scam tracker also available to report a scam or to learn more about scams reported in your area.

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