800-204-3814

This is the email I sent out to everyone I know......  

First let me say that this is not an attempt to see how many time an email can be circulated around the world, as so many of these "Fraud Alerts" are.  This happened to me and my company.

I'm sending this out to everyone that I know.  Be AWARE!  There is an international scam that is circulating and it is hitting everyone by phone.  Many times, your caller ID will reflect a well know company or bank other times, in the case of cell phones, will just display a toll free number. [(800) 204-3814](google it and see what it says).  When you answer the phone, there will be an automated system in place.  The recording will state something to the effect that this is a fraud alert from [a company you may know, in my case, it was Wachovia Bank, which is my bank] regarding such and such card with the last 4 being ####.  That was the last 4 of my credit card.  (This information can be ascertained from a credit bureau scan - many companies do this to determine a marketing demographic).  It asked, if this is Daniel Masterson, then press #1.  Then it gave me a multiple choice for a zip code (of course the first choice was my real zip code).  I didn't enter it and hung up.  When I called my bank, this morning, they confirmed that it was not one of their numbers and that it was most probably a scam to elicit personal financial information.  (they were somewhat unaware of this happening).  

The company I work for was also a victim of this scam, a week or so ago, as these scammers were able to mask their real phone number with our phone number for caller ID purposes.  Many people called in, from the caller ID, to find out what was going on (we would have never know about it otherwise).  The FBI is involved in trying to uncover these fraudulent dogs but said that the phone calls may be actually linking through as many as 2500 phone numbers, from all over the world,  before it finally gets to you.

People, this is real!  Tell everyone you care about, about this.  (The ones you don't care about, just blow it off.)

Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT punch in any information.  Call the bank, or the company that is displayed, and ask them if there is any unusual activity on your account that might warrant a call like this from them.  Additionally, always monitor your credit card statements for unfamiliar charges.  These charges may be from .01 to $10 or $15.  Most people may not notice these, or they are small enough that they don't get overly excited about these or forget to check on it. These are very small charges, but think about if you can scam $1 from 5 million people.....  These charges are run through a number of bogus merchant accounts. (see the list, to see if any of these appear on your statements http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/i ... cce8&rss_lnk=25

That's interesting. I called Wachovia and they said they did try to reach me. I call that same # back and it says "Hello, this is the Wachovia Fraud Prevention Department"

Same thing happened to me.  Received a call from 800 204 3814 and later checked the voicemail message that was left (did not answer call b/c I did not recognize the number).  Voicemail was a fake automated message from "my bank" saying there was an issue with my account ending in [insert real last 4 numbers of my acct here].  It asked me to call 800 204 3814 (thank you Danny M for posting...i googled the number and found a wealth of info in your post).  Thankfully, I already had my banks real phone number saved in my phone and immediately noticed that it did not match the number of the missed call.  I contacted my bank via their real number and not surprisingly found out that they did not phone me.  The phone rep said they never call customers, just FYI.  I then went online, inspected my acct and found several fraudulent charges.  Days later fraudulent international service charge fees continue to roll .  Card was canceled and I will get all my money back, but it's still incredibly annoying.

I've gotten the same call three times on 16 and 17 March. comes in ID'd as 800 service but the message says it's an important message from Wachovia and refers to my wife ATM card by the last four digits. Have contacted Wachovia to alert them to this (which they probly already know about it )

800-204-3814 is legitimate....I called and emailed Wachovia to verify... below is response from Wachovia rep....

Thank you for contacting Wachovia. My name is Tanisha G, and I am happy
to assist you.

I certainly understand your concern and apologize for your hold time
when you contacted us via telephone.

The phone number 800-204-3814 is legitimate and it is necessary to call
this number to verify recent ATM/Check Card transactions that posted to
your account. Regretfully, this department does not correspond via
e-mail. The phone number we have on file for your account is
--------------. Please enter this number when prompted in order to be
connected to our Fraud Prevention Department.

If you still experience difficulty calling the number above, please
contact our Loss Prevention Department at 800-359-8977 for assistance.

I appreciate your business and the opportunity to address your concerns.
Thank you for banking with Wachovia.

Sincerely,


Online Services Team
1-800-WACHOVIA (922-4684)