Just a few months ago, my colleague Matt suggested only giving out your credit card to people you call – not who call you.
Now the San Francisco Chronicle reports about a scam that makes it necessary to take this advice with a grain of salt:
"A fraudster contacts an AT&T service rep and says he works at a pizza parlor and that the phone is having trouble. Until things get fixed, he requests that all incoming calls be forwarded to another number, which he provides.
Pizza orders are thus routed by AT&T to the fraudster’s line. When a call comes in, the fraudster pretends to take the customer’s order but says payment must be made in advance by credit card. "
Perhaps the trick here is to ask lots of questions about the pizza you’re ordering. If the person helping you gets tripped up, be suspicious. If they can tell you right away "half mushroom and pepperoni, half veggie combo thick crust with extra pineapple is $18.99," they’re probably the real deal.
It is an idea. Or we can ask them about the dough, what does it contain or what kind it is.