Credit Chip Scam & IRS Phone Scam – Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 | Delmarvalife

There are new credit cards with new anti-fraud technology or “smart chips” that you insert into a reader for the whole transaction.

Smart Chip Cards:

“Dipping”-leaving the card in the reader
No special wallet
You can just ask for a replacement card if you don’t have one
Stores were urged to switch to the new card reader by October 1st

If a merchant doesn’t have a new chip card enabled reader and a customer comes in tomorrow with a new chip card, the merchant could be liable for any potential fraud.

This new card will help combat “cloning”, which is when someone takes the transaction code and information from the magnetic strip on credit cards.

Research shows that about 60% of credit card holders still have not received their new smart chip cards in the mail so scammers have found another way to steal the information, and they are targeting our inboxes. The scammers are sending emails from fake accounts claiming to be our credit card companies and asking for our information as verification to send the new smart chip cards. If you’re not sure if an email is legitimate, just call the number on the back of your credit card for more information.

The smart chip prevents people from stealing transaction codes because it only creates one-time use transaction codes for every separate transaction. So, if someone stole your transaction code it wouldn’t matter because it only worked that one time.

Some scammers are using a phony number to pose as IRS agents claiming that people owe money. They calls sounds convincing and the people may even know a lot about you.

Sara Riley, businesswoman, received 3 scam IRS phone calls but knew they were all fake and reported them. The IRS will always contact you in writing and will never call out of the blue.

5 Ways to Spot IRS Scam (www.IRS.gov):