I had a text message on my phone from “department@visacards.com” with the message: Important VISA CARD notice:id-FF721 SUSPICIOUS AUTHORIZATION. TOLL FREE 8882275019.

Well, how nice of them to leave me a phone number! Except that isn’t the phone number of either of my Visa card issuers, but that’s just a minor detail.

I called Chase anyway (on their actual business number) to see if anyone else had gotten this message. The rep said he’d just gotten off the phone with another customer who’d also gotten the same message, and it definitely wasn’t from them. I also called PFCU to let them know what was going on (I have a Visa debit card through them) and they said it definitely wasn’t them, either, as they don’t use text messages.

The beauty of this scam is that they’re taking advantage of the fact that many card issuers have all sorts of mobile options, so you might not think it unusual to get a text message about your credit card, and the fact that it seems that no two issuers have the same procedures when it comes to fraud detection and notification.