COB fraud:Â Change of billing address fraud is a dirty trick used by financial scammers. Worse yet, this type of scam is on the rise.
Here’s how it works: the billing address of a cardholder is changed by a crook who calls or contacts a financial institution electronically so that purchases made with a stolen credit card or bank account can be delivered to the thief. If you notice that you’re not getting items that you’ve ordered, this could be the first sign that a hacker has taken over your online account and gone to town.
Consequently, some retailers are using transaction-scoring software such as ID Analytics, which provides risk-management technology. This software makes online merchants aware of suspicious transactions. Some red flags include changes to account information or identifiers such as IP addresses and account numbers that have been associated with online fraud.
If you think you might be the victim of this type of scam, contact your bank immediately. You certainly don’t want to finance a fraudster’s lifestyle. Since this qualifies as mail fraud, also contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to file a formal complaint.