In this age of endless spam and scam calls, I don’t pick up my phone for anyone unless I recognize the number.
Which is why, when my friendly neighborhood Bay Area credit union called, I picked right up. I’ve learned from painful personal experience that when the credit union is calling, there’s usually a fraud issue, and the sooner it’s dealt with the better.
What I didn’t know, but gradually learned over the course of the half hour phone call, was that the person on the other end of the line was not actually a helpful employee from the credit union. He was a scammer who was using every tool in his arsenal to take control of my bank account.