Evidently buying a plane ticket for Thanksgiving and then signing up for Google AdWords (to use a free credit) within 3 days of each other is frowned upon by Capital One. At least I used Skype to call their 800 number and saved myself 20 minutes on our cell phone plan (more time for my wife to talk on the phone). And they give good rewards, so I can’t complain too much.

What scares me a little bit, though, is that they didn’t have a phone number on file for me. Yes, I did just change it recently to my Google Voice number since we’ve decided to cancel our landline, but I got a confirmation email that it had been changed, so it’s worrisome that it wasn’t showing up.

What scares me more is that though they didn’t have a number on file, someone who was “from the Capital One Fraud Department” called my Google Voice number and left a message with a different 800 number to call. I checked that number on 800notes.com (cool site, btw), and it seemed to be split about whether it was a scam or a real number. I called a number from Capital One’s website and got through to their Fraud Department, verified charges, and got back access to my card, but I am still wondering if that person who called my GV number was really from Capital One or if The Scammers have figured out a way to know when your account has been held up for fraud and use that as an “in” to get you to give them all your information.

It’s not frightening to me on a personal level because, as you can see from my story, I am not about to call someone back who says they’re from a credit card company (or bank or any other financial institution) without checking the number and going to the company’s web site first. But I am scared for all the people who are more trusting (and/or worried about their credit and credit card fraud) and will call that number back without hesitation.