What should I do if I receive a phone call asking me for personal information?

What should I do if I receive a phone call asking me for personal information?

Robert Siciliano (Identity Theft Expert and CEO) gives expert video advice on: What are the most common phone scams used by identity thieves?; What should I do if I receive a phone call asking me for personal information? and more...

Even if someone calls you asking you for identifying information and you may feel it's a legitimate corporation - let's say it's your major credit card issuer, American Express for example - and they're calling you to say that your credit card's been compromised. We want to make sure that everything's up and up. I would hang up the phone, call the number on the back of your credit card and access an operator to find out if, in fact, that is actually the case. If the operator gives you a phone number to call, I wouldn't call that number because toll-free numbers, and any phone number, they can easily give you that number, it's all accessible. I would call the number on your credit card or at their website.