Last Friday, when the phone rang, the caller I.D. read Barclay Bank. Uh-oh. That’s not good.

Barclay Bank is synonymous with only one thing for me – my MasterCard. The only time any credit card company has ever called on the phone was to inform me of fraudulent activity.

The last time that happened, I was visiting New York City. My best friend had treated me to a delightful theater matinee. Returning to the parking garage, I handed my charge card to the attendant for their exorbitant fee. Ginger and I chatted while he took my card to the office for the transaction. I never thought a thing about it as he handed me the card and the receipt.

I returned home, happily tired from my busy mini-vacation. Before 6 a.m. the next morning, the bedside phone rang. “This is Chase Bank calling. May I speak to Marcy O’Brien?”

When I nervously confirmed that I was she, the agent asked if I had purchased two round trip tickets from New York to Santiago, Chile. Yesterday.

Gulp. “No, absolutely not.”

He then asked if I had purchased two computers in Newark, or two pieces of jewelry from Barcelona. “The total is over $8,800. You did not make any of these purchases?” All I could say was a horrified no. When I explained my last usage of the card, everything made sense. My card information obviously went home to New Jersey with the parking attendant. All purchases were from the same location. I was stunned at the brazen size of the hack.

The agent explained cancellation of my card and reissuing its replacement. “We will overnight the new card. When you receive it, in addition to activating it, please change your password.” NO PROBLEM! That was the third time I came close to disaster were it not for those vigilant fraud departments.

Fast forward to last Friday. I was anxious but grateful when the caller identified himself as the fraud department with Barclay Bank. “Did you purchase a washer and dryer for $799 in Vancouver, British Columbia?” I assured him I had not. “When did you last use your card?” After I told him, he read my last seven transactions, and could I verify that each were mine? I thought, OK, this guy has my account on the screen in front of him. He was very professional, used all the correct language – “transactions, statements, reissue.” He verified my account number and didn’t ask for dates or code numbers.

I opened my computer, logging into my MasterCard account. As he read the location and amount of each transaction, I actually felt comfortable as he relayed the accurate information.

And then … “Oh, Ms. O’Brien, it looks like your other account may also have been compromised.” He sounded sympathetic. I replied that I didn’t have another account with Barclay Bank.

“No, this is your Visa debit card with Northwest Bank. Someone, also in Canada, is trying to charge $2,250 to your account. Is your debit card in your possession?” My red flag started flapping.

I said, “I’m sorry, I do not understand how you could possibly know anything about my debit card with Northwest Bank.” I started feeling hot.

He sorta laughed. “My apologies. We say that we represent the bank with the illegal transaction we are tracking. But actually, we are a fraud clearing house employed by 60 of the largest banks in the country.” He then read off my debit card number followed by, “Your account shows the last six numbers of your social, and the first three numbers are 187, correct?”

I replied, “NO, it’s actually 178.” As soon as I closed my mouth, I felt a small bomb explode in my brain. You idiot. How could you have fallen for that? But he had the last six numbers. Huh???? And he kept talking, bamboozling me in THE smoothest, most professional manner I’d ever heard. Plus, “This party in Canada is continuing to present the $2,250 charge for verification.”

When he offered to use a monitoring app to log onto my bank account with me, I said “Under no circumstances. Goodbye.” Click.

He didn’t call back. I called the telephone number he used. The man answered, “Barclay Bank technical, this is Marco.” When I asked for fraud, he explained that yes, I had reached Barclay, but their tech department phone number was often used by scammers pretending to work for the fraud department. I thanked him and immediately called the number on my card.

Everything went well – new card on the way, overnight. I drove directly to Northwest to secure everything. I notified the local police, the federal identity theft website, and Social Security. Those scumbags don’t have my money, but they have my SS number. I will be monitoring all my credit activity for many moons in the future.

I honestly thought this couldn’t happen to me. Fuggedaboudit. It can happen to any of us. These guys are good. Knowledgeable, slick, friendly, and “on your side.” The side where you keep your $$$.

Please beware. And be careful out there, friends.

Marcy O’Brien writes from Warren, Pa.