"New" Credit Card Scam. Don't Say You Weren't Told.

Aint' she sweet?

Alan: Whenever you are approached by ANYONE asking for personal information -- either directly or by steering you to a website that looks TOTALLY legitimate -- do not engage the "caller" or "emailer" in conversation.

Similarly, do not visit any website the caller or emailer recommends.

Just ask the name of company or government agency s/he represents and then contact your local library to get the phone number of that company or government agency from a trusted source.

If you engage the caller or emailer in conversation, s/he will spin a yarn that has remarkable capability to "suck you in" NO MATTER HOW SMART YOU THINK YOU ARE.

DO NOT FALL PREY TO ANY SENSE OF URGENCY promoted by the caller or emailer. Real companies and real government agencies do not act urgently. 

There is always time to contact your local library. 
Here's Snopes' review of the credit card scam that brought this issue to my attention. http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp