Credit card fraud...

[AustinBoston]

I'm ticked.  Got a call from Visa..."This is a fraud alert call...have you been planning travel lately?"

Well, yes we have, but not using our Visa card..."No."

"We have many charges on your card.  Can you tell us about recent activity?"

"That card came out of the lock box last week...we charged xxx on yyy and zzz on www, I think that's it."

"How about aaa in the airport in Barcelona, Spain?"

"No way."

So a day or two before we took out that card, which had been under lock and key for years, someone who had been "sitting on" the number started using it.  We will need to see the statement to know the exact amount, but there have been thousands in fraudulent charges.

A quick check makes us believe our other cards are safe, and we will not have to pay for that stuff.  But it still ticks me off.  I hope the buzzard bottom dweller gets caught.

Austin

[GeneF]

Austin

Friend of mine had that happen on her card.  Someone was having a good time in Vegas to the tune of $7600.  

They figured what happened was her new cards were mailed to her.  She never received them so they were most likely intercepted through the mail.

Check the expiration date on your card.

[AustinBoston]

Austin

Friend of mine had that happen on her card.  Someone was having a good time in Vegas to the tune of $7600.  

They figured what happened was her new cards were mailed to her.  She never received them so they were most likely intercepted through the mail.

Check the expiration date on your card.

It's got another year.

The Visa fraud person thought it was a "sleeper" who sits on the numbers for a while before striking.

Austin

[Nemesis56]

Had something similar a few years ago.  Was out boating/camping for the weekend and fueled the boat up twice and at the same marina.  Sure enough when the statement came I was charged 6 times for fuel.  Disputed it and credit card company went after the owner of the marina.  Seems I wasn't the only one being triple billed.  Last I saw the place was shut down when we passed it by.   It was about 2 months of unneeded aggravation to get resolved.  Finally did get credit on the account.  Samething tho, just used one credit card for recreation.

[zamboni]

Several years ago, I was at Home Depot (a common thing for me!), and when I gave them my trusty Southwest Airlines credit card... it did not go through.  The lady said there was an "alert" on it, and would not give it back to me.

She called the number on her screen.  After a few moments, she handed the phone to me.  The folks talked to me - I believe it was FirstUSA (at the time).  They asked if I had made any computer purchases from Asia.  I replied I had not.  They said my card appears to have been compromised.

After answering a couple of security questions, including my last local purchases, they authorized my current transaction, and over-nighted 2 new cards for me (wife & I).

Exactly zero extra dollars appeared on my account.  I was damn impressed.  Sure, it was an inconvenience to have to update all my auto-billing (cell phone, etc), but relatively painless in the grand scheme of things.

I am not sure how their flagging software works, but I am impressed with it.  Since then, twice, I have had a call at home asking me to confirm specific purchases for that day.  Apparently, one "trigger" situation is to buy a new cell phone (for my wife) and then purchase a sizable amount of liquor (big backyard BBQ coming up)!  (the other was a bizarre-ly large amount of online purchases in one day)

[aw738]

I've not had any trouble but my boss has on two occasions. The last time someone purchased $500 worth of collector postage stamps and a large amount of flowers online. The flowers is what raised the flag with the credit card company. The odd thing was that whoever ordered the stamps had them sent to my bosses house.  :confused:  He was able to send them back.

[campertime]

Happened to a friend of mine. He didn't even know, but somebody got his soc # and charged up a GOOD life. They opened multiple credit card accounts and bought a Lexus & BMW. He found out when the repo man showed up at his house and asked for the beamer. :yikes:

You have to be careful when you get phone calls like this. Some of the calls are actually scams. When they start asking you questions and telling you what's going on they are drawing you in. They then ask for the 4 digit security code on the back of your card. Shocked and helpless most people give the code without verifying who the caller really is. If this happens you should get the persona name and contact info and tell them you don't have the card with you. You then call them back by dialing the number on the back of the card and tell them you were contacted by their fraud dept. It's the only way to find out if the call is ligitimate.

It's terrible that people do these things. I hope you get through it okay and the call wasn't a scam. My buddy's credit is really screwed up and it caused some havoc with his credit. He always has to worry about it because you only get one soc #, and nobody knows if or when the *&%*#& will try again.

[AustinBoston]

You have to be careful when you get phone calls like this. Some of the calls are actually scams. When they start asking you questions and telling you what's going on they are drawing you in.

PJay took the call, but that went through my head at the time.  They told us to call the number on the back of the card to verify.

They then ask for the 4 digit security code on the back of your card.

Asking for anything beyond our names would have sent off alarm bells.  This was not our first exposure to CC fraud.  The first one was less than $100, but it taught us to watch and think...

Austin

[Techrangerbrad]

As a person who travels extensively for business and uses credit cards, I have to say I have been quite impressed with American Exrpress' oversight with my card.  Twice they have called me up, to verify that it was me using the cards.

Once on a trip from Porltand - San Fran - Seattle - Boston all on the same day.  I had charged at all four places so that must have set off some bells.  It did cause some embaressment as at the hotel the card declined.

Another on a trip to Santiago, Chile by way of Mexico City.  I had charged something in Mexico City and when I got to Santiago, my card again declined, but this time I new the drill.

On a side note, if you are planning international travel and also planning on using a credit card, be sure to call the company ahead of time to let them know it is you.  It will save you some time for sure.

[kimrb266]

That call from the so called credit card company may have been the fraud.  There was something on the news a while back talking about this scam.  They make it sound lagit and then they ask if you have the card in your possession.  You tell them "yes" and then they ask for that 3 or 4 digit # on the back.  They say that's correct.  You thank them for alerting you and hang up.  What just happened you gave them that "special code" and now they can charge up a storm without any problem.

I actually had this happen with us before I heard of this scam.  He knew where DH purchased from and told me that they were concerned of our recent activity.  He asked if I had the card near by and I told him no that dh had it with him and thanked him for checking.   I didn't think anything about it until I heard the alert on the news.  
 
If this happens again, call the credit card company confirm that the call is legit.  I wouldn't give any personal information to anyone that I didn't contact.

[Jestercat]

My parents had something similar to this happen recently ....

My Dad (who lives in Ontario) bought an old collector car in British Columbia.  He flew out,took possesion and then drove home.

He was 3 days into the drive, when my Mom got a call from their credit card company asking about several "abnormal purchases".  They had flagged the account because of several gas purchases and meals spread out over many miles.

Right after hanging up, she then got a call from Dad, asking her to call the credit card company and confirm he was able to continue using the card - he was stuck in a small hick town, trying to convince the teenager who took his card for payment that he wasn't some sort of crook!  (the old 1970 car he bought could have lookd suspicious to the kid I guess).

I can imagine this happens quite a bit with commercial travellers too.

[Rich_D]

Similar story here. I was both impressed and ticked at Visa. Took off on our west coast trip from Toronto, and on day 3 my card was declined just outside of Winnipeg.

This caused some consternation, as I had the rest of the trip out west and back to do, but I had a backup card, and 1 call to Visa from my cell got the card reactivated. The pattern of 2 gas fillups a day had set the bells off (and I found out that when you stick your card in the pump, it authorises $100, then corrects once the fillup is complete. So there were a lot of $100 authorisations on the account)

The only thing they did wrong (which ticked me) was they did call my house to check if it was me using, but of course got no answer!!  Guess i'll have to check the machine at home while travelling next time.


Bottom line is - Call the CC company and tell them in advance if planning travel!

[ScouterMom]

I got a call from my CC company, also, recently.  really surprised, as I'm very careful about the few cards I have - one I use exclusively for online purchases, one for gas & 'large stuff' - (it has really low interest, offers extended warranties and points, etc - use it for electronics and anything I won't pay off right away)  I got a call from the company first asking if I had charged anything to the 'University of South Carolina'. I replied 'no', and they gave ME, my info (name, address, etc)  They asked me to confirm the expiration date - and  as above, I asked 'how do I know you are really my credit co?  and they told me to call the number that appeared on my card.  The Service rep gave me his name and ext #, which could be reached from their 800 number.  

I called them back, got the same guy, he asked if my Exp date was XX, XXXX - I said yes, and he told me that was what tipped them off - the fraudulent charge had the wrong exp date! also, that they could see my 'spending habits' and this charge did not fit - so they felt it was better to call.  I'm extremely gratefull they did.  They sent me new cards immediately, and assisted in transferring my 'auto pays' from the old account to the new.

Another thing to check is your KIDS Soc security numbers.....

I work for a retailer, where many teens get their first 'real' jobs - we do background checks, and you would be amazed a the number of kids I have come up with that have NEVER used their SS cards, who find upon a search, that someone else has been using their number for years!  Think about it - if a criminal gets a number when the kid is a baby - they have 16 yrs or more to use it with no one catching on!

[AustinBoston]

I work for a retailer, where many teens get their first 'real' jobs - we do background checks, and you would be amazed a the number of kids I have come up with that have NEVER used their SS cards, who find upon a search, that someone else has been using their number for years!  Think about it - if a criminal gets a number when the kid is a baby - they have 16 yrs or more to use it with no one catching on!

I've seen enough to know a fair number of teens who find their SSN has been used fraudulently have been ripped off by their deadbeat parent(s).  Even if one of the parents is responsible, the other (often long ago divorced) will use the child's SSN to mask their real identity.

One woman I once thought I knew ruined (temporarily) the credit history of herself, her ex husband, both of her living children, the estate of her dead son, the adult children of her deceased live-in boyfriend, her brother, and her elderly mother.  Most of what she did was to use the identity of these people to get disconnected utilites turned back on in someone else's name, (most utilites do not go on your credit report) but she took out quite a few credit cards and personal loans as well.

Austin

[robpoe]

I lost my wallet at the local 7-11 (only place it could have been - I had it there, left in a hurry because of a growing disturbance, didn't have it the next day).

Called the CC companies, and the bank (2 credits and a check card) and they'd already tried to use the 2 credit cards to make pre-paid phone purchases, and used the bank card to fill the gas tank of two vehicles (a 45 and a 60 dollar purchase, same gas station, about 20 mins apart.

Had to deal with all of that, but once it was dealt with, everything seems ok.  They have my driver's license, it doesn't have my SS # on it, so they'd have a hard time with that..