Credit Card Theft Again!

[kketterling]

Well it happened again. We are in Arizona vacationing and checked our checking account online and found a charge pending for $279 for electronics equipment from an online company out of Chicago. Needless to say we didn't make the charge and the bank will remove it. They had to deactivate my card and reissue me a new one. It's a pain but I understand why. I check our bank and credit card balances often, especially when traveling but this is the third time in about 5 years this has happened to me. The other thing is it's always my card not my wife's but I use mine more because I buy fuel and pay for meals.

I'm convinced that my info is being stolen by dishonest employees at businesses that I make purchases.

Outside of cutting up my card and carrying cash any suggestions on how to stop this?

[DSL417]

Walk with the employee to the station where they run the charge and watch them run the card, then get it back immediately is how I would avoid. I, too had it happen at a restaurant. Turned over to the sheriff to investigate it as a crime. Only one place and time it could have occurred. Hope they arrested them.

[lanerd]

We've had our discover card hijacked twice and have never figured out how it was done. Both times, the people at discover called us with what they thought was an invalid purchase.....how they know that, I don't know but sure am glad they do.

Our Visa, American Express and our other Discover card has never been compromised in all the years we've had them....only my wife's Discover card.

Ron

[Route 66]

I use my credit card as much as possible and rarely use my debit/check card.

If there is an unauthorized credit card charge, the bank just removes it as credit card protections are greater than debit/check cards. I haven't lost any money.

If your debit/check card is fraudulently used, then money has been removed from your account and it can take some time before the bank restores it.

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by kketterling

and pay for meals. I'm convinced that my info is being stolen by dishonest employees at businesses that I make purchases.

It is my belief this is the best place for the number to be stolen. The wait staff takes your card along with the bill and disappears for 5 minutes doing who knows what...maybe making a copy of the number... before returning with the card expecting a big tip. In my case, in January of last year they hit my card for $11,128.65 in 27 transactions at 7 CVS Pharmacy stores all within one hours time frame. Sounds like a gang hit the stores buying gift cards and cigarettes. They hit the stores when CVS's computers were backing up, thus no verification of the card back to VISA was ever done, and because of that no notification to me was ever done. I found out the next morning when I tried to use the card and found out it was maxed out. (yes, I still had the card in my possession so the thieves must have made a duplicate card with the cc number)

What to do? Well I'll tell you no one seems to care about the theft. Visa said call your bank, my credit union said "our insurance carrier will cover it" and CVS said "if the police call we will cooperate with them" and the police said "Those stores cover 3 police areas, and you need to file a report with each one of them and if by some chance we catch them, are you willing to come to New York City for the trial?".

I carry a spare card just for those times. When on assignment I can easily rack up $1800 per week in expenses covering hotels, food, gas, rental cars, tolls etc and I can't be without one.

[Route 66]

I too have 2 credit cards. One never leaves the house.

[Ed S]

This will not prevent but I have my credit card companies email me any time a purchase of over $200.00 is charged.

Wife had her wallet with check book stolen once. the thief wrote a check for a used car from a private party. Nice hey? Bank was able to track this rather easy.

[kketterling]

In some ways I like using the ATM/Credit card since the theft is limited by how much is in my checking account, which is usually not very much. That's also why I need to check it rather frequently. With a credit card they can run it up to the limit quickly and that can go into the thousands depending on your limit.

Either way I'm convinced the only way to control this is to vigilantly monitor your accounts and I refuse to pay an outside service like Lifelock.

[pagosajoe]

We bank with USAA. They have a very sophisticated surveillance system monitoring all credit card charges. Typically, credit card cretins will charge a very small amount to see if a card works before running up the big charges. That has happened to us three times in about 10 years, and USAA has nailed it immediately. They send us an email/text asking if the charges are legitimate. An email/text back to them, and the card is suspended. We've never lost a penny, thanks to their efficiency. We have a secondary card for use in situations such as this when our compromised card is suspended. USAA sends new cards overnight to replace them.

The real pain is having to go back to all the businesses we use and change the card numbers, especially the utility companies where we have an automatic payment set up.

It pays to monitor your accounts frequently...we do it daily, quickly and easily, with USAA's secure smartphone app.

[PyrateSilly]

It does not matter if the card never leaves your hands or eyes. The numbers and information can still be taken. Just look at what happened at Target, Neamen Marcus and the OTHER 5 or 6 businesses that refuse to name themselves. The information was stolen from when the person themselves swiped the cards at checkout. Target is bearing the brunt of the hurt but what about the other businesses that this happened to at the same time?
Thom has had his taken from a gas pump when he swiped his card. I've had mine taken at a 5 star hotel's bar.

So you wonder how to stop it? Right now Cash is king. Other than that the banks and other places that give out the cards need to step up and do what other countries are already doing. Micro chips instead of that magnetic strip. - Countries With The Most Card Fraud: U.S. And Mexico - Forbes

[KT4Wextra]

I have had fraudulent charges on my credit cards several times. One time it was a Sohio credit card. It was a minimart and the guy at the counter ran my card twice for the same amount. It was a fill up so there was no way I could have charged $30 worth of gas twice within a 2 minute span. I called Sohio and they immediately called the local police in the town it happened. The guy was arrested and had done the same thing to several others. He was pocketing the money and buying drugs with it. Naturally I was credited back the extra charge. I think his mother paid for the fraudulent charges and he didn't do any time for it. Not way I would have handled it. I would have let him sit in the pokey for a while.

I had charge from a transmission shop in North Carolina when I checked my statement. I hadn't been in North Carolina in over a year. The bank didn't hesitate and corrected the problem. I wasn't a theft but someone manually entered the wrong credit card number.

I like Discover card because they watch your account very closely and if there is a charge out of your normal purchasing habits they will call. I bought gas in Florida one time and I usually only purchased in Georgia. The wouldn't pay the charge until they determined it was legit. If you travel to places you don't normally go it is a good idea to contact the card company and give them a heads up of where you are traveling and when, especially if you go out of the country make sure they know it so save you some embarrassment. Several times I travelled out of state and when I got back Discover had left phone recordings wanting me to contact them about charges. Good for them, I like that.

I used to work for a dealer/installer of truck bodies and one of our customers charged a new truck body on his American Express card for about $16,000. American Express refused to authorize it when I called it in. The card was authorized for $30,000 in charges per day but this person usually purchased fuel and less costly items and American Express said NO because it was not part of his normal charging habits. The owner of the company that had the card called American Express and they still said no. As it turned out the guy that got the truck body had to put it on his personal credit card and it went through OK and then his company had to cut him a check for the amount.

Sometimes I may seem like the credit card companies are hassling you but it's all for your own protection so don't get upset when they question one of your charges.

[Bigd9]

That is the nice thing about using credit cards. You are totally protected. I wasn't out a dime. That same day I notified the Credit Union about the theft they conditionally credited the account for the full amount. I normally get called when there is a charge that looks out of place, but this time the thieves knew how to get around the system. In fact, my credit union blocks areas in this country, like the North East and others, due to higher incidences of theft. If I have to work in these areas, I simply call the credit union and have them "un-block" an area around my work assignment. If I have to travel out of the country, I call and get them to unblock the area I'm traveling to.

What really PO me was the total lack of concern for the theft. And a year and half later I'm still PO'd about it.

[road dogs]

Often credit card theft involves multiple purchases of less than $100. We were in NY visiting Niagara falls and got our cc card number lifted. The bank notified me of unusual charges, all around $90-$99, about six of them within 24 hours. Had to get a new card overnighted to us in West Memphis.

[tricotec]

Originally Posted by KT4Wextra

Sometimes I may seem like the credit card companies are hassling you but it's all for your own protection so don't get upset when they question one of your charges.

No, you are wrong about this. The law is squarely on your side when it comes to fraud. The government has implemented the laws basically saying "if you're going to make money issuing credit cards you are going to have the liability for fraudulent charges". If a card issuer validates the charge they are liable for the fraudulent charge... you aren't.

They all like to say they monitor the accounts for "your protection", but really they are doing it for their protection because THEY are liable...and only because the laws are written that way. If they weren't liable you can bet you'd be on your own and they wouldn't care a whit.