Community Forums

duramax · 06-22-2009, 08:43 AM

I am currently traveling in Texas from Florida. My visa was flagged as fraudulent by Wallmart when I attempted to purchase items worth $128.00. I contacted my bank and they stated that Wallmart does this because of the large amount of fraud at their stores. I was advised to notify my banks credit department that I would be traveling and which states I might visit. I am so glad that I have 2 none related cards for backup or I could have been stuck on the road without a way to pay for fuel and food.

RustyJC · 06-22-2009, 09:16 AM

Why would WalMart flag the card as fraudulent unless the charge was denied by the credit card issuer? That would normally be done by your credit card issuer's (i.e., Visa, MasterCard, etc.) security department. The only other situation I could envision would be if there were some identity questions when the card was presented.

I had my MasterCard's number stolen while we were on vacation this year and didn't find out until we returned home and I attempted to pay my motorcycle insurance premium on line with it - the card was rejected. I called the 800 number on the back of the card to find out why. It turns out that someone had tried to order over $2K worth of sports equipment on line and gave a ship-to address in New York (we live in Texas). This transaction was caught by the MasterCard security department, and they put a lockdown on my card and told the on-line vendor that this appears to be a fraudulent charge. After a brief discussion to verify my identity and that I had not made the charge, they issued me a new card with a new number.

Rusty

FatDog · 06-22-2009, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyJC

Why would WalMart flag the card as fraudulent unless the charge was denied by the credit card issuer? That would normally be done by your credit card issuer's (i.e., Visa, MasterCard, etc.) security department. The only other situation I could envision would be if there were some identity questions when the card was presented........

Rusty

No, it is happening the way duramax described. It happened to me to, but thru a diff card. The credit card companies are all under a huge pressure to tighten up and deny purhases that are 'different'. And in duramax's case it was probably WalMart Financial not WalMart who denied but at the store check-out line it appears the same to the purchaser.

I have had the same bank's Visa card for 20 years, large line, zero balance but use the card a lot. It was denied at an Apple Computer store in my home zipcode area for a smallish purchase ($750). I used another card but called them when I got home. They said the card had been "reported stolen" but I had never made such a call. So i asked to speak to her manager and that manager told me that it 'technically had never been reported stolen' but that they are just now mandated by management to show different patterns of caution similar to what the airport screeners show ... checking and denying and probing with different patterns.
I was upset and told them they should have asked for me to be put on the phone and asked for my secret data, to not just arbitrarily deny.
They said that they would 'put a note to that effect in my profile.' yea sure.

RustyJC · 06-22-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatDog

I have had the same bank's Visa card for 20 years, large line, zero balance but use the card a lot. It was denied at an Apple Computer store in my home zipcode area for a smallish purchase ($750). I used another card but called them when I got home. They said the card had been "reported stolen".....

That's what I said - the charge was denied by the credit card issuer, not the merchant.

Rusty

TXiceman · 06-22-2009, 10:50 AM

We have on a couple of occasions had the card denied, but all it takes is a phone call and it is pretty automated now to get the charge allowed. Also had a call once about a charge that that was not in our normal spending pattern or location. Someone was trying to charge some stuff in California and we are based near Houston. Got new cards issued over this.

I would much prefer to have this slight inconvenience than the alternative. I question telling them that you will be away from home. They could well be a part of a gang that passes information to their thieves and hit homes where people are away.

Ken

FatDog · 06-22-2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman

...... I question telling them that you will be away from home. They could well be a part of a gang that passes information to their thieves and hit homes where people are away.
Ken

I absolutely agree with not being comfortable with giving a stranger my detailed travel plans. Won't do it.

But Rusty, what i thought duramax's original point was was that for seemingly no good reason the card was denied. It is the card's financial institutuon that does the actual verifying and potential denying, but when there is absolutely no funny business going on, and no bad guy has tried to use that card's number, the Visa cards are still going to start being denied more often, even if within the card's past comfort zone. Like my long time trusted partner CitiBank explained to me ... part of the situation they now find themselves in.

RustyJC · 06-22-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatDog

But Rusty, what i thought duramax's original point was was that for seemingly no good reason the card was denied. It is the card's financial institutuon that does the actual verifying and potential denying, but when there is absolutely no funny business going on, and no bad guy has tried to use that card's number, the Visa cards are still going to start being denied more often, even if within the card's past comfort zone. Like my long time trusted partner CitiBank explained to me ... part of the situation they now find themselves in.

From the thread title and the first post (see below), the allegation was that WalMart was the guilty culprit. That was my point - the merchant typically isn't the one behind the denial.

Quote:

My Visa was flagged as fraudulent by Walmart when I attempted to purchase items worth $128.00. I contacted my bank and they stated that Walmart does this because of the large amount of fraud at their stores.

I rather suspect in this case that the Visa security department has locked it down because a Florida resident is making purchases in Texas. A phone call to Visa security (not the issuing bank) might well rectify the situation.

Rusty

Route 66 · 06-22-2009, 11:53 AM

My credit card was flagged once because I was traveling and the charging pattern had changed.

The credit card company saw charges in various states vs my normal charges in my home state.

I had the Credit card company note on my account that I was a fulltime traveler and charges would appear from various states.

Problem solved.

jaxfl69 · 06-22-2009, 12:22 PM

I call my card company and tell them I will be overseas and from when to when. I is not nice to try and pay for the hotel in Asia or Europe and have all you card turned down because they think they are stolen.

Toby · 06-22-2009, 01:49 PM

Duramax and others

IMHO, you should be VERY grateful that someone is looking out for you. Believe me untangling the mess that someone using your credit history to charge stuff is a bear to untangle. Whats a little phone call to keep things straight. BTW, all Credit cards do this. Any change in your spending habits or locations will trigger a response usually. I feel much better that thay have these kind of checks in place. The suggestion of calling your Credit cards ahead of time is a very good idea. Nor do I consider this to be BIG BROTHER issue.

If a thief gets away with ordering stuff in your name, If its under $10,000, and the Credit card invesgative unit gets involved, My local Sheriffs Dept said forget about an arrest. The crooks cross States lines and know all the loop holes that keep them in business. So again IMHO. its best to stop it up front.

BTW, it was 102 here yesterday. Man I wish I could be on the road and get a little cool. s/Toby

Jim Stewart · 06-22-2009, 03:21 PM

My DW and I do not travel extensively yet (retiring in December). We have had people steal our credit card number 4 times in the last 5 years. The total fraudulent charges were in excess of $30,000.00. In all cases the fraud was found by the credit card company prior to our knowledge. In addition, the credit card company has put a hold on our cards 3 separate times, in all cases it was for weird (as determined by their computer patterns) transactions of larger amounts in various places across the country. Their system sees an INTERNET purchase in California as a California transaction and not a Florida transaction where we live and made the purchased from. Several transactions in a row over a few hours is guaranteed to trigger the hold event.

Our credit card bill runs about $4-$5K a month and we use two different cards to keep them both active. I have one and my DW has one. Neither of us can remember what we bought much less what the other one charged. Having two cards with a reasonable limit is a must today based on the credit card company practice of putting cards on hold. It is a way of life today and is probably going to get worse before it gets better.

The good news is we never had to pay a penny for the fraudulent charges even though we do not carry the insurance (many people do not know that they are not responsible for fraudulent charges even without the bogus insurance they try to sell you). The bad news is the computer programs are going to be flagging more and more events and we just have to learn how to deal with it.

read & learn · 06-22-2009, 03:57 PM

We also had a problem with WalMart with our card. Our Credit Card Co. told us that if we use our card in WalMart more than once within a set period of time and totals more than $100 the 2nd purchased will be denied by WalMart.
What we do now is if one of us is going to check out we call the other and check out together.

W4RLR · 06-22-2009, 10:10 PM

I have a better solution. I pay cash. I haven't had a purchase made with cash declined yet!

UFO Pilot · 06-22-2009, 10:16 PM

AS stated previously by another poster, we now notify our credit card companies when we are going out of state. We had a card denied in AZ and another card denied in Canada last year. It only took a phone call to each company to verify our identity and to inform them we were out of California. The funny thing is, neither one is really a credit card but they are processed as such.