Jeannie in NJ Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 we have a credit card that is almost at the limit so we have not been using it for a while. Well cc company said that someone used it for 8 charges online today and was currently at a grocery store trying to use it. They canceled the card . Looks like it will be taken care of. I went online and sure enough the charges started today with small amounts and then increased . Since the charges were for all online orders (except the grocery store) cc company was able to cancel all the online orders and declined the grocery store charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Where did they get the info? I'd be snooping that out next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I would also put the card on alert. There is also a way of doing this for any credit checks. We had some money stolen from our account and we set it up so that for the following 6 months any time someone ran a credit check or tried to use one of our CC's for a purchase over a certain amount, we had to be called and verbally approve it with our security code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Our company just called us and reported someone buying kindergarten curriculum with our card. HUH??? Our babies are 18. Card canceled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I had my card stopped twice last week due to suspected fraudulent activity. I thought they were being a little over-zealous and felt rather annoyed, but apparently something strange happened when I bought a Groupon to subscribe to Fresh20 and that caused them concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We had this happen recently also. I'm fairly sure that my purchase of a few personalized items (2 separate companies, I won't name them) led to the fraud. I know because of the way I listed our names on those particular transactions. We were alerted by a call from the company where the card was being used. Someone was purchasing a very expensive juicer and having it shipped to another address as a gift. Something about the transaction made the store clerk call us, thank goodness. It was odd, but we were able to call the cc company and have the card canceled and reissued. What a pain. (By the way, the company that alerted us to the fraud was a large, gourmet cooking utensil company, that will always have my gratitude!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoNative Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 This has happened twice in the last year with my AMEX. First time, someone bought an expensive camera lens and it was shipped to me...that was a laugh. The second time, someone tried to sign up with match.com. My husband got a laugh over that one...:001_smile: Both times, the credit card company e-mailed/called to verify charges. I'm glad they have systems in place to catch such things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We've had to cancel and change our cc twice in the last year. The first time was after a call from the local police - our number, along with many others, was on a list found at a drug house they raided. The officer wasn't certain where they got the number (with name, expiration, and CVC code) but noted that it is sometimes traced to an employee at a restaurant. You know how they take your card to go run your bill? Yep, they can copy all the info while they have the card in hand. The other time the credit card company called to ask about 2 online I-Tunes charges. Why they called on them I'll never know - we do order many things online, including electronics related items, and these particular charges were not large. None the less it was flagged, we were called, had no knowledge of the charges, and they were rejected, while we got a new card. I love the convenience of cc, but there are so many avenues for fraud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 The officer wasn't certain where they got the number (with name, expiration, and CVC code) but noted that it is sometimes traced to an employee at a restaurant. You know how they take your card to go run your bill? Yep, they can copy all the info while they have the card in hand. Actually, in this day and age, they don't copy down your information, they swipe it electronically. Most credit card processing companies charge lower merchant fees on swiped transactions than on manually entered ones. For one, it is cheaper for both the merchant and the processor. Second, it actually lowers the fraud risk because the card has to be in hand to swipe, which means the customer usually gave it to someone to do it. Manually entering lots of numbers in a point-of-sale business often makes fraud departments rather twitchy. That is not to say someone isn't capturing the cc information when they go back to the servers' station. The only way to not let your card out of your sight is for them to bring the card swiper to the table. If there is only one at the servers' station, that isn't going to happen. It is up to restaurant managers to monitor activity at the servers' stations to make sure nothingun toward is happening. Even so, it is relatively easy (and cheap) to purchase a swiper to capture cc information for fraudulent purposes. I have had a couple incidents where there was fraudulent activity, but it usually was someone overseas just trying out the card with tiny purchases. My cc company caught it right away. I actually have more issues with them being too vigilant. Once, I couldn't use my regular card at my local grocery store because earlier that day, my husband paid for a bunch of scouts to go bowling at a rained out campout in Wisconsin. I didn't like having to use my business card to buy a week's worth of groceries. More often (at least once or twice a year) fraud happened in the universe somewhere and I get a new card number and have to update every autopay account out there. Usually, it is the case where a merchant I have shopped in the past had gotten hacked so my credit card company sends me a new card just in case. Unfortunately, I my first clue that this happens is when my card gets declined on something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 we have a credit card that is almost at the limit so we have not been using it for a while. Well cc company said that someone used it for 8 charges online today and was currently at a grocery store trying to use it. They canceled the card . Looks like it will be taken care of. I went online and sure enough the charges started today with small amounts and then increased . Since the charges were for all online orders (except the grocery store) cc company was able to cancel all the online orders and declined the grocery store charge. Glad they caught it. This happened to us once too. A company called me and wanted to know if I had recently purchased several thousand dollars worth of computer equipment. Um, no. They thought it was a bit fishy, so they called me to confirm it, and we were able to block the transaction. Weird, though, and I have no idea how they got our cc information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 we had put this card away a few months ago and the only charges are a couple of monthly charges ie local newspaper, onstar and i tunes. Also what is weird is that the transaction that cc company called me about was at a local grocery store. Doesn't the person have to actually have the card to charge at grocery stores? The first 7 charges they made today were online stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 we had put this card away a few months ago and the only charges are a couple of monthly charges ie local newspaper, onstar and i tunes. Also what is weird is that the transaction that cc company called me about was at a local grocery store. Doesn't the person have to actually have the card to charge at grocery stores? The first 7 charges they made today were online stores. The same way it's not that expensive to swipe the card to capture the information, it's not hard to encode a blank card to contain all the information - essentially creating a duplicate. Sometimes hackers access the financial data in a store's computer system (or possibly IT employees), going months back, and create hundreds of duplicate cards to use. If it's only a handful of people working the fraud scheme, it could take them months to charge things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 (edited) That happened to us days before Chriistmas a few years ago. My dh had purchased a some food items at a market, but in his hurry, he left his credit card at the store register. Someone picked it up and went on a rampage in a very short period of time. My dh wasn't even back home from running his errand when the CC co called about 'unusual activity'. In a matter of 30 minutes, maybe 40, the stolen card had been used to buy thousands of dollars worth of goods at Best Buy, and then Toys R Us. The CCC forgave it all and cancelled the card. I always hoped whoever stole it made their children very happy that year. They never caught the folks. Edited September 6, 2012 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiMomNP Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We have had our cards hit 3 times in the past month. My husband once and me twice. My husband got hit for $900 which they refunded, but it took 3 weeks. My bank caught it immediately and cancelled the card both times, it took several days to get a new card though. Scary stuff. My local branch told me this is happening all the time now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 That happened to days before Chriistmas a few years ago. My dh had purchased a few items at a market, but in his hurry, he left his credit card at the store register. Someone picked it up and went on a rampage in a very short period of time. My dh wasn't even back home from running his errand, before the CC co called about 'unusual activity'. In a matter of 30 minutes, maybe 40, the stolen card had been used to buy thousands of dollars worth of goods at Best Buy, and then Toys R Us. When I was in college I left my purse behind in a dressing room. My mom insisted on paying for my clothing so I didn't notice my missing purse. When we went to the car I realized I didn't have my keys and went back to the dressing room. When I couldn't find my purse the manager let me call the bank and cancel the card. Total elapsed time was maybe 15 minutes. The thieves went to the auto supply store next door and had a field day. I'm sure these days it would have been flagged because it would have been unusual for my spending patterns, but this was circa 1990. They must have had the most tricked out car in LA, which was saying a lot. Thieves -----> :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I recently had to cancel a card after someone in England tried to use mine for three online purchases. I did not use this card for online purchases at all nor did I use it in England last year. I also do not do online banking at home. (Dh does it at work where the system is supposed to be safer.) Somehow someone got the info, and after looking into it, apparently I wasn't the only victim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi3129 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 The same way it's not that expensive to swipe the card to capture the information, it's not hard to encode a blank card to contain all the information - essentially creating a duplicate. Sometimes hackers access the financial data in a store's computer system (or possibly IT employees), going months back, and create hundreds of duplicate cards to use. If it's only a handful of people working the fraud scheme, it could take them months to charge things. Yep. This happened to us a couple weeks ago. We got a call from our bank's fraud department about four transactions for gas at different Sam's Clubs in Florida. Altogether it was almost $400. They had to have made a card to have done this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi3129 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 My local branch told me this is happening all the time now. Ours told me that they are not accepting PIN-less (is that a word?!) transactions out of Florida anymore because there is so much fraudulent activity there. They suggested calling the bank ahead of time if we're planning to travel to Florida so they'll know any card usage is probably legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 We got a call once--seems that we were buying Chinese food in Annapolis, the same day dd was buying Chinese food at home and oldest dd was buying Chinese food in MI! I guess we were all hungry for Chinese at the same time. I'm glad they called. :lol: :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 One of my progeny bought a relatively expensive electronics item online this past year, and before the CC would approve the transaction and give an authorization for the purchase, they called us to make sure that we had authorized the purchase. I asked if they routinely flagged that item, and the lady said no, only when the item is being shipped to a different address than the billing address. OMgoodness, we had tripped one of their flags, but both unwittingly and legitimately. I was glad to know there are flags! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 We got a call once--seems that we were buying Chinese food in Annapolis, the same day dd was buying Chinese food at home and oldest dd was buying Chinese food in MI! I guess we were all hungry for Chinese at the same time. :lol: That tickled me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 This past July we had our AMEX card number stolen twice in the space of three weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I can't even count how many times this has happened to me.:glare: twice this summer alone. :cursing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Both of our cards have been hit for fraudulent charges and both times the cc company called us. We also had one of those cards reissued automatically when a bill processor of theirs got hacked and they just automatically canceled a whole bunch of cards and reissued them. I had no idea what happened that time until we called because the card was declined. I have found that one of our cc cards really doesn't like Discount Tire. I've had to buy tires 3 times over the past several years (two different vehicles) and every time the cc that I primarily use has declined the charge and I've had to call them and verify that it really was me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I am glad this system is in place, sort of knowing their is someone looking out for you. When we moved to Iowa and started using our card here it was blocked..the cc company knew we lived in Louisiana and seeing all the Iowa activity put an alert on it...they thought it was stolen. Quick phone call and it was taken care of. They were even apologetic, I told them not to be, it was better safe then a big sorry later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Our company just called us and reported someone buying kindergarten curriculum with our card. HUH??? Our babies are 18. Card canceled. THAT freaks me out! Homeschooling is still a small subset population, relatively speaking. Now I'm going to worry more about the security of my hs purchases! :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I am glad this system is in place, sort of knowing their is someone looking out for you. Well, they're really looking out for themselves. People wouldn't use the cards if they thought they might be on the hook for the whole thing if their card were stolen, so most companies make the consumer responsible for something like the first $50 (or even $0) and the card company is responsible for the rest. The best way for them to protect themselves from eating these costs is to have the computer algorithms flag things and then the only way to really know is to get in touch with the card holder to check. So yes, it feels good, but for example on my Amex I'm not responsible for any fraudulent charges so they're not protecting me at all, just making me feel safe to use it online and such. And it works! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Ours told me that they are not accepting PIN-less (is that a word?!) transactions out of Florida anymore because there is so much fraudulent activity there. They suggested calling the bank ahead of time if we're planning to travel to Florida so they'll know any card usage is probably legit. I NEVER use my PIN except at places like Aldi's or Dollar Tree where they don't allow CC transactions (and in those instances I try to remember cash) because of the instances where store databases have been hacked and the information (complete with PIN numbers) are stolen. When you use it as a credit card transaction, your money is doubly protected- once through the bank, and once through the credit card company. If someone had access to a PIN they could go to one of those ATMs that print a transaction history, figure out when we're paid, and wipe out checking and savings accounts on the days with the highest balances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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