Credit card fraud dept. called the other day...

[wroughtn_harv]

Sometimes we'll take a card that we don't use much and dedicate it for a trip. Hotels, fuel, meals, etc. all on that card for that trip.

Once we got a call to verify it was us using the card (home phone forwarded to the cell). Another time a card was shut down after the second fuel purchase. They told us the first thing thieves do with a card is fuel up.

As for how they do it. Sadly I think they know us better than we know ourselves. We like to think we're unique. But I believe we're like an individual zebra in a herd. And they're the workers at the zoo.

 

[JDgreen227]

Last fall during 2003 we took a flight to Seattle, and were visiting one of the numerous stores in the Pike Place mall. Wife tried to use her GM card to buy $500 worth of jewelry in one store and her card would not work, so I charged it on my Discover, which I had not used in a year. So, I had a charge a long way from home, for something I had never purchased on the card before (jewelry), a high amount of dollars, and a charge on a card after a year with no activity.

Now, wouldn't you expect Discover to notify us and check on the matter? No, they didn't.

A year ago I ordered a new Dell computer online, charging $1500 on another card, not Discover. The site suggested I contact the company that issued my card if the charge I had made was something unusual compared to my normal pattern of purchases, and this one certainly was...

I contacted the company, they didn't understand why I had even bothered to call them to verify the $1500 purchase.

Needless to say, after these incidents, I cancelled BOTH of the cards after paying the balances in full.

 

[hazmat]

At least they called you. 2 or 3 times I've had my card suspended for potentially fraudulent activity (just me on an internet shopping spree) - which is OK, but I had to call the CC company. I asked why I didn't get a call - got a bit of a non-answer. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

This happened to us about two years ago. Had about 10K worth of furniture etc. bought in New York City. The last time I was in NYC was in 1973! The credit card company had a investigator call us and we had our new cards within 3 days. Our cards were not lost or stolen either...

 

[Bird]

I've never had them stop or refuse a charge, but after a couple of fraudulent charges about a year ago, for a couple of months they called me when any large charge was made. In fact, once when I paid a hospital bill, they called me on my cell phone before we got out of the hospital (within 30 minutes) to verify the charge. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif And I do have it set up on the Internet for them to send me an e-mail on any charge over $300, but it may be 3 or 4 days after the charge before I get the e-mail.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Do be wary of a call from someone claiming to be from the credit card company. You may want to call the company back to verify that the call was legit.

Cliff

 

[EastTexFrank]

Exactly the same happened to me just before Christmas. The total amount on three charges was almost $400. I don't know why they were flagged but the CC company caught it quickly. Perhaps it was the wrong expiration date or the fact that the charges were in New Jersey but I've used that card all over the world and it's never been questioned before. Anyway, I was just grateful that someone/something was paying attention and saved me a lot of hassle trying to sort it all out.

 

[rozett]

I have a small peice of land that I wanted to advertise. I put together an ad for the local newspaper via their website, including CC info. During business hours they call you and tell you how much the ad will cost for various run times. After you decide how long to run it, they charge your card. BUT, prior to calling you, they charge $0.01 to your card as a means of verifying that it is ligit. shocked: This set off the fraud alarms at my credit union and they called to verify the suspicious charge. When the newspaper called, I read them the riot act for charging my card a penny. She said they never had any complaints before. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif :
Anyone have a similar experience?

 

[Soundguy]

That reminded me of one of those comercials where there is a woman setting there talking.. and it is a mans voice talking baout all the stuff they bought...

Good luck

Soundguy

 

[JimR]

The problem is the amount of scum in this country now. We should start killing off a few of them to send a mesage to the rest of the world. We have had the same problems with our cards. My daughter had some scum company withdrawing money from her bank account without authority just recently. Our laws are too lax as we need to keep the lawyers, judges, police and jail employess all employed.