OT - Credit Card Fraud -

[jd b puller]

Ok, so this is the 2nd time this has happened in 3 months.

The first time was on our BANK CARD (Debit Card at that). Wife was looking thru the statement and asked me what I bought at "Gadget.com". Looked up the site and it's electronics stuff. Nuthin I'd buy there. Called them and they said it was a flash drive for 9.99, told them I didn't order it and take it off my CC and don't ship it. There was also a charge for some Mexican Restaurant in Tennessee. I haven't been to TN in years.

Called the bank, they cancelled the card, issued credit, etc. All taken care of.

So on Friday night we went to the Sporting goods shop to get a bunch of stuff we didn't need. Wife gave them her DISCOVER card and it was declined. Ran it thru again, still declined. I gave them my Chase card and everything was good.

We got in the car and she called DISCOVER to ask them why it was declined. Apparently someone ordered $1000+ electronics and had it sent to TX. Same song and dance, cancelled the card, issued credit, and they are "Investigating"...

1. Beware
2. Anyone know how this is happening or have it happen to you?

 

[OldFarmTractor]

Is there one location where you used both credit cards in the recent past? There are machines that will scan your card while they take it to pay a dinner bill or ??

I try to never let my credit card out of my sight.

 

[Drill]

I found the best way to protect your credit card is to do like I have been doing for years. I DON"T HAVE ONE, problem solved.

 

[Dblair]

four years ago I had someone try to charge 7k worth of stuff to my credit card number . if you have ever used the card the name and number is out there . sometimes employees of a store sell these numbers sometimes they get receipts out of the trash . the person who tried to use my number was at Harvard but since it didn't fit my profile the charge was denied. think about it crooks reproduce these cards by the buckets and put the names and numbers on them they want.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I heard it was Nancy Pelosi that was figuring out new ways to take your money.
Didn't think she'd hit our charge cards yet though.

 

[Dan in North Houston]

There is no telling how your card was compromised - could be an inside job. Several years ago I opened up a new checking account and in order to have overdraft protection, the bank gives you a Visa card that is tied to the checking account. I didn't need or want it, but it was free and part of the deal. So I took it home and put it in the safe. The card was never used, not even once. About 2 years later I got a charge for several hundred dollars of Subaru parts from a store in Dallas. The bank reversed the charges, but here was a case where I know it was either some sort of a mis-keyed number somewhere or an insider pulled the info. The card had never been out of the safe.

 

[teddy52food]

I don't have one either.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hopefully your just having a run of bad luck, I havnt had it happen yet but as the others have said anytime you pull it out there is a chance. Yea im doing more cash for the small stuff, card companies are still stinky to do unnecessary business with.

 

[MarkB_MI]

It has happened, but it's been awhile. Perhaps coincidentally, strange charges and other unexplained phenomena don't seem to happen much now that we have no children at home.

 

[jd b puller]

That's what I asked the wife. Unfortunately, ALL access to the Discover account were closed until we receive the new card. We should get the new one this week, then online access will be restored and we can start comparing accounts.

As for not having one, that's not practical. Don't carry a balance on any of them and don't intend to.

 

[noncompos]

Well, there are a few people that have my name and credit card #...let"s see:
Everyone who took the card to make a charge...
Everyone in that company/firm who handled charges...
Everyone in that company/firm who could sneak a look at charges...
Everyone that that firm or anyone connected with it, that could finagle access to charges may"ve sold the information to...
Assuming they went direct from that company to the Bank/Accounting firm:
Everyone there who had normal access to charges made, and everyone else there who could sneak looks, or pay someone there to provide lists...
Shall I go on???

 

[kyhayman]

Its only happened to me once, back when the National FFA Convention was in Kansas City and I was teaching ag. I was driving accross Missouri and stopped at a gas station for fuel the bus. Everything was reimbursement only. Put 100 gallons of fuel in on my credit card. They had one of the old school carbon machines. Two days later I took the kids to dinner, when I tried to use that card it was declined. I talked to the card company and it seems that I had had a dozen charges since I got fuel, all in different states. Long story short I used another card, got dinner paid, interacted with the fraud people at Chemical Bank, and other than having to get a form notarized they took care of everything, no problem. Even let me keep the points from the fraudulent charges.

 

[Gun guru]

I almost never use a CC. I pay in cash for most things, Groceries, sporting goods stuff, gasoline, tires, car parts, you name it. I hate the CC companies. I only use the card to buy stuff if it is out of state, which is rare.
I pay by check for large stuff like the mortgage payment and the insurance bill.

Now my wife uses the card for everything she buys.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Wife recieved a call from the fraud department yesterday. It was on a credit card she only uses to pay her cell phone bill. Someone had her number and tryed to use it. Must have triped some sort of trigger. They had charged 1 item that ran through but the credit card people denied 9 or 10 other charges, they canceled the card immiediatly.

 

[tlak]

If you buy online the theft might be on your own computer.
When I buy online I use only credit cards not debit. I also back up through the order and make sure all the information has been erased. The better ones delete the previous page but some have your whole order name, CC #, etc.., still there and I delete and hit order again to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Also if you have drop down word choices make sure your CC # isn't in there too.