Credit card criminals... suck

[cwf]

RANT/ON
So, checking our accounts today, we found several bogus charges..

I know it has been discussed adnauseum... but, I really would like to have a face to face with them....

RANT/SUSPENDED... for now...

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by cwf

RANT/ON
So, checking our accounts today, we found several bogus charges..

I know it has been discussed adnauseum... but, I really would like to have a face to face with them....

RANT/SUSPENDED... for now...

Been there. Done that. Moved on. In my case, the perpetrator was someone I knew. Which was even worse because that made it personal; I wasn't just a target of opportunity.

[GeocamperAS]

I had 4 televisions purchased from Target all within 30 minutes before the card company stopped the card. I asked about them catching the creep. With Targets cameras at every checkout and all. My answer was, it would cost more to do that than its worth. The sad part is the crooks know this.
I have since set up all my cards, credit and debit, to notify me of any change. I either get a text or a notification on my smartphone.
That way I can notify the card company after 1 charge before they charge a 2nd.
I thought it might get a bit annoying but it doesn't. It gives me a little piece of mind.
Went on a road trip recently and stopped at a gas station that didn't spit out a receipt at the pump. When I went in to ask for one, the two guys behind the counter heard my phone ding when they printed the receipt. When they both looked at me I said 'that's just my notice that my card was just used'. One turned to the other and said something in another language. I like to think it was something like 'well we can't use that one'.

[overlander63]

4 of us have had our cards skimmed at the gas station on the corner from where we work. If 4 out of 16 people have had this happen, how many more in the general public has this happened to?
Yes, we all reported the incidents to the home office of the gas station, and got the equivalent of a shrug. None of us conducts business there any more, except in an emergency, and then in cash only.

[paiceman]

Had this happen with one particular card four different times. The last time was an internet purchase that the company called me to verify the charge and ask about delivery to an address in the Bronx NY. I told them it was not my charge, the amount was almost $2,000. At my request they gave me the address the item was to be shipped to. I checked google earth, found the house, then found the owner of the house and then found them on facebook and Linkdin. Russian immigrant, a female. I called my credit card bank, started to give them the info and they switched me to the fraud department where I gave them the info and then asked why they don't do what I did as it took all of twenty minutes. Their response was, we simply do not have the man power or time to go after small amounts, we write them off and move on. Amazing, so in most cases these crimes are in fact the perfect crimes, no punishment.

[Ultradog]

Sometimes I think I would welcome Sharia law.
Catch a few of those persons and cut one of their hands off.
It might not make them honest but would make it harder for them to use a keyboard for other scams.
I wouldn't make the women wear burkas though. I like to see a little more skin than they reveal

[SeaLevel]

My credit card company seems to have a very sophisticated system for recognizing fraud. A couple of times when we had a problem they shut it off right away. Also a couple of times they were actually valid purchase attempts by me and I had to respond to an email or call them to re-enable it, which wasn't a problem.

[Lily&Me]

Sorry to hear that, Channing.

One of those times when you would like to order up Karma, and have it delivered.

I have set up instant email notifications for any credit card or debit card use. They do come thru instantly. You can set this up in your account.

My credit card also is hyper sensitive to fraudulent use, which is what I want.

Good luck.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

I have set up instant email notifications for any credit card or debit card use. They do come thru instantly. You can set this up in your account.

I've recently done that as well. I've set up my debit card account to instantly notify me of any purchase over $125. I've set up my credit card account to instantly notify me of any purchase made online or by mail or phone regardless of amount. In both cases, notifications are by text message to my phone as well as by email.

[crispyboy]

Our card number was stolen back in December. The credit card called asap when the charges came from Craigslist and a dating service on the west coast. Got it the card shut down asap! The thieves continued their buying spree for the next two weeks even though we kept getting purchase denial emails from the credit card company. I like using cash!
Funny story - My sister card number was stolen last year. You will never guess where the thief tried to use their card - Christian Singles . com - a dating website for Christians! I'm guessing the thief didn't know what the word "Christian" means.......

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by crispyboy

Funny story - My sister card number was stolen last year. You will never guess where the thief tried to use their card - Christian Singles . com - a dating website for Christians! I'm guessing the thief didn't know what the word "Christian" means.......

Yeah, no Christian would ever steal or defraud anyone. They were probably on the hunt for more victims.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I've recently done that as well. I've set up my debit card account to instantly notify me of any purchase over $125. I've set up my credit card account to instantly notify me of any purchase made online or by mail or phone regardless of amount. In both cases, notifications are by text message to my phone as well as by email.

Both of mine notify of any purchase at all...sometimes scammers start very small.


Maggie

[AtomicNo13]

Skin the thieves with a potato peeler, then pack them in salt!

[Rocinante]

Well, with chipped cards, there is a new thing called "liability shift" that can push liability for the charges away from the banks and onto the merchant in question. This way, the merchant who accepts a skimmed card via a swipe when the card is supposed to have a chip will wind up eating the cost of the fraudulent transaction, vs. the bank. This may cause more banks than ever to shrug their shoulders when CC fraud happens, but in the long run it's supposed to reduce the incidence of CC fraud. We'll see.

Here's an excerpt from a post on WSJ:

"Part of the October 2015 deadline in our roadmap is what’s known as the ‘liability shift.’ Whenever card fraud happens, we need to determine who is liable for the costs. When the liability shift happens, what will change is that if there is an incidence of card fraud, whichever party has the lesser technology will bear the liability.

So if a merchant is still using the old system, they can still run a transaction with a swipe and a signature. But they will be liable for any fraudulent transactions if the customer has a chip card. And the same goes the other way – if the merchant has a new terminal, but the bank hasn’t issued a chip and PIN card to the customer, the bank would be liable."

The post: http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intel...n-credit-card/

Nevertheless, we like the idea of getting pinged every time one of our cards is used. We'll definitely look into setting that up. Thanks for the suggestion!

[idroba]

My new Apple phone (6s) has a "Wallet" app built in. It works with Apple Pay and other things. Once you put your Credit Card(s) in, it notifies you every time a transaction is put on your card, of any type. I don't know just how quickly it works, but my Costco transactions show up within an hour of my making them. Not immediate though, as some have mentioned in posts above. Since I don't generally have my cell data on, it may be delayed because of waiting for a wi fi signal. Or maybe it is a text message, I really don't know how it works. But it does work.

[RamblinManGa]

Hi from AZ. . .I agree, one of the most annoying things going today !. . .My wife had a charge show up on her AMEX card for a flight from Houston to Mumbai, via Mombasa for $5k, IN THREE WEEKS TIME. when we suggested they they show up at IAH and arrest whoever showed up with said ticket, they 'oh no, that's not how it works' WHY NOT ? the most ridiculous one I've ever heard, and I used to feel a little safer using AMEX, but not anymore. OK, rant over, thanx. . . regards, Craig

[AtomicNo13]

I'm not so sure the new chipped cards work any better! Back in September, exactly one week after receiving and activating my new chipped card, my second charge to the card was fraudulent. It had been out of my wallet once to fill up my truck at a gas station. I never swipe at the pump rather go into the cashier and specify a $$ amount.
It wasn't until I received my statement that I was made aware of the charge! How the heck? I know this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but the only thing I can think of is there was a camera watching the transaction.

[cwf]

I thought about black or duct Tape over the numbers... But the oozing tape adhesive would make quite a mess��

I hear, Even someone walking by with a skimmer device can read the cards.. Increasing fraud...IMHO

Perhaps that is how they skimmed
Your card...

[Protagonist]

I use a stainless steel wallet that is advertised to prevent skimming. It seems to work— as evidenced by the fact that I carry a keycard for the proximity reader at my apartment complex's vehicle gate, and I can't just hold up my wallet to the card reader to gain entry; I have to remove the card, or at least open the wallet for the reader to read the card. As long as the wallet is closed, the signal is blocked.

But if you don't want to go that route, you can also buy foil-backed cardboard sleeves for your cards that will do the same thing. When I was still working for a living, my Department of Defense ID card— which had both a chip and a magnetic strip— was issued with just such a sleeve for when we traveled.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...DQ95DC4SVHZ2T5

[cwf]

Thanks, Protagonist!
There is also a set with passport protector
Sleeves..
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CMA...7MTTEJBT2D17DE