I'm a victim of Credit Card Fraud

[dreamshark]

On Wednesday, someone got hold of my Amex Delta credit card number and went on a spending rampage.

On Thursday, the Amex fraud department called me to confirm some "questionable charges."  The activity started with a $3.00 charge at Tesco (a convenience store in England), and continued with about $1,000 worth of merchandise ordered from 4 or 5 websites. Now here's the amazing thing. The only charge that went through was the $3.00 at Tesco. After that, alarm bells went off and ALL the subsequent charges were put on hold until they could be confirmed (and presumably denied after I said that they were not mine).

On Friday I received my replacement credit card via Express UPS.

Wow.  I am impressed by the efficiency of the fraud-detection department.  I have no idea how my account got stolen.  I still have the credit card in my possession.  I almost never use it online, although I do have a couple of automatic monthly charges on that card (Netflix, USI).  I had used the card within the last few days, at Schuler's Shoes and Costco, so I'm inclined to suspect one of those.  But the nice lady from Amex said not to bother trying to figure it out - "There are so many ways they can steal your credit card number.  They can even do it electronically when they walk past you on the street."  Really?  They can do that?  I thought that was still in the realm of things to worry about in the future.  Yikes

I am both freaked out and reassured. Apparently the only thing keeping the entire massive structure of the credit card economy functioning is these fraud detection algorithms.

Has this happened to any of you?

Comments

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

It happened to David a few years ago. They charged a couple bucks at a gas station, that's how they check it's functionality, then things like an ostrich farm in Louisiana or something like that. The things charged were weird.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Did the credit card company catch it, or did you notice it on your bill and get it reversed?

[guppiecat]

It's happened to me three times.

In one of the cases, it seems likely that either the issuing bank was compromised or the thieves got lucky and randomly guessed the right number (not so hard, actually).

The "reading on the street" only works if you have an RFID card. Go here for a list of ways to find out if your card has that.

In either case, it's not worth worrying about. Credit card payments are the safest you can make (in the US). I almost never pay with anything else, because cash can be stolen and the liabilities for debit transactions are much higher. If your card gets stolen, it's your bank's problem, not yours.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

"The "reading on the street" only works if you have an RFID card. Go here for a list of ways to find out if your card has that."

Thanks for that tip. I found this on the Amex website: Which cards have it?

Mine doesn't.


"In either case, it's not worth worrying about. Credit card payments are the safest you can make (in the US). I almost never pay with anything else, because cash can be stolen and the liabilities for debit transactions are much higher. If your card gets stolen, it's your bank's problem, not yours."

It's the safest method of payment provided you have the discipline to scrutinize all your credit card statements every month to look for bogus charges. See carbonel's comment for an example of how easy it is to get burned.

[quadong.livejournal.com]

While cash can be stolen, you can be sure that only the amount of cash you are carrying can be stolen, and once it's stolen, you know exactly what you've lost and that's the end of the matter. With credit and debit, it's much more ambiguous how much you are liable for, both in terms of money and time. And it's certain that the time cost will be greater.

Also, so far I have never had any cash stolen, but have cycled through several credit cards due to fraud.

(I don't mean to say that credit card transactions are unsafe. I just want to provide a little balance.)

[guppiecat]

In the US, your liability for credit cards is $0 within a limit of (I believe) 90 days. So if you check your statements monthly, you're in good shape. As noted, by others, if you don't do this, the system won't work as well... but that's a problem outside of fraud concerns too.

With debit, it varies based on the agreement with your bank, but usually $50 if you catch it within 30 days and random amounts thereafter (though up to 100% liability, same as cash).

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

It happened to me a dozen years ago during a trip to Hawaii, or possibly on the flight home. IIRC, I noticed it on the bill, but they might have called me about it. I've certainly received calls from the fraud department of other cards in the years since.

Everything's always been easily and cleanly reversed out when needed. Not that it's happened all that much....

[carbonel]

I had a different one happen to me recently. I mostly use my AmEx card these days, for the miles, but a few months ago I happened to check my Visa statement online, which I do more irregularly than I ought. And I discovered a bunch of $30 charges, going back a few months, to Experian (one of the three credit rating agencies), for (best I can tell) monthly credit rating checks. I called the bank, and the agent asked if she could conference in the agent from Experian. I said yes, and it took about half an hour of them doing stuff and putting things on hold, to get it taken care of.

Apparently this particular scam was a result of random guessing. But it was really weird.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

So you were scammed/slammed by Experian itself??

I knew those credit rating agencies were of dubious integrity (showing no interest in verifying the accuracy of their info), but I didn't realize they were actively participating in fraudulent activity. Good Lord. Considering that these entities are another one of the pillars of the credit card society, that's disturbing.

[carbonel]

No, I don't think so. That's what I thought at first, but apparently it was other scammers skimming credit cards to get services from Experian. And the agent on the phone from Experian was quite helpful. It took some time, but I didn't have to do anything but sit there on the phone while it happened.

(A handset for my cordless phone is one of the most useful business accessories I own. I'm amazed that I resisted acquiring one for so long.)

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I've had my own legitimate purchases blocked because they were outside my usual pattern of spending.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think most people have. That's the downside of reliance on this magic algorithm.

I think they're getting better, though. I notify my cc companies before overseas trips, but not for domestic travel. I'm always a little surprised to find that my credit cards work without a hitch in California when we go out there for Thanksgiving.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'm glad they're so good at catching fraudulant purchases, but I wish they'd check with me before blocking purchases that might be my own.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

What, they don't check with you? What did they do?

Here's what I thought the drill was:
1) suspicious purchase comes in, payment is temporarily blocked, hold is put on credit card.

2) Fraud department calls and/or emails you IMMEDIATELY to confirm all recent purchases.

Of course if your purchase is blocked at the register, that's annoying, but are you saying that you didn't hear from the cc fraud department within 24 hours?