Fraudulent charges on credit card. What to do?

[Amethyst]

Got the statement for a card we don't use often; was expecting a zero balance, nearly fell over at seeing a balance of $3995.00 from six or seven charges to Expedia.com, a couple of them reversed. Needless to say, we had not traveled anywhere!

I reported the matter to Chase. They closed our account, and said we do not have to do anything while they investigate. They will send a letter for us to sign, stating we did not make these charges.

Is there anything else we should be doing? Are there any potential hitches that could cause us to be held responsible for these charges?
Also, Mr. A. is wondering about whether LifeLock is worth it.

Thanks,

Amethyst

 

[Alan]

I've now been through this 3 times and really you don't need to worry at this stage. Chase will reverse the charges but you'll need to sign and return the form (affidavit) within 15 - 30 days otherwise they will be re-charged to your account.

After the 2nd time we had our CC details stolen and goods charged against our card I went ahead and put a freeze in place with all 3 credit agencies in order to reduce/eliminate the chance of our id's being stolen.

 

[Alan]

Interesting review on Lifelock

Lifelock Review: Is Life Lock a scam? Updated 2013

Summary at end of article:

The bottom line is that Lifelock is not a scam, it’s just that you can do a lot of what they do for free. Lifelock might be worth it if you have the attitude “well, I could do this stuff for free, but I don’t want the hassle, and I’ll probably forget, so I’ll just let someone else handle it for a small price”.

 

[MichaelB]

+1 @ Alan's advice. Document your communications with the card issuer. Lifelock and other credit protection services don't really offer much beyond what you can do yourself without charge, the most important is freezing your credit file.

 

[Amethyst]

What happens when I freeze our credit files? Can we still use our other cards?

Chase is opening a new account for us. The representative said they will notify the 3 credit reporting bureaus.

Amethyst

 

[MichaelB]

When you freeze the file the credit reporting agency will no longer release your file to anyone except the businesses you already have a relationship with. This makes it unlikely that a new credit card can be opened in you name without your permission. (edit to add: current cards continue with no change)

After a recent episode with my mother's account I looked into LL and other credit protection services at USAA and Costco, but concluded freezing her credit file was enough, as long as her accounts were monitored regularly (which I do).

 

[Chuckanut]

I've now been through this 3 times and really you don't need to worry at this stage. Chase will reverse the charges but you'll need to sign and return the form (affidavit) within 15 - 30 days otherwise they will be re-charged to your account.

After the 2nd time we had our CC details stolen and goods charged against our card I went ahead and put a freeze in place with all 3 credit agencies in order to reduce/eliminate the chance of our id's being stolen.

+1

 

[H2ODude]

I froze our credit reports about a year ago. Only downside is that if you go into a store where you can get a big discount on that big purchase you're out of luck if it requires opening a CC with them. Local car shop had a good deal like that on tires (saved $140) so I unfroze for 3 days. CC now chopped up, thanks.

Anyway, I highly recommend freezing your reports. I think changing our insurance would be about the only thing I can conceive that I would need them reopened for other than situation above. And, you get a pin to unfreeze over the internet for whatever time you spec. No big deal. If it stops some of the horrors I've seen on TV or other news, it has to be worth it. Frankly the ease of opening accounts (which the finance industry loves) with little verification is just what I don't want.

 

[Sarah S]

To avoid the fees ( which are not large) you may have to file a police report which I did. Credit freeze from that is I think 7 years

 

[aja8888]

It's amazing the frequency this fraud is happening.

I got hit three times in the last 12 months (AMEX, PeFed, Chase). It's a good thing I monitor my accounts a few times per week and have have closed several inactive cards I had.

The biggest event for me was $18,000+ in charges against my AMEX in one day in Croatia. I was in Puerto Rico at the time.

 

[HighRoller]

I reported the matter to Chase. They closed our account, and said we do not have to do anything while they investigate. They will send a letter for us to sign, stating we did not make these charges.

The same thing has happen to me several times over the years. Also now that I'm thinking about it, I seem to recall that all the incidents were with cards from Chase. I have other cards but don't recall any problems with any of them. Maybe it is just coincidence. Anyway, they have always handled it very professionally and quickly. In all cases they immediately cancelled the current card and sent me a new one in just a few days. (They would transfer any "non disputed" charges to the new card) Never had any questions about payments. These days, I typically check my accounts on line several times a month looking for such problems. The biggest fraudulent charge was exactly $4000 from a single charge the others that I recall were somewhere between $100 and $300.

 

[KingB]

Since you have an account with Chase, you may want to sign up for their alerts which will e-mail you for any activity on your accounts. It may not prevent anybody from using your card fraudulently, but at least, you will know at the first instance that the card has been used and you may take further steps to prevent any more charges.

 

[sengsational]

One day, maybe the US will wake up and start using chip and pin, like the rest of the developed world.

 

[Walt34]

Is there anything else we should be doing? Are there any potential hitches that could cause us to be held responsible for these charges?
Also, Mr. A. is wondering about whether LifeLock is worth it.

Thanks,

Amethyst

Retired fraud investigator here - you don't need to do anything else. The letter they're going to send you is an "Affidavit of forgery" without which they cannot prosecute, or recover funds from, whoever placed the charges. So be sure to sign and return that document.

Personally I don't bother with Lifelock or similar services.

 

[Chuckanut]

One day, maybe the US will wake up and start using chip and pin, like the rest of the developed world.

+1

But, don't hold your breath. The US is far behind in this area. Shame on the banks.

 

[Walt34]

+1

But, don't hold your breath. The US is far behind in this area. Shame on the banks.

It's a business decision, and they probably won't make the investment until fraud losses approach the cost of making the switch.

That may be a while. This is info is more than ten years old, but a Visa investigator told us that their fraud losses were less than one half of one per cent of their profit. Not gross, but profit. Their electric bill was bigger.

 

[Lsbcal]

What happens when I freeze our credit files? Can we still use our other cards?

Chase is opening a new account for us. The representative said they will notify the 3 credit reporting bureaus.

Amethyst

All you have to do to open a new account is ask the card issuer what credit agency they will need to use. Then you contact that agency and give them the PIN which is sent to you upon freezing the account. One should write that PIN down in a good safe place.

I think it might be free to temporarily unfreeze with Experian. When I got a Chase Sapphire they did it over the phone for me and made it very easy. For others you might have to coordinate the unfreeze yourself. Unfreezes can be done for differing amounts of time and each of the 3 agencies has somewhat different rules.

The worst situation was for doing a home refi. I had to unfreeze all 3 accounts but did this online.

Thankfully we don't need to do unfreezes very often.

 

[GrayHare]

This is info is more than ten years old, but a Visa investigator told us that their fraud losses were less than one half of one per cent of their profit. Not gross, but profit. Their electric bill was bigger.

The cost of fraud is not covered by the card processor, instead they dump it on the merchant, who of course passes it along to all customers.

 

[grasshopper]

I have a email sent whenever my cards are used overseas, and over $20. I have a Cap
One card only used in Mexico, but get a email with the $20 limit.

 

[Alan]

I have a email sent whenever my cards are used overseas, and over $20. I have a Cap
One card only used in Mexico, but get a email with the $20 limit.

I have similar alerts set on my Amex card and love the feature. Penfed has no such alerts available.