Credit Card Replacement Recommendation

[kannon]

Good Morning All -

For the second time in two weeks we have had to cancel our credit cards due to fraudulent charges. We have/will not be charged so that's good. But I'm pissed that somebody somewhere made bogus charges.

For both cards we got security text msg alerts due to the dollar amount but it seems that these msgs are AFTER the charges were made/completed. I guess I don't understand the transaction process but I know we're not liable but somewhere someone is.

My question is are there credit cards with security alerts that require a secondary authorization to complete a transaction via a smartphone app when the card is not present? I just want to start doing something about fraudulent charges before they are made/approved, not after.

I love(!) the Vanguard method. When I log on via there website I also get a text msg with a security code to enter. Just a nice way to keep peace of mine. Now I like to do for large credit card purchases.

Thanks

Kannon

 

[audreyh1]

Good Morning All -

For the second time in two weeks we have had to cancel our credit cards due to fraudulent charges. We have/will not be charged so that's good. But I'm pissed that somebody somewhere made bogus charges.

For both cards we got security text msg alerts due to the dollar amount but it seems that these msgs are AFTER the charges were made/completed. I guess I don't understand the transaction process but I know we're not liable but somewhere someone is.

My question is are there credit cards with security alerts that require a secondary authorization to complete a transaction via a smartphone app when the card is not present? I just want to start doing something about fraudulent charges before they are made/approved, not after.

I love(!) the Vanguard method. When I log on via there website I also get a text msg with a security code to enter. Just a nice way to keep peace of mine. Now I like to do for large credit card purchases.

Thanks

Kannon

No, there aren't credit cards with two step authorization to complete a transaction as far as I know. You will always find out after the fact although notification within 24 hours and talking to the fraud hotline while the charge is still pending sometimes makes reversal easier. I get notified by email within seconds on my cards so I can turn around and let fraud know if they haven't already contacts me.

Your card would still have to be replaced though. That won't change. That's just part of using credit cards.

I don't stress over the credit card replacement stuff. I have a card that is not used anywhere except for automatic payments, so that stays locked up and is not exposed anywhere else so it doesn't get compromised. Then we have several other credit cards so we have plenty of backup when a card needs to be changed. I anticipate at least one compromise and replacement a year, although it hasn't been quite that bad - closer to two years these days it seems. Considering how heavily we use credit cards that's kind of amazing really.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I have a Theory here, just a Theory. I have a credit card it is free FREE and it has had so many compromises with It. I got fed up and I quit using it after the last replacement. It has been fine since (~6months).


I have a PAID credit card from the same provider (Airmiles) and it has NEVER been compromised (~1year), at least not so far. Could it be the PAID cards have better security?

Food for Thought!!!!!

 

[kannon]

Thanks - just really frustrating that someone somewhere is ripping us off. I really thought the text alerts were proactive instead of after already ripped off.

Funny story. Yrs ago my wife's credit card was stolen from her gym locker. The thieves went around the block and purchased $2k in tv's. The credit card has her picture on it. She gets checked when she buys a $5 item yet whoever bought the $2k tv I doubt got carded. I think the store doesn't care either.

Thanks again for info.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks - just really frustrating that someone somewhere is ripping us off. I really thought the text alerts were proactive instead of after already ripped off.

Funny story. Yrs ago my wife's credit card was stolen from her gym locker. The thieves went around the block and purchased $2k in tv's. The credit card has her picture on it. She gets checked when she buys a $5 item yet whoever bought the $2k tv I doubt got carded. I think the store doesn't care either.

Thanks again for info.

Don't know if it helps, but it was the merchant who was ripped off. Yes, in your name which is annoying.

We do have texting set up for accounts that want to verify a charge was legitimate before shutting the card down (potential fraud detected). But if the charge was not legitimate, the card would be shut down. The alert and response is just to protect you from "false positive" - the card company suspects it was fraud and gives you a chance to say "no that was me" before they block further transactions on the card.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Most of the time fraudulent or potentially fraudulent transactions, those placed online, are declined and the text or email is sent to you. If it was your charge, they will suggest that you attempt payment again. Rarely do these go through online.

I've had a number of compromised cards, and the fraud alerts seem to work quite well.

And yes, one of them was my Chase Sapphire, a card I do pay an annual fee for each year.

 

[gauss]

If fradulent use is your main concern you may wish to checkout the cards offered by Barclays https://www.barclaycardus.com/.

I have never noticed a fraudulent charge before they did. They would contact me via telephone and via email. I would then try to login and the web site would force me to view the potentially fraudulent authorizations that were pending. If they were legit, I would approve them and things would be back to normal. If not then the changes would never actually post and then I would be issued a new card. You have the option to speak to a person to handle it also. I use their Arrival+ card and their SallieMae card (but I think the SallieMae card 'mae' have been discontinued).

You are able to view real-time authorization activity in addition to the charge when it finally posts. I like this feature in that it immediately confirms that an order has been processed (ie online buying tickets to a popular concert or sporting event etc ).

They also allow you to have separate numbers and statement sections for multiple cards/authorized users issued under the same account.

This is useful in that any stored online CC #s are based on a card that never is used in a person-to-person transaction. I feel that this minimizes the risk of card # leakage and the associated hassle of changing all the online CC #s in the case of a compromised card.

-gauss

 

[target2019]

I have my business cards with Amex. They have a lot of options for text alerts sent after purchase. For instance, I get "card not present" alerts when something is charged or paid online.

When your card no. is used for fraud, technically they are ripping off the card company. This does happen to most people, I am guessing, and you get a new card, charge is wiped off the account, and you're good to go.

I can't recall specifically which card co., but I have been called about fraud just after it happened. "Did you just arrive in the Bahamas and check in to Hilton?"

 

[audreyh1]

Most of the time fraudulent or potentially fraudulent transactions, those placed online, are declined and the text or email is sent to you. If it was your charge, they will suggest that you attempt payment again. Rarely do these go through online.

I've had a number of compromised cards, and the fraud alerts seem to work quite well.

And yes, one of them was my Chase Sapphire, a card I do pay an annual fee for each year.

That has not been my experience. I've caught a few before the issuer did, different issuers too. The first decade or so the issuers would detect funny business and call me to verify. But these last few years it doesn't seem to work that way any more.

 

[Sunset]

.....
When your card no. is used for fraud, technically they are ripping off the card company. This does happen to most people, I am guessing, and you get a new card, charge is wiped off the account, and you're good to go.
......

Nope, it is the store or seller that is ripped off as the credit card company deducts from the seller's account the amount in question.

 

[fritz]

We use Citi Double Cash 2% cash back, and have Capital One Quicksilver and Credit Union Visa cards as backups. Citi Double Cash has the text alerts feature, and also offers a Vitual Account Number (VAN) generator feature for onlne use. The VAN generator can be downloaded for generating numbers quickly. It can be selected for expiration date and amount. We do online purchasing with it for set amounts and 2 months expiration (minimum). Kills number when purchase is made online by hitting $$ limit.

We do not sign our cards and put "photo ID required" in permanent marker in signature area (hasn't been refused yet). Also scratch security number off back and carry it on a separate piece of paper hidden in wallet (usually required for online purchases).

We've had cards compromised in the past, but it's been the fault of the merchant's system. We figure we've made an effort to stall stolen cards fraudulent usage, but can't stop it all. Citi card is chipped/striped and CC number is only on back of card.

 

[Aerides]

Here's how it works:

• You report and/or the CC bank catches the Fraud
  
• You get made whole - account is credited, cards replaced, numbers changed, etc. (and any CC worth your time should overnight you replacement plastic - if they don't get a new provider).
  
• CC bank charges back the merchant until/unless merchant provides clear support of a legit charge. So for all the real fraud, merchant eats it. For the few that look like the merchant got auth's and card was approved, the CC may end up eating.
  
  You will never know what happened to any of the charges. Just that they are gone.

I would take credit card fraud 100x before I'd want it to happen to a debit card.

 

[target2019]

Nope, it is the store or seller that is ripped off as the credit card company deducts from the seller's account the amount in question.

This article says the charge is passed around in different ways.
As long as the consumer doesn't pay, it's all good.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/merchants-victims-credit-card-fraud/

 

[Sarah in SC]

Audrey that's weird that yours have happened that way and mine haven't. I have had maybe 4-5 reissues of compromised cards in the past few years, and never once did I catch it before they did.
And like many travel hackers, I have a ton of cards active at any given time, though I may only be using 2-3 regularly and another 3-4 once a month to keep them active on my report. I did have one of the seldom used card get compromised a month or so ago, after I used it at a single gas station. Easy to see where that happened, I guess. The issuer, Barclays, contacted me and said the card was declined at an online retailer.

 

[Matthew J]

I would take credit card fraud 100x before I'd want it to happen to a debit card.

I had my debit card compromised this week. They ran up $876 in charges before I figured it out. I called USAA and they had most of the money back in my account the next day and all of it in my account by the second day. Waiting for my new card now.


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[Ready]

I've always wondered why the credit card companies can't add a password to a credit card, so that each time you swipe the card, you must enter your password for the transaction to go through. They have this feature on debit cards, so it couldn't be that difficult to implement, and it would eliminate theft from people stealing cards and then going to a merchant to run up a big bill.

 

[sengsational]

This article says the charge is passed around in different ways.
As long as the consumer doesn't pay, it's all good.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/merchants-victims-credit-card-fraud/

The consumer always pays. Every time you buy something, with a credit card or not, some of that spend is going to the scammers. There is really no incentive for a credit card user to reduce convenience to get more protection since the protection is so strong. The system is broken.

 

[SteveNU]

I've always wondered why the credit card companies can't add a password to a credit card, so that each time you swipe the card, you must enter your password for the transaction to go through. They have this feature on debit cards, so it couldn't be that difficult to implement, and it would eliminate theft from people stealing cards and then going to a merchant to run up a big bill.

This is exactly what the Chip and pin cards do. Eventually we will get there.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[target2019]

The consumer always pays. Every time you buy something, with a credit card or not, some of that spend is going to the scammers. There is really no incentive for a credit card user to reduce convenience to get more protection since the protection is so strong. The system is broken.

There are probably multiple answers. I'm not sure the consumer always pays. For example, the bank issuer can write down charges, as can the cc card company, if they choose.

In the sense that there are higher costs in a product which I purchase, due to card cost to retailer, that is true.

 

[sengsational]

Whoever ends up taking the hit simply passes the expense on to the consumer... that is what I was getting at.

 

[jazz4cash]

Whoever ends up taking the hit simply passes the expense on to the consumer... that is what I was getting at.

+1. That's why vendors and CC companies won't fix these issues as long as it doesn't deter business.


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[Walt34]

I would take credit card fraud 100x before I'd want it to happen to a debit card.

That's why we don't have a debit card, just credit cards. The consumer protections are so much better on them.

 

[karen1972]

I just wish I could figure out how ours is happening as its always my BFs cards and its been happening 2-3 times a year since we moved to NC and it never happened in the 20 years we were in Illinois. We definitely know one time it was via one of those scanners as every card in his wallet was compromised...and all of them were used for $300 purchases at the local grocery store. Its annoying to constantly have to get new cards but I like the idea someone offered about keeping one for the automatic payments, that would at least make it easier to deal with.

 

[audreyh1]

Been using your credit card at Wendy's lately? They've been having a rolling series of compromises on their POS units.