Several small fraudulent cc charges

[DEC-1982]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw Never had this happen before, had 3 charges on my AMEX card all under $2 for company's that I've never used. Uber was one of the charges. I check my credit cards every week because you can only set alerts for as low as $10 on this cc. The charges happened a couple of days ago so I'm surprised there weren't larger charges in the days that followed. What's the point of numerous small charges? I was surprised that I could get this resolved (and fast) using the "chat" feature on their web site.

I check my credit card every day. Anything unexplained, and I call the company immediately.

[Spock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan In 2012 while traveling I noticed 3 charges under $10 from Amazon and after checking our Amazon account called the CC company to dispute them. They told me that since I had an Amazon account I needed to call them even though I could not see any charges. Once through to the Amazon fraud person they confirmed that a new account had been created with my card and I was asked if I knew anyone called “Jane”. I was told that it was fairly common for folks to give their CC details to friends and relatives to create accounts and charge to the card. I was shocked that Amazon allow this without even notifying the card holder that a new account had been created. Amazon send me an email confirming what had happened which I passed onto my CC company as I canceled the card without paying those 3 charges.

Amazon intentionally makes it difficult, but I've started the practice of deleting my CC out of Amazon after every purchase.
Dunno where in the maze of Amazon DB's crooks are getting the info, but it won't be from my current account record.

[Spock]

Another monitoring method is using tools like Mint to quick scan all CC's and banks new transactions daily.


I haven't played with things like Discover's lock/unlock the card between uses... dunno how real-time they are.

[JoeWras]

We got hit by I believe the Chipotle issue last year. Thieves put a virus in their card readers that sent info back to a server.

3 weeks after we used our card there, our card *was* presented, so it must have been cloned. It was presented to a kiosk kind of shop where high value fence-able items were bought. I suspect that kiosk did not have a chip reader. This was a chip card, but the chip doesn't matter if they still use the stripe.

Get this... The charge never made it through! We got an immediate call to say this happened and it was declined. The agent asked us if we were buying booze, cigarettes and gift cards down in the next state... Uh, no, not us! So kudos to the credit card company's algorithm on this one.

[MarieIG]

Glad you got this taken care of.

Several years ago I received a call from my CC at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday. They caught two of those tiny charges which they flagged as fraudulent, confirmed with me, and overnighted me a new card.

On other occasions, a new vendor has put through a test charge which I called about, and they explained that this was most likely not a fraud and would disappear. This proved to be correct.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarieIG On other occasions, a new vendor has put through a test charge which I called about, and they explained that this was most likely not a fraud and would disappear. This proved to be correct.

The OP had a Uber charge. Makes me wonder if the OP's fraudster was setting themselves up to take a nice long Uber ride...

[Chuckanut]

Here's a comforting experience.

On BF I ordered a stash of my favorite coffee with a discount on the second bag and free shipping. It brings the cost down quite a bit. After the order was complete I remembered that I was going to buy some to give family members. I did not want to give up my precious stash of coffee, so within minutes I placed an identical order for an identical amount charged to my CC.

Capital One sent me a nice email saying I might have been charged twice for the same order. If all is OK, I do nothing. If I have a problem they suggest calling the merchant and/or disputing the charge.

It's nice to know somebody is watching the chicken coop.

I also use Capital One's ENO system which generates a unique number for for each vendor.

[Beststash]

My Penfed Card got hit on Thanksgiving for $2006.87 at the "Microsoft Store in WA". Strange thing is they said the transaction was online but they only gave my ZIP not CVV or expiration date? I have never had any transaction that didn't require this EXCEPT for gas purchase.

I just happened to login and check and saw this. They blocked my card and are sending a new one.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Here's a comforting experience. On BF I ordered a stash of my favorite coffee with a discount on the second bag and free shipping. It brings the cost down quite a bit. After the order was complete I remembered that I was going to buy some to give family members. I did not want to give up my precious stash of coffee, so within minutes a placed an identical order for an identical amount charged to my CC. Capital One sent me a nice email saying I might have been charged twice for the same order. If all is OK, I do nothing. If I have a problem they suggest calling the merchant and/or disputing the charge. It's nice to know somebody is watching the chicken coop. I also use Capital One's ENO system which generates a unique number for for each vendor.

I have been impressed with how proactive CapOne is with checking on these types of things. They even send emails to confirm tips at eateries. If we use coupons, or get deep discounts for Happy Hour, I will base my tip on the "retail" price, which usually results in 30% to 40% tip. Without fail, I will get an email similar to yours asking me to check the transaction.

[ERD50]

I have all my cards set to email me for ANY charge (no limit). If I had a card that would only allow emails for > $5 or $10 soemthing, I would seriously consider cancelling that card.

Now that I see every charge, it saves me the time to log in and check every so often (and maybe miss something if I forget for a few days?). I'll see the emails. I'll catch any fraud very quickly. The emails come in near real time 99% of the time.

-ERD50

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan I have been impressed with how proactive CapOne is with checking on these types of things. They even send emails to confirm tips at eateries. If we use coupons, or get deep discounts for Happy Hour, I will base my tip on the "retail" price, which usually results in 30% to 40% tip. Without fail, I will get an email similar to yours asking me to check the transaction.

A sign you are over tipping the standard 15%

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I have all my cards set to email me for ANY charge (no limit). If I had a card that would only allow emails for > $5 or $10 soemthing, I would seriously consider cancelling that card. Now that I see every charge, it saves me the time to log in and check every so often (and maybe miss something if I forget for a few days?). I'll see the emails. I'll catch any fraud very quickly. The emails come in near real time 99% of the time. -ERD50

+ 1
Often I notified about the purchase from the CC before the company I bought it from emails me my copy of the order.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset A sign you are over tipping the standard 15%

Not really. The server does the same work during Happy Hour as later (probably more because people have a time line).

If I am getting drinks and apps at 1/2 price, the server is tipped on the full price. I'm retired, not in college, I can afford it.

[Jerry1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan Not really. The server does the same work during Happy Hour as later (probably more because people have a time line). If I am getting drinks and apps at 1/2 price, the server is tipped on the full price. I'm retired, not in college, I can afford it.

I try to keep that in mind too. Sometimes I’ve got a really good coupon or something like buy one get one. In those cases, I tip on the value and not the check total.

[grasshopper]

i autopay my electric bill with CapOne. So around May of each year I get an email asking to double check why the bill is so high.

When Ms G goes shopping I can always tell about when she will be home from her CC alert.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan I have been impressed with how proactive CapOne is with checking on these types of things. They even send emails to confirm tips at eateries.

The CC company has to eat the charge if it's fraudulent so it's in their best interest to keep track.

My only experience was AMEX called me to ask about a large fraudulent charge in Hong Kong. Despite the fact that I had been there not long before it picked up that it wasn't in my 'normal spending profile of categories' (a casino); they have some slick algorithms watching.

[brett]

I caught a $2 charge for some charity in New York.

Called my cc who put me on to their fraud dept. Same story...card compromised and this was a test run. Fraud folks thanked me for checking the on line transactions on a regular basis.

[sengsational]

I'm surprised how much praise there is for credit card companies in this thread. They're participants in a system that steadily passes expenses on to consumers and have refused to secure the system. They're sailing a 50 year old leaky boat and get praise for bailing. What about fixing the hull?

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I'm surprised how much praise there is for credit card companies in this thread. They're participants in a system that steadily passes expenses on to consumers and have refused to secure the system. They're sailing a 50 year old leaky boat and get praise for bailing. What about fixing the hull?

+1

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I'm surprised how much praise there is for credit card companies in this thread. They're participants in a system that steadily passes expenses on to consumers and have refused to secure the system. They're sailing a 50 year old leaky boat and get praise for bailing. What about fixing the hull?

+2

Though stopping at that point is better than nothing.

But yep, they eat this, which means we eat it (cost is passed on). If they had real security we wouldn't be dealing with this.

Every time I get asked for the security code on the back of the card when making an online or phone purchase, I think "OK, I just handed out that 'security code', now it's in someone else's hands. What's the point?

I feel the same about scam/spam emails. In the early days, they should have cracked down on it big time, instead of letting it grow to the level it has.

-ERD50