2 different credit cards with fraud charges

[wallygator69]

Howdy,


I have 2 Visa Cards. One week apart both have had a charge appear that we didn't make.


First was Amazon Marketplace charge for $23.00. There is no order on Amazon History. I did receive a lemon squeezer a few days later but I didn't order it. I did order one several years ago but not this time.


Second is an on line Wine store and a charge of $76.00 that I did not make.


Do you think it's a coincidence or could my computer have been hacked.? I did get one of those pop up threats to send money or they were going send pictures taken from my computer to all my contacts. I have no camera on my computer, Weird thing is they had my first and last name correct...


I did report fraud and requested new cards. Should I get another card that isn't a Visa?



I am also going to get free credit reports from Annualcreditreport.com. It appears this is one of the safest ways to do it.


Anything else I need to do?


Thanks as always,


Wally

 

[mystang52]

Act fast. You're off to a good start getting replacement cards. Have the 3 main credit reporting companies put a Fraud Alert on your record, and a security freeze so no one can get "instant approval" for credit card. Make sure to save the PIN each reporting agency gives you; it'll be a lot easier for YOU to apply for any credit, later, if you have that PIN saved.
Check online, every day, each of your credit cards and look for more purchases you did not make. Don't forget to check the credit cards, in your drawer, that you don't ordinarily use.

 

[Ginny]

Maybe your wallet was hacked. Do you have those RIFD blocking cards?

 

[latexman]

Check online, every day, each of your credit cards and look for more purchases you did not make.

Or, set up an alert when the cards are used.

 

[Dash man]

Many banks allow you to lock your cards on their app. Lock the cards you don’t use often. It’s easy to unlock them.

 

[easysurfer]

Along with what others said about alerts and freezing your credit, be sure to check your computer for malware. You don't want something like a keylogger stealing your keystrokes.

You situation reminds me of something similar to me years back. I had a call from Discover security saying that I had a suspicious charge on my cc. Ends up coincidentally (or not) about the same time there was a keylogger on my computer.

I never did know for sure if the suspicious charge was due to my computer compromised or perhaps a skimmer stole my card info as I was out of town getting gas. Regardless, because my computer got hit with a keylogger, I had to approach things as if my passwords were compromised.

 

[wallygator69]

OP Here,


I have RFID block wallet and freezes to my credit with the Credit agencies already.


Guess I'll get my computer checked too.



From what I have heard lately is you don't get many charges of $20 and $70 when your cards get stolen usually lots more..


Thanks for the feedback


Wally

 

[Bamaman]

Check with your card company. Chances are they know those that made the charges already--as fraudsters.

We too got charged for some really nice kitchen pieces that were unordered. Sounds like a trend for a fraudulent company.

I have to watch my credit card and ATM statements constantly for such issues.

 

[brett]

I watch our cards.

Last time it was an odd charge for $2. from a car park in NYC. We live in Canada.

Called the issuer, they connected me to the fraud dept.

Agent told me it was common for these fraudsters to verify that the data was still 'good' by putting through a low dollar charge to see if it gets accepted.

If so...the practice is to process one, two, three, or four much more expensive transaction in the same day or two.

Then the stolen card data gets sold again to some other fraudster as 'fresh' for someone else to try.

 

[JoeWras]

This stuff just happens. Although your computer may be compromised, it probably isn't. It is likely a merchant.

I'm currently waiting for a new card due to fraudulent charges 10 days ago. What a pain to change all the auto-payments! I thought they would just "change over". No dice, they failed.

In the last month I made a purchase from a small, local merchant (a friend). Her system could be the source. Or perhaps the small online merchant where I had to give my number over the phone. Or perhaps my first time in 2 years I gave my card to a server at a restaurant.

BTW, all 4 transactions failed. They were attempts at getting cash through some service. The numbers were in the $50 to $100 range. So, super small transactions or super large transactions are not always the norm.

What was interesting is my app went off and I could see it was declined or rejected. So, their analytics did a good job. I was surprised they didn't call ME, like they have in the past. I think they are relying much more on the big-data algorithms and YOU to monitor. Also disappointing is the slow wait for a replacement. I currently switched everything over to a less preferred mastercard.

 

[CaptTom]

There are lots of fraudulent charges all the time. Statistically, it's inevitable that it occasionally happens to the same person twice in a short time. It sucks when you're the one that happens to, but it's not proof of any larger issue. Could just be a coincidence.

Or, set up an alert when the cards are used.

This is the best defense. Catch the small "test" charges immediately, before they move on for the big one.


It's interesting about the un-ordered Amazon orders you received. Vendors do that so they, as a "buyer," can leave positive reviews for their products. Of course if your Amazon account is hacked, they can order things using whatever card(s) you have stored in that Amazon account, without knowing the card number. Amazon usually notifies you immediately of any orders, so you may want to verify that some hacker hasn't changed your e-mail address or cell phone number.

 

[RetMD21]

So I haven't had a fraudulent charge for a while but I think I had a card skimmed and got notice of a denied charge recently. I confirmed with the issuer that the charge attempt was not me and I finally got off my *** and set up virtual cards for online payments. It was easy and they switched over to the new card which is still in the mail. I'm also planning to try to use the RFID if available.

 

[JoeWras]

Risk is everywhere, not just your own online activity.

Before my lastest issue, I could trace my fraudulent transactions to well known card reader hacks.

It's still a mess out there.

But yeah, of course use virtual numbers if you can. Every bit helps.

 

[Sunset]

I had 2 CC's get the same charge years ago for some store in Canada.

Googling the key words and amount showed 100's of other people with the same issue.

OP could google the charge and key words to see if others report the credit card fraud.

Surprising to me was the CC company acted like it was "news to them" when I could easily see many people had the same issue.

I doubt the key logger, as OP has not noticed the bank account being emptied. Of course it wouldn't hurt to run a few of the scanners to check to for malicious software.
(malwarebytes for example).

 

[Dtail]

Yeah it actually could be a coincidence. At least it is a CC and not a debit card.
I monitor my CC charges every day and never use a debit card except for an ATM.

 

[RetMD21]

But yeah, of course use virtual numbers if you can. Every bit helps.

I started the virtual card number process after the fraud and before the new card number was assigned. The virtual cards automatically switched over to being assigned to the new number. Next time I have a new number assigned I won't have to change it with online merchants.

 

[RetMD21]

Risk is everywhere, not just your own online activity.

Before my lastest issue, I could trace my fraudulent transactions to well known card reader hacks.

It's still a mess out there.

But yeah, of course use virtual numbers if you can. Every bit helps.

I was surprised that apparently few cc companies provide virtual numbers. I guess I am fortunate to be using Citi and Cap One which do