Credit card number stolen

[bpp]

Just got a call from my credit card company. They noticed some strange transactions, and called me to confirm that they are not mine. They are cancelling my current card and sending out a new card tomorrow.

Sigh. Guess I'll be changing all my passwords tonight, from a CD-booted Linux session.

I normally despise credit cards, and only use them when absolutely necessary. Then one of the few times I do use it it gets compromised. I'll be using it even less from now on.

On the bright side I suppose, I am impressed that the card company spotted the problem and contacted me first, so at least I don't have to worry about arguing with them over the spurious charges.

 

[Brat]

Have I a story to share about CC ability to spot problem charges.  DD lives in the SF area.  Three days before her wedding she charged a lot, including the total cost of a reception for hundreds as a four-star hotel (eh, mom and dad made a reasonable contribution to the wedding - not the reception).  There were the usual trips to Nordstroms, the beauty salon all the stuff that couples do before the big day. 

The took a car to a car wash.  Within hours a charge was made at Montgomery Ward.. and within hours they were on the phone to the bride.  Her CC number had been used at a retailer that didn't fit her spending profile!!!  They canceled her number and asked her to go to a local branch of a bank to pick up a new card the next morning.  They had it in and for the honeymoon.

Now if the crooks had charged at a fancy jewlery store the computer might not have spotted the charge!

 

[bpp]

That's a great story, Brat. (In retrospect!)

In my case, though not as dramatic, there were also couple of other legitimate transactions, at places I wouldn't ordinarily have them, but they correctly spotted the bogus ones. Must be some pretty sophisticated pattern recognition software in use. Either that or the bogus ones were at a previously-flagged place.

 

[Mwsinron]

This is good in a way. You know your cc company was on the ball and took care of it. We had an experience of where we ordered something online and they basically didnt send us what we ordered. CC company took care of it with no muss or fuss. We use our cards all the time. We get 1 percent back from every purchase up to I believe 500 dollars a year. And no we dont carry a balance its paid off every month

 

[wabmester]

Sigh.  Guess I'll be changing all my passwords tonight.

If you think your card number was stolen online, then you should really be using one-time credit card numbers.   I do for almost all of my online purchases, and there is virtually no risk even if the number is stolen.   I usually use Discovercard's number generator, but many other issuing banks have similar features.

 

[free4now]

Credit cards are all about convenience. One time numbers are too much of a hassle for me. I use my credit cards in all kinds of questionable places, and only once have I gotten fraudulent charges (I suspect an employee at phonedog.com stole my number). It was relatively painless to deal with, the CC company spotted the charges before I did. It was a whole lot easier to do that one time than to bother with one time numbers for every transaction.

 

[wabmester]

Credit cards are all about convenience.  One time numbers are too much of a hassle for me.   I use my credit cards in all kinds of questionable places...

Some issuing banks have apps you can download that will fill in the virtual card number with a single click when it detects a credit card field in a web form.   Personally, I find that *too* easy, and I like the small barrier to spending money online that the one-time number gives me.

If your card number is stolen online, chances are it will get into widespread circulation at some point.   The thieves hang out on IRC channels and trade numbers with one another.   And some of them are getting pretty clever too.   Rather than charging something that will be obviously flagged by your bank, they'll steal a bunch of numbers and make small periodic charges on each card that most card holders won't even scrutinize.   One day you'll notice some odd $9 charge, and then you'll look back at old statements and find that you've been paying similar charges for months.   It'll be a pain to unwind them all.

 

[bpp]

Thanks for the suggestion, wab. I just called my card company and unfortunately, they don't issue one-time numbers, but they said they would forward the suggestion upstairs. I imagine/hope they will institute it some day.

 

[maddythebeagle]

Then one of the few times I do use it it gets compromised. I'll be using it even less from now on.

'

why would you be using it less now...it sounds like the cc company took care of it....

 

[donheff]

We use our cards all the time. We get 1 percent back from every purchase up to I believe 500 dollars a year. And no we dont carry a balance its paid off every month

We have several airline mileage cards and pay all of them off on the due date. I am flying to Seattle on one tomorrow and my daughter and I are flying to Hawaii on another next month. I put everything over about $10-$15 on a CC.

I had only one problem about 10 years back -- I think someone stole the bill from my mailbox (which was outside at the time). We saw a charge for a fur coat from Evans in NY. It turns out the thief was having the stuff shipped to an address about a mile from my house. The police had no interest. The CC company gave me the address and phone number where they shipped the coat so I called out of curiousity. The lady who lived there complained that it was probably her dead-beat boy friend who, of course, was nowhere to be found.

 

[d]

over the years i have had the CC companies call me a few times regarding "suspicious" activity (change is spending patterns); they simply wanted me to confirm transactions, but the last time they also wanted me to confirm that i had the card in my physical possession. good for them! (and me too)

 

[AltaRed]

over the years i have had the CC companies call me a few times regarding "suspicious" activity (change is spending patterns); they simply wanted me to confirm transactions, but the last time they also wanted me to confirm that i had the card in my physical possession.  good for them! (and me too)

Have had 4-5 similar experiences and have complimented the CC company each time they have done so. The reasons for the calls had been good ones -- changes in my pattern and location of spending.

It's been said in another thread, but it is recommended that if you take an unusual trip, e.g. vacation, etc. overseas, it is a good idea to advise the 'fraud' dept of your CC company so that they do not block charges when you are on the slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal. I've advised my CC company on trips to Europe as a matter of course and the CC company has appreciated the call each time.

 

[eridanus]

It's been said in another thread, but it is recommended that if you take an unusual trip, e.g. vacation, etc. overseas, it is a good idea to advise the 'fraud' dept of your CC company so that they do not block charges when you are on the slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal. I've advised my CC company on trips to Europe as a matter of course and the CC company has appreciated the call each time.

I've done this and then had the CC company block the charges. Then you stand there while it's being sorted out and the plane starts to taxi.

 

[MJ]

I charge everything I can even a $2 supermarket purchase since I get 5% back. I only use two CC with 5% and 1.25% cash rebates. Fortunately (so far), I have not experienced any fraudulant CC activity. If I did, I would spot it right away cause I check both cards online regularly. A couple of times, Citibank sent me a letter many days after they spotted a larger than usual amount. Once, it was my auto insurance which I pay semi annually. If their system had check what the charge was for, they might have seen that the amount was unusually higher because it was an insurance payment.

 

[NinjaPigeon]

I've only had one block ever, and I have pretty random transactions. The time for me was at a hotel in Paris after they'd allowed me to charge my heart out all over London the day before (and I live in the States). The first time I visited Canada, they didn't bat an eyelash either.

In fact, I'm not even sure how to get them to think I'm spending out of habit considering I've taken up buying stuff at girly stores - lotions and stuff at the bath store, pajamas at lingerie stores, etc.. Maybe they think I'm an international crossdresser?

 

[bpp]

why would you be using it less now...it sounds like the cc company took care of it....

Still wouldn't want to push my luck though. As wab says, worse things could have happened.

Even under the best of circumstances I find them annoying because they mess up my budgeting. They are set to be automatically be paid off in full every month, but still... And I don't get any kind of cash-back deals to make it worthwhile.

 

[AltaRed]

No doubt it depends on the CC company on how they manage it.

 

[Gone4Good]

Just got a call from my credit card company.  They noticed some strange transactions, and called me to confirm that they are not mine.  They are cancelling my current card and sending out a new card tomorrow.

Sigh.  Guess I'll be changing all my passwords tonight, from a CD-booted Linux session.

I normally despise credit cards, and only use them when absolutely necessary.  Then one of the few times I do use it it gets compromised.  I'll be using it even less from now on.

On the bright side I suppose, I am impressed that the card company spotted the problem  and contacted me first, so at least I don't have to worry about arguing with them over the spurious charges.

Two things I don't understand:

Personal liability for credit card fraud is capped at something like $50 in most cases.  So far this year we've already received ~$200 in cash back rewards . . . that pays for fraud once a quarter.

Unless you only use the card online it seems far more likely that the perpetrator was someone who physically handled your credit card.  I always found it ironic that some people have no qualms about handing over their credit card to a stranger at a restaurant, or anonymously over the phone, but sweat bullets over the thought of punching in their credit card number into an encrypted network.   

 

[Brat]

Ah, they have figured out that you are all over the place. Now if there were charges at Target, Sears and Penny's in your neighborhood on one day... that might get flagged.

 

[bpp]

Two things I don't understand:

Personal liability for credit card fraud is capped at something like $50 in most cases. So far this year we've already received ~$200 in cash back rewards . . . that pays for fraud once a quarter.

That may be the rule in the US. I don't know what it is here in Japan. It looks like the credit card company will cover it all for me anyway, though I don't know if that is guaranteed to happen in the future (yeah, I know, it is past time to read through the fine-print...). And as I said, I don't get any cash-back rewards.

Unless you only use the card online it seems far more likely that the perpetrator was someone who physically handled your credit card. I always found it ironic that some people have no qualms about handing over their credit card to a stranger at a restaurant, or anonymously over the phone, but sweat bullets over the thought of punching in their credit card number into an encrypted network.

In the 3-4 months prior to the fraudulent charges, I had only used the card 3 times, twice over the net and once over the phone. (Plus I have two automatically recurring charges each month, for cable TV and internet provider.) Nobody physically handled my card; I am guessing a bad apple in one of my counterparties' back offices, or a compromised database somewhere. I think I did the web transactions from a freshly-booted Knoppix CD (though don't remember for sure), so I don't think that was how the leak occurred, but just to be safe I changed all my online passwords last night. Kind of a pain, but it had been a few months since the last time I had changed them, so it was about time anyway.

 

[yelnad]

I have read in several places that you are more at risk when you use your credit card in person than online. More fraud happens when a clerk copies down your number or someone swipes it from your mailbox. DH and I have noticed that Discover is really good at calling if something is out of line. My Dad's credit card (don't know through whom) is really good. They call him every time my sister cons him into letting her use it online to purchase bras and such.

 

[boont]

I can only remember one time that my card number was stolen. It was in a restaurant as I remember.

When I got the bill there was a very expensive pair of cowboy boots charged at a shop in Beverly Hills.

It got me to thinking. What a swell idea. So I went out and bought an expensive pair of cowboy boots, shirts, belt buckle and hat. Wife got some stuff also.

That was "hell a fun", as the kids say.

boont

 

[Arif]

I just got a call from my cc and they left a message saying to call them due to suspicious behavior on my account. So I call them using the 1-800 number on the card not the one left on the message (paranoid). They tell me my card hasn't been used in awhile and they wanted to make sure I still had it in my possession. Strange.