Elan VISA security

[Scuba]

We have a 2% cash back Elan VISA card; used to be a Fidelity VISA. Tonight we had to cancel it due to fraudulent transactions. Elan caught the transactions and we verified they were not ours, but this has happened at least half a dozen times over the last 2-3 years. We have cards from other issuers and have NEVER had to cancel any of them due to fraudulent transactions.

Does anyone else have this problem and does it seem unique to this particular card? We are getting tired of having to change card numbers so frequently.

[Helena]

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Maybe your cc info is being repeatedly stolen at a gas station you are regularly using.

Gas station skimmer theft rising

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[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba We have a 2% cash back Elan VISA card; used to be a Fidelity VISA. Tonight we had to cancel it due to fraudulent transactions. Elan caught the transactions and we verified they were not ours, but this has happened at least half a dozen times over the last 2-3 years. We have cards from other issuers and have NEVER had to cancel any of them due to fraudulent transactions. Does anyone else have this problem and does it seem unique to this particular card? We are getting tired of having to change card numbers so frequently.

We had one incident with Elan. But I think I've had more problems from other card issuers in the past. Our Fidelity VISA is our most heavily used card, so it stands to reason that we would be most likely to be compromised on that card.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helena . Maybe your cc info is being repeatedly stolen at a gas station you are regularly using. Gas station skimmer theft rising .

Thanks but we never use this card at gas stations.

[bUU]

I've had repeated fraudulent transactions with Discover and with Amazon's VISA.

[FIREmenow]

No different than the previous FIA card for me. Pretty regular mine gets stolen and used approx. every 6 months. No increase seen (yet).

The reason it is stolen so often for me is I use the card for absolutely EVERYTHING. You should see the look on the gas station guy's face when I put a $0.69 cup of coffee on the credit card. Hey - 2% is 2%!

It's actually not a very big deal for me each time. Account is credited back with any disputed charges, and a new card is overnighted (you have to tell them the 5-7 day return is "not acceptable" when on the phone with them) to me right away.

For me, its an acceptable inconvenience - I just plan for it.

[TheRunningMan]

I have the Fidelity Elan VISA and have not had a single problem since the switch from FIA, with whom I did have many problems, particularly with invasive fraud prevention rejections of my actual transactions.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRunningMan I have the Fidelity Elan VISA and have not had a single problem since the switch from FIA, with whom I did have many problems, particularly with invasive fraud prevention rejections of my actual transactions.

+1000

FIA was the worst. For many months the let fraudulent activity through, after it had been reported to them!

Aero Mexico, I kept getting fraudulent activity from a closed FIA account and FIA kept charging my current account number!

I talked many times to their fraud department about why they accepted closed account numbers and never got an acceptable answer.

My belief is they were receiving paper transactions and knew they were invalid when they attempted to post them, but made the consumers dispute them. They probably had some folks pay.

[FIREd_2015]

I have both the 2% and 1.5% card from Elan thru Fidelity. I keep the 1.5% card as a backup that I have only used once when Fidelity switched to Elan so I could get over 5000 pts to get the cash out. A couple of months ago I got an alert that something was charged to the 1.5% card. I called the 800 number and was told it was an utility bill in Mexico. I told them I didn't make the charge and they cancelled the card and sent me a new one. Not sure how they got the number since the card hasn't been used since the switch over.

[misanman]

Surprised my Fidelity Visa hasn't melted from constant use - never had a fraudulent transaction with it though.

[Senator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba Does anyone else have this problem and does it seem unique to this particular card? We are getting tired of having to change card numbers so frequently.

It has nothing to do with the card. It is due to where you are using the card. It could be that the places you have used the card are getting hacked.

Be thankful that Elan caught the fraud.

[Walt34]

We've only had one incident of a fraudulent charge on a credit card and that was 15-20 years ago. DW's card was used to charge a storage room rental in Washington, D.C.

(Now that I wrote that they'll all be hacked tonight....)

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator It has nothing to do with the card. It is due to where you are using the card. It could be that the places you have used the card are getting hacked. Be thankful that Elan caught the fraud.

+1

[bingybear]

Back with FIA I periodically had a card replaced due to fraudulent charges. Not all the them, but several times. I have not had any since Elan took over. However, when I tried to book a event for a future vacation recently (overseas), they put a fraud alert and would not let me charge it until I called them and they verified who I was.

Really not much difference

[mamadogmamacat]

do not have either FIA or Elan cards. My Capital One card had an attempt to fraudulently get cash once a couple years ago. Capital One agent grew suspicious since that was something I had never done with the card. So, she called me while having the person pretending to be me on another line. Obviously quite pleased with Capital One which I do use a lot. Agree with Senator, its not the card but where you use it. My suspicion, just based on intuition and the behavior of some of the employees there, is that it may have been the drug store I used to frequent. never have gone there since save once where I used cash.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bingybear Back with FIA I periodically had a card replaced due to fraudulent charges. Not all the them, but several times. I have not had any since Elan took over. However, when I tried to book a event for a future vacation recently (overseas), they put a fraud alert and would not let me charge it until I called them and they verified who I was. Really not much difference

In most business like that there's established best practices. Many times it the external audit or compliance folks who drive it. You make a good point they're all reading from the same book. Some might be better at the implementation.

[Cobra9777]

I switched to the Fidelity/FIA 2% AMEX in 2013. The card was replaced 3 times due to fraudulent activity. Now with the Elan VISA, I'm on my 6th card. So, we've had 10 cards in 4 years. I know the exact number because they are all still set up for bill-pay in our Fidelity CMA.

Meanwhile, our AMEX Blue Cash has never had a fraudulent transaction. But we use it much less and only for groceries, gas, and drug stores. The Fidelity 2% card gets used for everything else including lots of online transactions. I attribute the high number of replacements to the fact that we use the card so frequently and at such a wide variety of merchants.

Not really much hassle... quick phone call, wait 2 days, change some online auto-pays for bills.

[Scrapr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREmenow The reason it is stolen so often for me is I use the card for absolutely EVERYTHING. You should see the look on the gas station guy's face when I put a $0.69 cup of coffee on the credit card. Hey - 2% is 2%!

What jumps out at me? Where do you get coffee for .69?

Although Senior coffee at MCD is a quarter

[Chuckanut]

My Fidelity Visa suddenly popped up with big charges to some charity in Europe. Fake of course. Elan caught it about the same time I called to warn them. Given what happened at many retailers, where criminals were able to roam about in their computer systems for weeks and sometimes months, it's not surprising that anybody's card from any issuer gets misused from time to time.

[Scuba]

Interesting the diversity of experiences. We use our 2% card for virtually everything so from that perspective it isn't surprising it would be compromised somewhat frequently. However, a couple of years ago we got upset with FIA because legitimate charges were frequently being denied, so we switched to another card for about 9 months. Even though we used the replacement for everything also, it was never compromised. We used it for about 9 months with no problems. We also used a zero % card from another issuer for about 4 months. Neither of these cards had any fraudulent transactions, But I missed getting 2% back on everything so we switched back to Elan a month ago. Already having to get new cards due to fraud. That's why I thought Elian's cards might be more problematic than others.