Several small fraudulent cc charges

[JoeWras]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[marko]

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.

I don't know.
For those of us who pay the full balance every month (no interest payment) there's no expenses passed on that I'm paying.
Yes, there's a 2%-3% merchant cost built in to purchases but that's whether you use cash or charge.

For a $50 annual fee, the convenience of secure online payment, worldwide acceptance, fraud protection and very often some sort of purchase insurance protection, I think it's a pretty good deal.
JMHO

 

[Walt34]

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?

The CC companies haven't "fixed the hull" because it is not yet cost-effective to do so. When it is, they will.

Bear in mind you're talking about revamping a major financial system, not just the credit card companies, but also every merchant in the U.S. and maybe the world if they want world-wide compliance with new standards. While I have no idea what all that would cost I think it is a safe bet that it isn't cheap.

 

[sengsational]

I don't know.
For those of us who pay the full balance every month (no interest payment) there's no expenses passed on that I'm paying.
Yes, there's a 2%-3% merchant cost built in to purchases but that's whether you use cash or charge.

Everyone pays, including you. Your share is smaller because the people who pay cash and the people who carry a balance are subsidizing you. One of the problems is that people don't think they're paying for the fraud because they get the money back for specific fraudulent transactions. They don't realize that there's a hidden "credit card fraud tax" on every transaction.

The CC companies haven't "fixed the hull" because it is not yet cost-effective to do so. When it is, they will.

Since they simply pass the costs onto the consumers, it will never be "cost effective"! Let's say fraud tripled. They would increase the fees to merchants, who would increase prices to consumers. The card companies would probably make even MORE money! Admittedly, it would not go that way forever because at some point more merchants would start charging a fee for using credit cards (or discounting for cash...same thing), and credit card usage would drop-off. That's the only force on the credit card companies right now. Also, maybe if they get to the point of inconveniencing customers due to blocking legit charges, I guess that could be another force on them. That one is a real PITA in my book, a huge dissatisifier they might wish to remedy.

But one thing is for sure: I'm not checking my statement every minute or being annoyed by alerts. To heck with them! I'm not being an unpaid volunteer baler for their leaky hull! My solution is to have multiple no annual fee cards to defend from when one card is out of service due to having been compromised or locked due to legit transactions that their algorithms say are suspicious. The ONLY reason I'm able to do this is because legislation is in place that makes the bad charges their problem. I'm going to continue to lean heavily on that.

Maybe the new legislation could just be a required line on the credit card statement that indicated what your share of paying for fraudulent transactions was. The CC company would add up all fraudulent charges and allocate it to the dollar value of the transactions. So the guy who had $200 worth of transactions in a month would see a number twice as large as the guy with $100 worth. But if you added up all the dollar values across all the CC's held by the company it would equal what they covered in fraud.

This month, your share of the fraud was $2.15.

Then there could be additional government reporting that allowed consumers to shop for credit card issuers that had lower fraud percentage.

 

[Spock]

YARNTUDC
Yet another reason not to use debit cards.

 

[Ginny]

I don't think it really matters what system is in place to stop fraudsters. They are smarter than me and will always find a way. I am also thankful for the cc cos that have caught fraud on my cards, although it has not happened in quite a while. Knock on wood...

 

[marko]

Everyone pays, including you. Your share is smaller because the people who pay cash and the people who carry a balance are subsidizing you. One of the problems is that people don't think they're paying for the fraud because they get the money back for specific fraudulent transactions. They don't realize that there's a hidden "credit card fraud tax" on every transaction.

For me, hardly enough to offset the convenience.

Everyone pays for something; I don't suppose there are many businesses that do not pass on their costs to the consumer.

 

[Chuckanut]

YARNTUDC
Yet another reason not to use debit cards.

Debit cards are the worst. None of the legal protections built into credit cards and lots of other disadvantages.

 

[Chuckanut]

I don't suppose there are many businesses that do not pass on their costs to the consumer.

They can try and at times succeed, but...

Econ 101 says Price is a function of Supply and Demand. Note that Cost is not there. For example: At some point people will choose a substitute business if the the guy getting ripped off by thieves keeps raising prices. Customers don't care about his costs, just the price as compared to other businesses and other products.

At some point, people won't pay if the price is to high regardless of how costly it is to deliver the goods and services.

 

[splitwdw]

So much for fixing everything. Not only did they decline payment for the incoming Amazon charge (2 shipments, 2 charges) that they said would be no problem, they declined payment for the pending Amazon charge that they said would post no problem. I got an email from Amazon saying I was disputing the charge the first charge then got another email that the second charge was being disputed. I thought the "chat" feature was great due to no waiting on the phone and everything was in writing so there couldn't be a misunderstanding. I'm rethinking "chat" and about keeping my AMEX card.

 

[aja8888]

So much for fixing everything. Not only did they decline payment for the incoming Amazon charge (2 shipments, 2 charges) that they said would be no problem, they declined payment for the pending Amazon charge that they said would post no problem. I got an email from Amazon saying I was disputing the charge the first charge then got another email that the second charge was being disputed. I thought the "chat" feature was great due to no waiting on the phone and everything was in writing so there couldn't be a misunderstanding. I'm rethinking "chat" and about keeping my AMEX card.

If you were told this during a chat session, do you have a record of that session. You can generally save a copy of the session.