Credit Card Public Service Announcement

TonyG13

Just a friendly reminder that there are bad people in the world just looking to rob you - or your credit card company which then raises rates.

Today I logged on to my credit card account and noticed a charge from today. I didn't buy anything today.

So I started looking down the list and there were Amazon charges, pizza charges, and a handful of other charges over the last four days. Best I can tell, about $400 in charges, getting bigger dollar amounts each day. I immediately locked the card and called the fraud department to cancel and get a new card issued.

Pain in the a$$! I have my card set to automatically notify me of any charge over $200. As soon as I get the new one, I'm setting it to notify me of ANY AND ALL transactions.

Be careful out there people.

Handymans342

Did you go to a restaurant?

RiverRat232

My credit card is through a local credit union and they are on the ball. Any out of the ordinary charge and they contact me. Different banks must use different algorithms for detecting fraud.

TonyG13

Handy - Been thinking about that, trying to play detective. I don't think my card has left my hands in the last two weeks except for one time. We did carry out at a local restaurant. Between that info -- and that two of the pizza charges were for a place between us and the carry out restaurant -- makes me think that was when the number (and code on the back) got compromised.

TonyG13

RiverRat232 said:

My credit card is through a local credit union and they are on the ball. Any out of the ordinary charge and they contact me. Different banks must use different algorithms for detecting fraud.

That's the thing. Except for today's big charge, everything else was local or Amazon. So nothing would have been out of the ordinary for Citi. And that's why I am switching my alert to ALL transactions instead of just large ones. I'd hopefully catch the bad guy on the first attempt and freeze it.

Aqua_Aura

Our credit cards catch anything immediately. Anytime I have had an issue I get a text and email asking about the charge and it's taken care of,never requires any effort on my part. We use Chase.

Whoever used it may have been using a fake card they made so it had a magnetic strip and maybe that's why it didn't get caught or they made the order online and typed the card number in. 

LaRea

Been there done that, twice, and it's unnerving.  Glad you caught it early.  

The first time it happened, I didn't know until a $400 Spiderman costume showed up at my house.  They forgot to change the shipping address!  It was a really, REALLY nice costume.  I almost kept it.  

Aqua_Aura

Whoa for $400 bucks it must have been movie quality I would have definitely kept that. 

Handymans342

TonyG13 said:

Handy - Been thinking about that, trying to play detective. I don't think my card has left my hands in the last two weeks except for one time. We did carry out at a local restaurant. Between that info -- and that two of the pizza charges were for a place between us and the carry out restaurant -- makes me think that was when the number (and code on the back) got compromised.

We hadn’t used our card for a month. Went to Buffalo hot wings and that night they bought gas. What??? How do you do that without a card? Guess they took a picture of it 

Cableguy Greg

I paid for a plane ticket to the Dominican Republic for someone. I didn’t know it until I went to use some reward points for travel that I did purchase. They promptly removed the charge for me. I have my notification set at $50. 

randy56

Not just credit cards. Early this spring we had a with draw from our checking account. Over 30 k. First they took $1.70 then $20 then the big one. started on a Thursday. But on Monday, as I was going o the bank (just figured it out) They put all the money back, whew, the bank did say they would have covered it. 

Ian

Not the admiral but someone got $5000 of Jewelry from Brooklyn a few years ago. Citi took care of it.

raybo3

Check your Amazon account. If that got hacked that's how they got your CC info....... just say'n 

Dream_Inn

I've had the whole identity theft thing.  They opened many cards at many stores and maxed them out immediately.  Like 15 credit cards in less than 24 hours, amazing!  I had someone work with me for a year.

Aqua_Aura

You can actually lock your credit as well so no new credit can be opened in your name. I did it once and forgot about it when I was buying a car or something, just had to answer more questions on the phone. That was a long time ago I'm sure it's different now. 

Aqua_Aura

I was pretty sure you could lock all 3 of them for free but I'm not totally sure as it's been a long time since I looked. I did have a co-worker do it a few years back and maybe he paid a little but potentially worth it. 

TonyG13

Yes, you can lock them all for free. Just to be safe I did just that tonight.

Here is the info page on FTC website which has direct links to the three credit bureaus to do the freeze...

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

Handymans342

TonyG13 said:

Yes, you can lock them all for free. Just to be safe I did just that tonight.

Here is the info page on FTC website which has direct links to the three credit bureaus to do the freeze...

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

Then what do you do when you need to use the card?

TonyG13

@shawnmjr is on the money. The credit freeze just makes it more difficult to open new accounts (credit card, auto/home loan, etc.) without you knowing about it.

So if the bad guy tries to buy a new car on your dime, when the dealer does the credit check it is denied and comes back flagged. So unless the bad guy has the login info and PIN associated with the freeze (which you should have, and in a safe place) -- no loan, no car.

If you, the good guy, want to get the loan, you just go online before you go to the dealer, enter your info telling them to either temporarily or permanently unfreeze you credit check.

They have made it much easier to secure your accounts in the last few years, which is a good thing.

MarkB

I think I've cancelled about 6 cards in the last 2 years due to fraud activity. On one account, the ONLY thing I used the card for was USPS Post Box Renewal online ... and every year, almost same time of year, it was hacked.  So I'm pretty sure someone is selling data from the USPS.

Handymans342

Good idea

LaRea

@tonyg13 your PSA inspired me to close three accounts that I no longer need.  

[Deleted User]

First sign of a credit card about to be used illegally is a small charge, a few dollars to see if the card is good. Then the bad guys hit it with a big purchase. CC companies are wise to this and it is a red flag. Chase has always been excellent about notifying me of suspicious activity. Watch out for skimming devices at gas stations, they are a common scam around here.

Andy

LaRea

A skimmer at a gas station is what got me the second time.  The first was an online purchase from boats.net (last time I ever used that place).

Handymans342

I use a skimmer app on my phone. My buddy also has a pay as you go visa. He said it has never been hacked

Black_Diamond

We had probably 100+ company charge cards get hacked 2 weeks ago. All Amazon charges less than $10.  People make millions on these scams. Credic card bus could care less. They make their money on interest. 

[Deleted User]

Did you hear about the guy who's wife had her credit card stolen? He didn't report it because the thief was spending WAY less than she was.

Andy