Fraudulent charges Commerce, CA

[DisMom829]

Has anyone ever dealt with fraudulent credit card charges that mysteriously appear on your credit card statement from Commerce, CA? I'm fighting tooth, hair and eyeball with my credit union over these charges. There were 4 charges, 2 from Guess Clothing #4010 in Commerce CA, 1 Maxstudio.com Commerce CA, 1 EntranceFairy in Commerce CA. These were some pretty high dollar transactions. The started with one several hundred dollar charge and went in to the $1000's. I've never been to California!!

I noticed the charges on Dec 7 when I tried to make a purchase and my card was declined. Mind you, it has a decent limit. I immediately logged onto my credit card site and saw these charges. I filed disputes that very minute and called to cancel the card and alert the fraud department. Since then I have called the fraud department several times, filled out all their required paperwork and researched and contacted the stores where the purchases were made.

This same credit card is the one I used at Disney on our November trip. I paid it off upon returning home. I made 2 purchases on it on Dec 5, one at the gas station at our local Kroger that I always use and one at a popular girls clothing store, Justice. Every time I used my card at Disney, the fraud department kept calling to verify charges. I never received the first phone call on Dec 5th. They even flagged my $16 Pizza Hut charge one day and declined the charge and the fraud dept called me! (I had left my debit card in my car, DD and I were with a friend, completely embarrassing) How in the world did they let all these charges go on my card!!! They are refusing to remove the charges, they are accumulating interest and have all but maxed out my card. The fraud department just keeps saying they are investigating the charges.

Has anyone dealt with this? Am I being impatient thinking this should be something easy to track down in this electronic age?

 

[sk!mom]

Who is your cc with?

I've had fraudulent charges attempted over the years and Chase almost always caught it ahead of time. The one time that they didn't, they reversed the charge immediately while they investigated. Within a couple of weeks, I got a letter saying that it was fraudulent and the case was closed. I was overnighted a new card in all cases.

I do not use a debit card because I don't want a thief to have access to my actual money. Both of my adult children do and they have both had fraudulent charges. Wells Fargo was awesome every time- Refunding the money temporarily while they investigated and then settling it quickly.

All that to say that if your company isn't being super helpful, I would cancel the card as soon as it's settled and change companies.

Good luck! I hate these kind of hassles so I feel your pain.

 

[FayeW]

I had what I thought was a fraudulent charge on my credit card a few months ago and they immediately refunded the amount, pending an investigation. I find it odd that your credit union has not credited the amount back already, but be aware that it can take several months for them to complete their investigation. How high up the chain have you gone with this?

 

[Missy1961]

Any time I found a fraudulent charge on a card, the bank issued a refund immediately. Last time it happened, I had been in WDW and luckily, I double checked the card I used as soon as I got home. I called the bank that night and it was reversed.

Maybe the credit union isn't as good as the banks are with this. If they make it hard, I'd consider dropping them and getting a credit card from someone else.

 

[Darcy03231]

I had this happen to me a couple of months ago. I finally had to tell them that if they didn't refund the charges and all accumulated interest within 24 hours I was filing complaints with my Attorney General's Office and the Banking Commission for my state. It was resolved by the end of the business day.

 

[Jaime4004]

Same as PPs, I had one fraudulent charge and it was immediately credited after I contacted the cc company (chase) while they investigated. I'd also drop them once it's finally settled.

 

[Squirlz]

It' has happened several times to us. Can't say I took notice of where the charges were from. Just called the CC company and they took care of it right away.

 

[morgan98]

It has not been my experience that I have had to argue to get fraudulent charges removed from my credit card. People complain about big banks all the time, but both our debit card and my main credit card have been with BOA for more than a decade. I have got to tell you, the monitor my accounts like nobody's business and call me within minutes of an odd transaction occurring. My husband has had this same experience with his card. There customer service in my opinion has always been outstanding, although I do realize this is a vey subjective opinion.

If that were the service I was receiving, I would go with a different credit card company as soon as everything is settled.

 

[MSLRAC]

This is why we no longer deal with credit unions. We had a fraud issue with one of our debit cards and the number on the card to report a lost or stolen card was a third party company and then to dispute the actual charges we had to call another third party company. The credit union did none of that themselves. It took them over three months to research it and credit the money back and in the mean time we were just out of luck. That is also how they handle fraud on their credit cards so DH and I went back to Wells Fargo where any issues is immediately credited back while they research it.

ETA...Wells Fargo contacts us anytime there in any sort of odd purchase or multiple purchases within a short time. They called in October when we were at WDW and have called us multiple times this holiday season.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I would tell the customer service rep that you expect these charges to be reversed immediately, and the money credited back to your card, then pay off the bill and cancel the card. I love having my checking and savings accounts at my credit union, but I wouldn't keep my credit card there, the big companies are actually better about having these types of issues resolved quickly because they can absorb the costs while investigating the fraud.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Did you eat at any of the Landry's restaurants? They were hit with a breach sometime between May and December.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

The only time I have dealt with fraud was when my Paypal account got hacked. It was linked to a bank account that only had enough to keep it open (I would only put more money in when I was purchasing via PayPal), so I knew right away when there was a $500 pending charge that something was up. My bank had to let the charge go through, but they immediately reversed the charge and the overdraft fee and shut down the account at my request. PayPal was the one who gave me a hard time about it. They KNEW the charges were fraudulent and had locked down my account, but then they insisted I was supposed to let the thousands of dollars from all over the world pass through my bank account because 'they couldn't stop the charges', to which I replied that was their problem, not mine.

 

[dotfurio]

I've had a few cases of fraudulent charges, always brought to my attention by the credit card company. When I agreed the charges were not made by me they immediately removed them. These were with Chase and BofA, though, not a credit union. I can't believe they are dragging their feet and putting you through this.

 

[Ngwira]

When it comes to detecting fraud on credit cards, the big banks are always the way to go. I've had no problems with Chase, Capital One, Discover and American Express. However my local credit union was the worst.

 

[Albort]

Who is your cc with?

I've had fraudulent charges attempted over the years and Chase almost always caught it ahead of time. The one time that they didn't, they reversed the charge immediately while they investigated. Within a couple of weeks, I got a letter saying that it was fraudulent and the case was closed. I was overnighted a new card in all cases.

i think Chase was hacked or something, people were reporting that they got charges on the card before they even got their cards.
I got my CSP stolen 2 weeks ago, Chase caught it though. a $.99 charge on square.
had my Freedom card stolen a month ago, Subway Charge of $25 which i saw on my phone and called Chase immediately. The thief then bought $600 worth of Legoland Tickets which im thinking they sold to some poor family... :\ I got a letter from Chase 2 months later that they investigated and that im not responsible for the charge... kinda weird letter.

 

[bcla]

I've had a few cases. One was airline tickets charged to my first credit card while I was in college. I got a copy of the purchase statement, and they didn't even match my name and apparently someone picked up the tickets (ordered over the phone) without the travel agent asking for ID or a credit card. That got reversed quickly and I'm sure the travel agent ate the cost.

I remember once I never got my new card and found some local purchases. I suppose my mail was stolen and somehow the card was activated.

The most bizarre one was when I found a bunch of gas station purchases from states (from Ohio to West Virginia) that I'd never been to. Those were reversed quickly.

I suppose the big deal is that it's easy to encode a credit card number on a magnetic strip. There are many organized rings that can imprint cards that at least look like they're real.

 

[scrapquitler]

Has anyone ever dealt with fraudulent credit card charges that mysteriously appear on your credit card statement from Commerce, CA? I'm fighting tooth, hair and eyeball with my credit union over these charges. There were 4 charges, 2 from Guess Clothing #4010 in Commerce CA, 1 Maxstudio.com Commerce CA, 1 EntranceFairy in Commerce CA. These were some pretty high dollar transactions. The started with one several hundred dollar charge and went in to the $1000's. I've never been to California!!

I noticed the charges on Dec 7 when I tried to make a purchase and my card was declined. Mind you, it has a decent limit. I immediately logged onto my credit card site and saw these charges. I filed disputes that very minute and called to cancel the card and alert the fraud department. Since then I have called the fraud department several times, filled out all their required paperwork and researched and contacted the stores where the purchases were made.

This same credit card is the one I used at Disney on our November trip. I paid it off upon returning home. I made 2 purchases on it on Dec 5, one at the gas station at our local Kroger that I always use and one at a popular girls clothing store, Justice. Every time I used my card at Disney, the fraud department kept calling to verify charges. I never received the first phone call on Dec 5th. They even flagged my $16 Pizza Hut charge one day and declined the charge and the fraud dept called me! (I had left my debit card in my car, DD and I were with a friend, completely embarrassing) How in the world did they let all these charges go on my card!!! They are refusing to remove the charges, they are accumulating interest and have all but maxed out my card. The fraud department just keeps saying they are investigating the charges.

Has anyone dealt with this? Am I being impatient thinking this should be something easy to track down in this electronic age?

There is no way you should have to be do any of this stuff to deal with it. You aren't the one who should be calling the stores where the charges took place -- your credit card issuer should be doing that. I've only once ever had a fraudulent charge hit my card without the CC company contacting me before it happened. And my credit card companies have been GREAT about dealing with this sort of stuff (Citibank and Discover).

I think you need to stop using your card, close the account ASAP and get a card with a company that is better at dealing with this. Maybe your credit union is too small or just too inept. And once you have disputed something, interest charges should not be accumulating, and those charges should not be affecting your available credit. But I can't understand why the credit union would leave the account open while they try to figure it out, if there's ever a problem with my card, Citiband shuts it down immediately and issues me a new card while they are investigating or doing whatever it is that they do.

 

[manning]

This is why we no longer deal with credit unions. We had a fraud issue with one of our debit cards and the number on the card to report a lost or stolen card was a third party company and then to dispute the actual charges we had to call another third party company. The credit union did none of that themselves. It took them over three months to research it and credit the money back and in the mean time we were just out of luck. That is also how they handle fraud on their credit cards so DH and I went back to Wells Fargo where any issues is immediately credited back while they research it.

ETA...Wells Fargo contacts us anytime there in any sort of odd purchase or multiple purchases within a short time. They called in October when we were at WDW and have called us multiple times this holiday season.

Wells Fargo is always calling me about fraudulent activity. They just hang up when they are informed I never had an account with them

NEVER EVER GIVE THEM YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER AND SSN.

WHEN YOU GET A CALL LIKE THIS HANG UP AND CONTACT THE CREDIT CARD ISSURER. THE PHONE NUMBER TO USE IS PRINTED ON THE BACK OF YOUR CARD.

 

[MSLRAC]

Wells Fargo is always calling me about fraudulent activity. They just hang up when they are informed I never had an account with them

NEVER EVER GIVE THEM YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER AND SSN.

WHEN YOU GET A CALL LIKE THIS HANG UP AND CONTACT THE CREDIT CARD ISSURER. THE PHONE NUMBER TO USE IS PRINTED ON THE BACK OF YOUR CARD.

Um, I'm not sure who is calling you but I know for a fact that it has always been Wells Fargo calling us. They give us more than enough info to confirm they are in fact with the bank and they have never once asked us for a card number or for our social security numbers. So while this is good advice in some cases, it's not if you actually have a card with the company calling because I have no doubt that WF would cut off our cards if we didn't verify our use of the card.

 

[indygirl99]

I got a call once informing me that my $1000 check would not clear until I verified some information. It was from Wells Fargo. I thought it was strange and told them I had not written a check in Virginia or even traveled there lately. They still wanted me to verify some information. I hung up and walked to the bank, it is only 4 blocks away.

Talked with a banker. It really was Wells Fargo. The banker shut down ALL my accounts, transferred me into new accounts and transferred all my bill pay information to the new accounts. I was overnighted a new card for all the accounts and she even kept a 2 week lookout for any charges that might have been missed being transferred and made sure those were paid.

When I got home I got a phone call from a bank in Virginia asking me to verify my "daughters" identity as she was trying to cash a $1000 check from me for her college tuition. I asked if she was there with them and when they said yes I asked them to call the police because I didn't have a daughter in college or in Virginia and that account was just closed for fraud.

I can't believe she just stood there thinking she would get the money after being questioned. What she got was a trip to jail.