I got a fun phone call today....

[3boymthr]

It was Chase Credit Fraud Services calling to ask if I'd used my Toys R Us credit card to pay $1 then $125 for online arcade activities. Lucky they called as I never use this card, never, ever, as I have a $4,500 balance transfer on it that I'm trying to pay off so I only go online once every couple of months to schedule the next couple of payments. The plastic card itself has never even been authorized. It's never even left the envelope it came in. I don't get paper on any of my accounts as I've signed up for electronic statements for all my accounts. I just can't figure out how someone got this credit card number.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I will go out on a technical limb that there are tech criminals out there who create/use some program to generate card numbers in some automated manner to attempt purchases. The fact that the card is still in your possession, but has never been used or activated is why your creditor caught it.

Another idea---is your firewall and other security feautures on your computer current? My understanding is that is another say to capture credit numbers.

It is amazing what criminals can do.

 

[disneymarie]

It was Chase Credit Fraud Services calling to ask if I'd used my Toys R Us credit card to pay $1 then $125 for online arcade activities. Lucky they called as I never use this card, never, ever, as I have a $4,500 balance transfer on it that I'm trying to pay off so I only go online once every couple of months to schedule the next couple of payments. The plastic card itself has never even been authorized. It's never even left the envelope it came in. I don't get paper on any of my accounts as I've signed up for electronic statements for all my accounts. I just can't figure out how someone got this credit card number.

Check the drawer and see if it is still in there and unopened.
I had my Sears and local dept store cards go awry, used.....dd's friend. Often they can not be used without the CVR code thing on the back for online purposes.

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

A few years ago I got a call that my Disney Visa was being used in NJ and NY at Macy's $200 gift cards.
When I talked to the loss investigator to file a report he said these criminals have random number generators that just work on combinations - and they found one that worked.

 

[lurkernj]

We had this happen with a disney credit card about 2 years ago. We got the card in the mail, used it once to buy MNSSHP tickets over the phone, then put it away, never used again. Got a call about 2 months later saying someone charged about $1200 in clothing and $400 at the AT&T store.

One other time we got a call(different card) saying someone in Brooklyn (we're in NJ, never even been to Brooklyn) was using our card at an ATM and withdrew $200, then tried to withdraw another $200. This was funny since my husband and I both still were in possession of our cards and didn't even know our pin, as we've never done cash advances. So someone duplicated our card and managed to assign a pin.

In both instances, Chase was great, they removed the charges and we weren't hassled in any way.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We just had this happen to us for the first time. Chase is excellent with catching these!! They caught a $500 Internet charge at a company we've never purchased from. It was the only thing that was off on the statement. I probably would have caught that one, since it was such a large amount!

We've been denied charges before with Chase...because they needed to call home to verify the charges before approving them. One denial was when dh tried to purchase Disney tickets at work, so I guess I can see questioning $1500. I would have been upset, however, if we didn't have another card to use when it was denied. As much as that has been an inconvenience at times, I'm glad they are looking out for us!

OP...I'm glad they caught it!

 

[3boymthr]

Chase was great. They told me they were going to reverse the charges and close the account and issue new cards.

The cards are definitely still there. Oldest DS actually rarely has friends over - they text, they talk, they see each other at school and scout events, they don't come over so it wasn't one of them and the other 2 boys, well, their friends wouldn't know what to do with a real cc if it hit them over the head - they're just too young KWIM.

They only other way I can think for someone to get this number is for Chase to have sent me something in the mail with the cc number on it that never made it into my mail box. But since Chase never puts a full cc number on anything they mail me I think I'm going with the random number generator. ETA - and usually all I get are those random - you're cc terms have changed or our privacy policy has changed notices that they send out.

Where do people come up with these things and why????

Now of course I'm on the alert and checking all my other accounts, but so far so good.

 

[njmom47]

When I talked to the loss investigator to file a report he said these criminals have random number generators that just work on combinations - and they found one that worked.

I would have to agree. This is part of my job (sending information for customer's inquiries on unrecognized credit card charges) and there are MANY ways a card number can get into criminal's hands (so to speak).

 

[lucyem]

When I talked to the loss investigator to file a report he said these criminals have random number generators that just work on combinations - and they found one that worked.

This is what Citibank told me the last time it happened to me.

 

[Anne34]

We got the same call from Citibank last week. They tried charging $1 and then $866 at Rite Aid. It was a charge over the phone. We don't even have that store in our area.

They cancelled the card (in our possession still) and are sending new ones.

 

[MMmomto5]

My mom just had this same thing happen to her bank account with Pnc bank yesterday. She went to take money out using her ATM card and it said her account was closed. She called the bank and they told her the fraud department canceled her card due to a strange charge for $1 being put through. Thank goodness they caught it because it was linked to her checking account and her money would have been gone until the mess was straightened out.

 

[stacie_d]

Chase was great. They told me they were going to reverse the charges and close the account and issue new cards.

The cards are definitely still there. Oldest DS actually rarely has friends over - they text, they talk, they see each other at school and scout events, they don't come over so it wasn't one of them and the other 2 boys, well, their friends wouldn't know what to do with a real cc if it hit them over the head - they're just too young KWIM.

They only other way I can think for someone to get this number is for Chase to have sent me something in the mail with the cc number on it that never made it into my mail box. But since Chase never puts a full cc number on anything they mail me I think I'm going with the random number generator. ETA - and usually all I get are those random - you're cc terms have changed or our privacy policy has changed notices that they send out.

Where do people come up with these things and why????

Now of course I'm on the alert and checking all my other accounts, but so far so good.

Although probably not an issue in your situation, from personal experience, don't rule out the younger ones just because of their ages. My own DS, who is a really good kid, used my cc when he was 7 to order online access to the Pirates of the Caribbean disney game.

 

[3boymthr]

Although probably not an issue in your situation, from personal experience, don't rule out the younger ones just because of their ages. My own DS, who is a really good kid, used my cc when he was 7 to order online access to the Pirates of the Caribbean disney game.

Yeah, you're right they do have one friend, this kid is on the hunt for a girlfriend at the ripe old age of 8, but...the rest of 'em no way. And my kids have bought stuff that they shouldn't accidentally, but that's only with a cc that I've used on a site before.

Also, I guess I do need to clarify, that I'd think that before they went opened the door to our antique desk that doesn't open unless you know the trick to go looking in the cubbies, plowed thru all the papers that are on top of the cubbies, then plowed through all the other papers to get to the cc papers sort through those to get to a cc that's in an envelope and still attached to the folded up in the papers it came it, they'd steal out of my purse first. It took me half an hour to find it and I knew where to look for it.

 

[edk35]

Hey I can relate to this. One day this past summer at about 10:45 p.m. Citi card called us. We have a card that we DON'T use, but has a small balance still on it from when we did a 2.9% balance transfer APR a few years ago. The newest cards were still attached to the paper card they came with, when they sent us ones with new exp. dates. I had NOT even called to activate them. I just threw them into this locked fire box. We have NOT charged on this since we did the balance transfer. ANYWAY GET THIS: The guy from Citi said it was an online order for GAP and asked us about it. We told them NO we had not used the card. SO he cancelled that card number and sent out new ones. He told us that sometimes they have had people within the company do stuff like this. THEN when we got our statement showing the GAP charge that had been charged and then taken off.. it had GAP WIREGRASS COMMONS MALL That is the mall in my hometown ( I have not been home in 4 years) and I have not lived there since 1999. We live in MD and my hometown is in AL. TALK ABOUT WEIRD. SO I was really confused then. I am not sure if GAP has where you can order online and pick up in a store??? I still to this day don't understand what happened.

 

[mtblujeans]

Always remember to sign those credit cards before putting them away. I have cards I never use and I frequently forget to sign them. I sign as neatly as I can to (hopefully) make it difficult for someone to copy my siggy.