My credit card wasn't stolen but someone used it!

[angwill]

It is also a matter of lifestyle and location. I live in a urban setting and $100 doesn't go far. Just what I spent yesterday:

$3 morning latte for metro ride
$9 take out lunch
$24 pick up dry cleaning
$18 taxi to restaurant
$60 (my part) dinner and drinks with friends, wine is $12/glass*3, cheese plate and entree, tax, tip
$18 taxi home from restaurant

I would be schlepping to the ATM every day at that rate, instead I used my points earning credit card and will have the protection of AMEX.

I don't always check my balance every day but it is something I do often and it just lets me know where my money is going.

True, but you still wouldn't need a wad of hundreds for that. The only thing I would have paid cash for out of your list is the latte, lunch, dinner, and taxi and the only time your visa would have been out of your site I would think would be for dinner. To each their own.

 

[pixiewings71]

I have read that you should never use a credit card in a restaurant or anywhere that they physically take your card away from your sight. Also there are machines that theives can put over the gas station card readers to capture your info. I was also told by my bank to use my credit card as little as possible at gas stations and restaurants in Orlando because they are notorious for credit card theft.

This is a bit extreme IMO. We rarely carry cash at all and normally use CC's with rewards. We tend to pay off what we've charged most months, not all, we do carry balances but they are being paid off. Anyway, the reason we use CC's is because they are protected against fraud, if you lose your cash it's gone but if your CC # is stolen you are not responsible for fraudulent charges.
OP we've had 2 CC's stolen in as many years, 2 different cards but they were both caught by the card issuer and they contacted us. Both times we've had the cards in our possession but the #s were stolen and used without our knowledge. It's more common then you might think to have it done that way. I'm glad you got it taken care of.

 

[prncess674]

True, but you still wouldn't need a wad of hundreds for that. The only thing I would have paid cash for out of your list is the latte, lunch, dinner, and taxi and the only time your visa would have been out of your site I would think would be for dinner. To each their own.

Okay a wad of twenties. I had my purse stolen last year and had $200 in cash since I was on a biz trip and wasn't sure if the taxis would take credit. The theif was using my cards, those charges were easily reversed by AMEX, no one replaced my $200 in cash.

 

[Metsfan520]

Thinking about it there have been a lot of reports on the boards over the years about fraudulant charges to their Disney Visa card without it being stolen. I don't know if that is coincidence that we are on a Disney board so lots have that card or if there might be an internal problem with Chase and Disney Visa cards.

I think because this is a Disney board you read about problems with the disney visa here. I've had one for years, used it at Disney, and haven't had any fraud issues with it. I've had issues with other cards, just see one of my other posts on this thread.

 

[angwill]

lol, I was just giving you a hard time. My father actually used to carry a wad of hundreds with him all the time. He lost it more than once as well and drove my mother nuts.

I suppose I would be leary if I ever had my purse stolen too but I just prefer to have some cash on me. I also always pay cash in restaurants just to be on the safe side. I have never had fraudulant charges on my Visa either. There are also places I use my Visa as well and then just pay it off at the end of the month. Then there are people who don't have the will power not to use the Visa to meet their wants and get themselves in trouble.

 

[Coach K]

This happened to me last year. It wasn't a Disney card though. They charged 2 gift cards at a Macy's in Ohio and a roundtrip airline ticket from Vietnam to Bangkok! The people at the credit card company were great in reversing the charges.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

A few years ago, I had a credit card with a zero balance that hadn't been used in a while. I got my monthly e-mail reminder that my statement was available. I *knew* I had a zero balance but for some odd reason decided to check it anyway. And there was a balance of about $1000 (I can't really remember the amount, but I remember it was at least $700 or more) Of course, I immediately contacted Capital One and they were great about it and removed the charges. Someone had charged plane tickets to Ireland or something???? I have NO idea how someone got the card info because like I said, I hadn't used it in a while and hadn't used it online.

 

[cinderella97]

This happened to me a couple of months ago with my Disney Visa also. Only Chase caught it, and called me. They said someone was physically running my card through machines in NY. I am in MN and we had all of our cards here. I was glad Chase caught it so quickly, but I am still having a couple of issues with autopay items to my credit card, that I forgot to switch over to the new card, whoops.

Same thing happened to us last month. My disney visa was used at BJ's in new York. Obviously we don't live any where NY. Disney caught it and called us
they charged $900 and $43. We had our cards on us too

 

[seashoreCM]

No need to jump up and down and turn red and sweaty in the face.

Just dispute the charges instantly in the normal fashion when the bill arrives (or sooner if you get wind of something fishy sooner).

No need to deal first with the merchant in good faith if the charge is obviously bogus such as from a merchant you never heard of or an impossible transaction such as more gas than your car can hold.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[elgerber]

Same thing happened to us last month. My disney visa was used at BJ's in new York. Obviously we don't live any where NY. Disney caught it and called us
they charged $900 and $43. We had our cards on us too

Were you at Disney shortly before this happened? Just curious.

 

[KNJWDW]

Same thing happened to us last month. My disney visa was used at BJ's in new York. Obviously we don't live any where NY. Disney caught it and called us
they charged $900 and $43. We had our cards on us too

Add us to this list. The same thing happened to our Disney Visa in November. We live in WI, but someone was making charges in NY. The fraud dept at Chase is great, though. They contacted us the same day the charges were made and then took care of closing the account, getting cards quickly, etc. I would love to know how these thiefs do this stuff and exactly where they are getting our numbers from.

Amy

 

[thebeesknees]

Us, too. In 8 years of marriage, we've had our Discover card reissued 4 times due to fraud. Once, we caught it after shopping at Target and DH checked our statement online and wanted to know why I had bought 6 $100 gift cards. I hadn't, of course, and Discover were able to tell us that it was keyed in right after I had shopped there, so we are pretty sure it was an employee who stole my info. Never had trouble getting the charges reversed. That is why I am more likely to use my CC than cash - if cash gets stolen, no one is going to replace it for me.

 

[bettymae1121]

It's anoying, but nothing to be all that worried about. I'd be more upset if I had a ton of cash on me and lost my wallet. CC companies just reverse the charges, no one replaces lost cash.

I use my CC for 99% of all purchases (pay it off each month) and in 13 years of using major credit cards, I've only had one problem with fraud (just this past year, actually). I use it at gas stations, restaurants, online, and lots of other "risky" places. I'm sure luck has something to do with it, but I feel perfectly safe using my CC anywhere. The worst than can happen is what happened when I had fraud over this past summer. Chase cancels my card and mails me a new one and I fill out a form and fax it in to have the fradulant charges reversed. The most inconvienant part was being without a CC for a few days while I waited for the new one.

 

[jmpellet]

I'm wondering if somehow Chase was compromised since it happened to my Disney one also last month. I was online at Chase and noticed a charge at Wal-mart. When I called Chase it was from across the country! We still have the card and didn;t lose it but the CS agent said a card was swiped at the store.

 

[DVCBELLE]

No need to jump up and down and turn red and sweaty in the face.

Just dispute the charges instantly in the normal fashion when the bill arrives (or sooner if you get wind of something fishy sooner).

No need to deal first with the merchant in good faith if the charge is obviously bogus such as from a merchant you never heard of or an impossible transaction such as more gas than your car can hold.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

Are you talking to me? I was really calm about it...I called the credit card and they took care of it - I don't think anywhere on here I said anything to indicate this - "No need to jump up and down and turn red and sweaty in the face"

I was just posting my experience to remind everyone it is a good idea to keep an eye on your credit cards!

 

[fac]

A few years ago, I had a credit card with a zero balance that hadn't been used in a while. I got my monthly e-mail reminder that my statement was available. I *knew* I had a zero balance but for some odd reason decided to check it anyway. And there was a balance of about $1000 (I can't really remember the amount, but I remember it was at least $700 or more) Of course, I immediately contacted Capital One and they were great about it and removed the charges. Someone had charged plane tickets to Ireland or something???? I have NO idea how someone got the card info because like I said, I hadn't used it in a while and hadn't used it online.

this happened to me as well.
I have a citi card that I had not used for over 1 years, I accidentally found out it was charged for some HP computer requipments. It was over $2000. Not only someone stole the number, they even managed to change the address, hence I would not know if I didn't check my balance online.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

A few years ago, our bill showed a bunch of $100 charges made to a company in Australia. It also included charges for currency exchange. We saw the charges as soon as we got our bill and reported it. A guy in the fraud department called us back and said he had a few questions. He said, "These charges were made in January. Why didn't you report them until February?" I said, "Because we got our bill in February and we didn't notice them until then. We called you the same day we got our bill." He said, "OK, well I guess that makes sense." I know you can check your charges online, but is everyone expected to do that every single day? They did remove the charges, close the account and issue us new cards.

 

[SandrA9810]

Things like identity monitor are great too. It's expensive at about 100$ a year. But it's nice being able to log into one site and view the balance of all the cards each month. It's also helpful for CC that you no longer use, and don't have access to it online. And it keeps you up to date with any one that runs your credit.

Plus it keeps you up to date with your credit score. So you can check what your score is before you decide to use it for any financing.

 

[disneymarie]

To buy $1700

It was my Disney Visa - I called them and they were awesome - they immediately cancelled all of my cards, took off the charge and are sending out new cards.

I was so glad I caught it so quickly - the charge went through on the 13th and I went on tonight to pay my bill and thought the balance was REALLY high. Had they made the charge tomorrow - it would have taken me a lot longer to catch it!!

I had several issues, and now ask for either photo ID on cards in hand, and a password use, or the code on the card for other purchases. I try to call the order, and make sure they are asking for my code phrase or code on the back of the card.

But putting the photo ID to be required has helped.
In PA a child over 10 can get a state pa dl photo ID card at any licensing site.

 

[MrsPete]

Some of the clerks that worked at the 7-11 had written down about a 100+ credit card numbers of people with in state license plates, they had put the information on a individual 3X5 notecard and put all the notecards on a big silver ring. Each time they had a customer come in and pay with cash, they would flip to the next card, fraudulently run the credit card transaction and pocket the cash . . . Now for the sucky part....the employees got probation.

Unbelievable. Probation?