Visa caught fraudulent activity on debit card

[Heluvsme]

Visa called today, said they noticed activity on my dh's debit card/Visa in Delaware and New Jersey (we live in Kentucky, work in Ohio). Thankfully they caught it before too much was charged.

My dh has never used it onlne, ever! I suppose it was taken from a store or restaurant. ??? Who knows. If only these criminals would use their powers for good and not evil....


I HATE CRIMINALS!!!

 

[scootch]

A gas station tried using mine. Not sure what company you have but we have chase and they are great about catching things.

 

[smitch425]

A gas station tried using mine. Not sure what company you have but we have chase and they are great about catching things.

Chase caught a fraudulent charge on my Disney Visa a couple weeks ago. They called me on a Sunday and said someone tried to charge a bunch of stuff at an Apple store in CT. They declined the charge. They canceled my card after giving them my permission and FedExed me new cards immediately. I had them in hand by Tuesday. They handled everything perfectly. Not sure where the theft took place, but two of DH's coworkers also got calls that week. One with Chase and one with a different bank, so we are guessing that it's possible it was done at a restaurant they eat lunch at. It is impossible to know which one though, so I guess there is nothing we can do. Glad Chase was on top of things. Couldn't be happier with them.

 

[Heluvsme]

That's great about Chase!

Ours is through a credit union which is through his employer, we can't talk to a representative until tomorrow morning, in the meantime Visa has halted his card number.

It's just such a headache!!! What gives these thieves such a sense of entitlement?!?!?

 

[MisWal]

Chase caught fraudulant activity on ours also! Glad they were watching because it was on a card we we had not used for about 6 months.

 

[Belle5]

Chase caught fraud on ours twice in two months. We had to be sent cards both times.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Chase caught fraudulent activity on my Southwest Visa in the fall. The fraudulent charge was attempted at 10:30am. They called me less than an hour later, asked if I had made these online purchases. I told them no. They cancelled my card immediately and had a new one sent to me. I was really impressed by how quickly they caught it and acted on it.

 

[CC12005]

Today Chase let someone withdraw $4,500 in cash, in person from a teller, from one of their branches halfway across the country from us. When I called they said they couldn't do anything until the transaction settled on my account. Um, hello, I thought they would want to prevent any further fraudulent activity on my account. Had to go into a branch. The Chase rep was helpful & nice. But it even took him 3 calls to get anywhere with my account. The fraud dept. told him they had to wait until the activity fully posted. Finally, he just closed my account himself. I think it's bad they not only let someone cash a phony check in person at their branch, but then wouldn't try to stem their losses. :

 

[packofjedis]

My cc (don't remember which kind, but it's one we very rarely use) was apparantly made a copy of and taken to Scotland!! They tried to use it to buy rail tickets and in a store and used it at an ATM (hence it being a real card and not online purchases). The cc people called and wanted to know if I was in Scotland....uh no! And if my cc is going on a trip to Scotland, I'm going with it!

It was a card we hardly ever used, but she said they had probably copied it a long time ago and were waiting to use it.

The fraud units of cc companies are really good about these things. They seem to catch them really quickly.

 

[MrsPete]

Discover Card caught fraudulent activity before I had any idea of what was going on. I was very pleased with their service.

I've heard that the #1 place to have your card number stolen is at a restaurant -- you know, the waiter takes your card away from the table, and it's in his possession for a good 5-10 minutes. How hard is it to jot down a number? I've also heard just recently that the new thing is to take a picture of your card with a smart phone, then the criminal doesn't even have to write anything down. Also, the smarter criminals wait a couple months before they use your card -- or give it to someone else, someone with whom you've never had a bit of contact; then you'll have no clue where/when your number was stolen.

It's tough to be an honest person these days.
So many bad people out there are working to defraud what's yours.

 

[Heluvsme]

MrsPete, you're right. Visa told us restaurants are a source, but the large numbers are found in the "attachments" thieves attach to the credit card machines at gas stations and ATM's. They can put on a "reader" and leave it there for just a couple hours, then voila! They instantly have hundreds of card #'s. She said they take the numbers home, they make new cards with them, and put on different names, then sell them in other countries many times for $20.

Last night when I was googling what steps I should take next, there were sites, (I swear!) that listed stolen credit cards for sale for $3.50. Really??? OMG!! It infuriates me!! We work so hard to have the money we have, to live the life we live, to build the credit rating we have, so that lazy, take-the-easy-way-out criminals don't have to!! It just kills me.

Thankfully our credit union is taking care of this, we are not responsible for the charges, but we all are ultimately responsible and we all ultimately pay for this. Bank fees, credit card interest rates and annual fees---they are what they are because of idiot criminals who do this kind of thing. Makes my blood boil!!!

 

[Sagginit]

chase is trying to be on top of it but they are just doing an ok job if you ask me. i had my card number stolen in the fall, i had just been on vacation so i was not that surprised since as mentioned i had used it at many restaurants (but for me this was safer than carrying hundreds of dollars around casinos in LV). the person placed a phone order to a sporting specialty store in another state. what i actually caught was the refund and the name was vague so i actually thought the original charge was one of the restaurants and could not figure out why they had refunded my meal. they were quick to close my account and investigate but they card took over a week to get to me, they did not overnight it as promised and i had to put all automatic billing on one CC and then switch it back which was a pain.

well last week i tried to purchase concert tickets and my chase visa kept declining. almost a week later they call me to tell me they suspect fraud. i call in and they ask me to verify charges from two weeks ago. now im baffled. so i get a rep and they tell me it was the ticketmaster charge they blocked, not the ones they asked me to verify! i know why they did it but i was shocked they would block that charge but had let the one from the fall which was much more suspicious slip by. i think i must have my account on a watch list which is really annoying but what can you do.

 

[secretpantssam]

Last night when I was googling what steps I should take next, there were sites, (I swear!) that listed stolen credit cards for sale for $3.50. Really??? OMG!! It infuriates me!! We work so hard to have the money we have, to live the life we live, to build the credit rating we have, so that lazy, take-the-easy-way-out criminals don't have to!! It just kills me.

I think what bothers me the most is how little they think our credit is worth! $3.50??? insane!!

 

[MARCIAKAZ]

Bank of America has placed fraudulent activity stops on my account three separate times. The first two times, I found it annoying because my card was declined unexpectedly. It was easy enough to resolve with a phone call and answering a bunch of questions to prove I was me. The third time, though, someone had apparently got a hold of my card number (I suspect via an online purchase I made with a specific company) and tried to use to make a couple of large purchases and to reserve a hotel room. When I called that time, they imediately cancelled my card and I went to the local branch and got another one the same day.

Once there was really fraud, I realized that the "fraud stop" is a good thing It's still mysterious to me how the bank can recognize the fraud/potential fraud so fast!

 

[Mouse7116]

We have a Citi card and at one time had put our card away for a while and then needed it to make a major purchase. They called the same night to verify that it really was us making the purchase and not fraud.

Now we call to let the bank and credit card company know where and when we will be traveling so that activity isn't halted or declined for being suspicious. The have been very good at calling right away so it saves us some hassle. Once we forgot to let them know when we were leaving so one day we were approving our purchase in Disney and the next day talking to them that we had returned so we could pick up the dogs at the kennel.

I really shouldn't say it's a hassle. I really am appreciative that they pay attention to their accounts and act quickly.

 

[Sweettears]

All major credit cards have fraud protection systems. Before you give them too much credit for protecting you understand that they are doing so for their own benefit. Consumer protection laws put the liability on banks for fradulent charges. Consumers are never held responsible as long as the fradulent activity is reported in a timely manner. The banks end up eating the charges.

 

[rock_doctor]

IMHO the problem is the banks do not try to go after these people. So the thieves know that it will either work or not work there is no down side. My CC# was stolen and used to buy flowers from 1800flowers.com and he also bought a video game from England. In both cases the flower store had the address the flowers were sent to (in California) and the video game company had the IP address of the person who download the game. But since the banks don't bother going after these people they have nothing to loose. Once again the banks are the problem.

 

[Heluvsme]

Oh yikes, you're right rock doctor. We were told that most of these cases are NOT caught, and the ones you hear about on the news are the rarer cases... where a business has been hacked into and their customers' data base has been stolen, and their records of CC #'s. Rare. For us, the individuals who this happens to, it's too much trouble for them to go after the criminals.

And another poster is right too, the banks watch our trends, watch where the card is typically used, if it's out of state or a large purchase it sets off a red flag, but, while it does help us out, it's for their benefit, they eat the loss.

Ugh, doesn't it all make you want to bang your head against a wall??!!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

Often the merchant takes the loss when a purchase is made fraudulently with a card.

Sometimes a software company can invalidate the password or key code that went with software that was downloaded by a fraudulent buyer.

 

[Sweettears]

Often the merchant takes the loss when a purchase is made fraudulently with a card.

Sometimes a software company can invalidate the password or key code that went with software that was downloaded by a fraudulent buyer.

This is incorrect. There has to be some fraud or misrepresentation on the part of the merchant for them to take any liability. They aren't even required to verify the identity of the individual using the card. Ever see anyone check the signature anymore? What about self-checkout lanes or gas pumps?

99% of fraudelent transactions fall back to the issuing bank.