Victim of Fraud! ARGHHHHH!!!!! **UPDATE**

So I was just looking over my accounts as I do on a daily basis and one of my credit cards had an unusually high balance. So I looked a bit closer at the places of charging.......all places I do NOT go nor would ever go shopping or dining at. Hate to sound condescending but think "low-rent" places. I thought I had myself protected--fraud monitoring, flag my credit file with ALL three major credit reporting agencies, shred everything, etc, etc, etc, but now this. I just got off the phone with my bank and after taking a closer look she said, "you live in North Carolina, correct?" to which I said yes. She found this odd since they charges were made in NY/NJ!!!! And here is the best part.....I have the card in front of me! So now what? What can be done? I have no idea since this one caught me by surprise and thought I did everything to protect my self. SORRY FOR THE OT POST BUT I FIGURED AT LEAST SOMEBODY HERE HAD GONE THROUGH THIS BEFORE AND COULD SHED SOME LIGHT ON IT FOR ME. Thanks guys for any input My apologies again for the OT, but I just felt like I needed to rant and I know my goof friends of Rennlist would be supportive (for the most part )

Firstly commiserations. I had this happen about a year ago, although in my case all the charges were limited to an online gambing website based in FL - almost $1000 over two billing cycles. Citibank were great about it, killed the card and put a security stop on all charges from the site. Don't worry, they'll have it sorted in no time. As long as it's only limited to the card and not your identity, then all will be well. In this case the security stop will kill all charges to the card and they'll give you a new one.

You'll never have to pay anything on those charges - they should just give you a new card and cancel the fraudulent charges completely. I got a call from VISA last year when someone bought a stereo system in Wisconsin (I live in DC), and all they asked was whether I had my card in my possession or not. Oreganet is right - if it's just a card charge and not identity theft, you're good to go!

First, dispute the charges with your credit card company. They will refund you while they investigate the charges. The CC company will contact the merchant for documentation showing they verified your identity when making the charges. If they can't produce this, which in your case should be the result, the merchant is actually responsible. I have managed a major project for the Downstream side of Shell and this is one of the things that we dealt with. I have been through a similar thing overseas. One of my credit cards was copied at a merchant I visited in Singapore. My credit card company blocked the charges and my accoutn because it did not match my profile. They were kind enough to leave a message on my home. No, it didn't cost me a dime; but it was a little tight trying to survive the next week without the credit card. Yes, you will need to have your account changed.

sorry to here about your troubles dell there are a lot of low lifes out there a few years back someone got my cc# and bought pizza on 3 seperate occasions from a northern arizona pizza hut....quickly reversed by my cc company but still!!! ps don't knock me too bad for those charges at red lobster.... i thought i was livin; big dog style

Don't worry Dell. Reg E protects you from being responsible for any of the fraudulant charges. The Credit card company will just issue you a new card with new account number. Everyday occurance for them.

check out 997 borad, i believe someone was hit a few weeks ago. i was hit too, easy to deal with. no big deal.

had that happen to me, twice. You won't be responsible. I livein Jersey and someone was charging stuff to Illinois. Good thing you caught it though. Some people may just pay the bill and not look closely at the charges.

..what do you think we are Porsche owners!?!?!?

Sorry to hear about that, but the ironic thing is that there are SO many criminals out there doing this, the CC companies are forced to have quick, amicable responses to these situations. You should make out just fine. One thing, if you use that CC for automatic payments, make sure you move them to another CC after the one is canceled.

When mine happened it should have been a slam-dunk to catch them... call the online gaming company, trace back the info, maybe even an IP number and they're caught. I asked the CC company to let me know how my card had been compromised (as I'm also pretty careful). They did a lengthy investigation and prmoised that they had resolved it, but would not let me know how my card number got out into the wild. Pretty annoying, as it means that I bought from someone who could not be trusted and I never found out who it was.

Dell, I'm sorry to hear about the fraud. The same thing happened to me around Christmas 2004, only with a MasterCard check card that was connected to my account. I stopped at an ATM on my way to work one Monday morning and it declined my request stating lack of funds. When I got to work I pulled up my account online and found charge after charge after charge that had occurred between Friday and Monday until all available funds in my checking account were depleted. Funny enough it was similar to your situation - no high end stores. I can only assume they were purchasing gift cards that could be exchanged for cash as the charges were mostly even amounts. My bank couldn't have been any more understanding. They quickly issued me a credit for the fraudulent charges as well as a new ATM card. They also advised me to place a fraud alert on my profile at all three credit bureaus. Luckily it was a happy ending. Even so, I refused a new check card opting for only an ATM card. I hope everything works out for you. Jeff

Dell, that stinks. Happened to me last year....someone got my number somehow and went on a shopping spree in Queens. Big ticket items also...but Citi called me to verify the unusual activity and things were put straight shortly thereafter. Frankly, I don't know why credit cards don't mandate usage of a PIN nowadays to help minimize all the theft. Anyhow, it's a bit of a hassle, but I'm sure you'll be in good form in no time. You may want to have one of the credit agencies flag your account anyhow for the next 6 months to ensure that nothing more out of the ordinary takes place without your express validation.

2K in escort charges on mine, bank caught it because I was buying lunch in san diego at the time and magically my card somehow got swiped ~2 mintues later in LA. Never caught them never even asked any questions just sent me a new cad and erased the charges.

It happened to me a couple of times. The most recent incident occurred about 3 years ago when I lived in Dallas and figured it would be cheaper to send mother's day flowers to my mother-in-law by calling a local florist on the south side of Chicago than go through FTD. I saved a few bucks and the M.I.L. was delighted with the flowers. However, a week later someone when on a high end basketball shoe shopping spree. They bought about 10 pairs of Nikes, etc. and ran up a $1300 bill. I figured I was gaffled by someone at the friendly neighborhood local florist but couldn't prove it. American Express was very cooperative and it didn't cost me a dime.

Monitor other cards or better yet, cancel and replace all cards. Report fraud alert to bureau. Some one stole the card number. It's common and an easy scam.

They bought about 10 pairs of Nikes, etc. and ran up a $1300 bill. I figured I was gaffled by someone at the friendly neighborhood local florist but couldn't prove it. The system in place now invites fraud. All you need is someones credit card number, which is very easy to obtain, and you are in business. Your fraud monitoring did you a look of good, right? I mean didn't the purchase of ten pairs of Nikes in another state raise just a little bit of suspicion. My credit card company does a good job of monitoring unusual charges. My wife flew into New Hampshire for a business trip and used our personal credit card to rent a car. About 15 minutes after she rented the card, I get a call from my credit card company wanting to know if the charge was legitimate.

Dell, that really sucks! But like others have stated, you won't be responsible for the fraudulent charges! Just make sure you review next months bill for dditional charges. The credit card company will make it right. BTW - thanks for the PSE, RoW M030, and the side skirts I bought in NJ/NY!

Some companies are better than others. My father received a call from American Express due to a suspicious charge... We live in New York and there was a charge for a dinner in New Jersey. Poor poor garden state... I guess they figure if you live in NY why the hell would you buy food in NJ...

Happened to me once too. I still haven't figured out how they got my card number.

I'm baffled as well. Have no idea since I have the card in my posession and the strangest part is that card is NEVER used. It's a back up card that we never use unless there is a reason that we can't use our PRIMARY card.

There's a good reason why the CC companies will never (or shouldn't) tell you what they find with their investigation. They don't want to let on about ways to defraud them.

Exactly my situation, that card was always kept in a safe and used only for the purchase of Airline tickets online. But years before I used the card a bit more frequently.

Dell, that once happened to me, a waiter swiped my card in some device and got my info. The next thing I knew I had all kinds of charges at varying ****holes. It only takes a minute, whenever you hand your card off somebody can corrupt it easily. Cops told me it happens all the time, be suspicious whenevr a waiter takes way too long with your card. Good luck, took me months to straighten it all out. C

Happened to me two weeks ago. I got a call from my bank about suspicious card activity. Sure enough someone had gone on a shopping spree in Montreal. I live in Indiana and haven't been to Montreal in about 20 years. The bank issued a new card and now all seems to be fine.

Me too. Some Arabic sounding name making Wester Union withdrawals in London. $1700.00 a pop. Bought a lap-top and a plasma too. Rat bastards.

You'd think the CC companies would want to protect themselves better that this. I had no idea this many people have had fraud on their CC. I only expected to get a couple replies. And this is ONLY a 996 specific forum. Very sad. Sounds like the CC just chalk it up to normal operating expenses.

It's less expensive for the CC companies to just pay the fraudulent charges then try an go after the criminals, so it just keeps happening. The only thing you can do is exactly what you are doing, just monitor your charges closely. Many times credit card fraud comes from within the CC company, that's how they get your number then using blank cards they stamped your number on it and away they go.

I hate it b/c you just feel so violated

last 2 times it happened to me, my cards were declined in a high-end female leather good store. we didn't dress nicely. so the store associates were a little uneasy on us.

OK, my story. A few years ago, after a short visit to NYC, about a month passes and I notice a charge on a cc statement that was not mine. I got online and started probing, and found it was a satellite dish company, and a whole crate full of gear was purchased under MY name, using a fraudulent email address and some address in Brooklyn. The satellite company even SENT ME the copy of the order in their system. I decided to contact the NYPD after I dealt with the cc company. Funny story: the NYPD gives me the investigator desk in that area of Brooklyn, I tell the guy the story, he's interested, I send him the documents via fax with all the info, he contacts the satellite company who has prepared to ship everything already. Apprarently the NYPD gets a fake UPS truck and driver, and tries to deliver the ill-gotten goods to the thief. Of course, the thief had things delivered to a neighbor so he would not be there to sign and get nabbed. Eventually they caught the guy for something else, I never heard what happened to him, but I believe my card was swiped at a restaurant in NY where the waiter used that machine to get the #s and had the card made a day or two later. I was not on the hook for anything the thief ordered, and got a new card a few days later.

This has happened to me about 4 times. Once charges appeared in Indian Rupees! I was able to figure out that a restaurant bill that I signed and left on the table was stolen off the table. Few days later someone went shopping at Kmart and Food shopping and filled up their tank and...meanwhile I'm using my car at the exact same time in New Jersey. Pin numbers for all credit card transactions would cure all of this. But the credit card companies make money on fraud somehow. Otherwise they would have instituted pin numbers long ago. Why do they require them when using a debit card and bypass it for credit cards? Makes no sense unless they get their 15% commision on the fraudulent charges and pass the 85% off on their customers via higher interest rates and fees.

So true.....a PIN requirement would prevent it all. Gas stations are protecting themselves now by requiring you to enter your billing zip code when paying at the pump. I accidentally entered the wrong zip code and it not only declined me but I was shut out of the other pumps as well!

You put in your old Las Vegas address, didn't you?!

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/banghead.gif

PIN number WOULD NOT protect you from fraud. The easiest and biggest current fraud of electronic transactions is the use of a device that not only captures your card r number and everything else encoded on the card , but also your pin number (in the case of debit cards). You can buy these devices for $35 and they are idetical looking to a normal card reader. Merchants are busted regularly for this. Obviously, larger, more reputable retailers are less likely to be found with these. Credit Card companies make no money from fraud. Their pricing of the card (fees and or interest on carried balances as well as merchant changes), are priced higher than they would normally be to help offset the risk of fraud. There are dozens of variables to determine pricings, such as tax benefit to help offset the writeoff. NOTE: If you ever get a call from a collection agency on a credit card, your credit card company most probably has already written off the loss and is no longer persuing you. It has sold your account to a collection agency for a discount on the amount owed. They make their money on whatever they collect. Most often, settling an outstanding debt byt paying a collection agency will not remove the scare from your credit report......so why pay? Few, but some CC's handle their own collections.

I feel like asking for a new credit card number just to preempt anyone who might currently have my card number.

How true! Storage of pins, CVV/CIV(the 3-4 digit code on your card) is forbidden. Storage of credit card #'s must be done in encrypted format. The major CC companies are writing off the GDP of a small country every year in fraud charges. A conservative estimate is that each account closure/card re-issue costs them $70-$100 in addition to the fraudulent charges. My point? Got home last night to a letter from my CC company thanking me for staying with them. Since I keep that card in a safe and haven't charged anything on it for quite some time and haven't talked to them, I called them to discover that someone had tried to make some unauthorized changes to my account. There's another card cancel/re-issue and $40 to myfico.com for a current credit history.

Dell I was recently coming home via a cab, drunk (always find the safe way home) and I was pretty out of it but I suspected that I had been double swiped on a $15 flat fee cab ride. Well I looked at my statement online a few days later, and, surprise surprise, I had been double swiped. then triple swiped. then been swiped a FOURTH time. All in all, about $60. Now, not nearly as much as you may have been ripped out of (and I suppose that was the cabby's intent - he was hedging his bets that I was drunk enough to not remember the cab ride - he was dead wrong (I have never been that drunk) - I called mastercard, blah blah blah - they said "okay sir, we'll take care of it" - get a call a week later saying they had talked to the cab company, had the records, etc etc... And that my card was now once again no longer locked down and that it had all been sorted out. What I'm trying to say, is although it may be a pain, trust that it will all work out. Card companies make quite a bit of money off of clients, and if the places charged to your card were so 'low rent' then you must be putting a lot of money through that card? In which case, the company is collecting a fair bit from the places you go to... Etc etc. Basically, you're a great customer It should all be just fine. On another note, I went to London and spent on my card for two months. when I came back to Canada, it no longer worked. It was a half hour on the phone, to get it re-activated, which was bothersome, but it gave me peace of mind knowing that they watch out for those sorts of things. Good luck Dell!

Dell, Things like this happen all the time but it sucks everytime it happen to you. Your credit card company will take notice that the charges are bogus and they will eventually get you back on track again. They don't want to lose you as a customer. Don't sweat it.

I just looked online and I think they (the bank) might have zero'd out the ENTIRE account to zero. I'll just sit tight and see what happens. I may end up ahead when all is said and done

If you can live with that, then go ahead, but, I very much doubt that. What happened in my case, I made a phone call on the plane over glasgow which was approved, short call, and then it was denied somehow later? They just rang through the charge again a few weeks later. They'll make it all correct.

Quick, go to your local Porsche dealer and ask them to put a $30k deposit on your card for a new order in the future. Maybe that will get zero'd out too!

I just put $106K down on the card on a GT3

I'll add my little story of how I noticed charges on my AMEX card for International Airline flights originating in Canada and landing in Europe. I live near NYC. I call Amex and they cancel the charges etc. It happens a second and third time. New cards each time. So the thing that kills me is that a passenger name is associated with each of these tickets and with just a little invesigative work with all the airport security, photo ID's that must be presented when buyng and using these tickets you would think they could track down the scum that does this. I said to Amex leave the card active and next time they book a flight in advance just nab them at the gate. I don't think anything became of that little idea and I must agree these companies don't seem inclined to pursue this fraud too vigoroursly. Sorry for your pain LVdell- the whole thing sucks.

Thanks Dave! I had no idea so many of us have been victims. But, everybody has really helped me understand that this is more common than I thought. Appreciate all the support my Rennlist brothers

This may have ben said, but you need to (at some frquency)...just change your cards. It is a PIA unless you set yourself up to do this as a process (know what payments are made, how to update card numbers online, etc.)

Sorry to hear about it. I had my identity stolen a few years back and if it wasn't for my doorman paying attention I would never have found out and the thieves would have made off with a Rolex and other items ordered on my credit. You can request a password on all your credit card accounts, bank accounts, and a fraud alert at all 3 credit agencies. If you think they have your SS# and vital stats, then filing a police report for your own files isn't a bad idea.

pin numbers could be stolen by merchants but the widespread use of pin numbers would drastically cut down on fraud. Unless of course virtually every medium to small merchant is engaging in pin number theft? Yet as I said before the credit card companies seem to be in no rush at all to cut down the massive scale of fraud and the hassles it causes their clients by implementing some manner of password/pin number to all of their customers and not just the ones who request it. There are long lists of dirty deeds by the major credit card companies, at the end of the day they are a volume business. Are we sure that they don't keep the 15% of fraudulent charges they get from merchants who are almost always fully remimbursed for their goods?

Even if a PIN would slow down fraud, the cost of maintaining such a system would most probably offset any savings due to the reduction in fraud. Build a better mouse trap and the mouse eventually gets smarter. And I have no idea what 15% you are referring to.

the UK has recently implemented a full chip and pin set up whereby the pin is encoded in a chip on a smart card Retailers over there have had a pretty good transition overall and it apparently has made a postive impact on fraud http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=14367

I had the CC company call me once when someone tried to buy 5k worth of Landscaping stuff in London, UK. Denied and I got a new card right away.

So, here's an update. Just spoke to the CC company and I figured out why they really don't care about crap like this is that she informed me that the merchant will be responsbile for the fraud purchases. It's almost like the CC companies want there to be fraud. Either way, they get paid. Further, she said that the transaction shows the card was actually swiped! Funny since I have it in my hand right now. Said it could be a "created card" with my info on the magnetic strip and have any name on the front they want so it can match up with an ID. Of course, as most have commented, I was refunded the ENTIRE amount back and issued a new card. Just sucks to see low-life scum get away with this.

You hit the nail on the head.. they really don't care. Not only do they just chargeback the Merchant, but they charge them a fee too, usually between $18 and $38. So, the emphasis really is on the Merchant and that's really tough for online businesses. Even if you have a signed UPS delivery slip, if it's not signed by the card holder, then the CC company won't take your side. The only company that puts any effort into fraud prevention or follow up is AMEX, but even then here's a horror story. A guy bought sofware from me online using an AMEX card. He installed the software on his server so I had a log. There was a chargeback so I looked at the install log and called the owner of the website. He gave me some BS about some guy offered him this software cheap and he paid him cash.. inconceivable. So I called the card holder, and it turns out that they had PURCHASED from that website. In other words, I proved that someone was taking their CUSTOMERS Amex cards, and using them fraudulently. Amex did nothing. Keith

sad. truly sad.

Merchants are not charged back the fraudulant transactions if they have followed acceptable screening of the purchaser. These procedures are established by the CC's and can inlcude a simple comparison of signatures, other ID, security code on the back of the card, validation of transaction with CC, etc. If these checks prove valid, the merchant IS NOT liable for any fraudulant transactions, regardless of amount. Once validation is received from the CC, merchant is off the hook.

Whoah, they made card with your info? Any idea where they got it? Ordering online is pretty safe, but I am always leery of when there is a person in between you and the transaction, like when they can just call up your account on the computer at the counter after you leave, or ordering over the phone.

.. but the good news is, as a consumer it doesn't affect you other than the pain-in-the-*** factor of closing an account and changing any direct debit arrangments you have. Even if it's a debit VISA, not a credit card, a decent bank will have the money back in your account within days of notification. The problem is HUGE and the it's cheaper for the CC companies to either screw over the Merchant, or eat it. The FBI won't investigate credit card fraud unless ACTUAL losses to a single part are > $500,000. Keith

The agent told me that somebody can "capture" the info on the magnetic strip on the back of your car which has EVERYTHING......then they just make any card they want. Doesn't matter what the heck the card looks like b/c it is what is on the strip that matters. So they could put any name on the front to match a fake ID as well. They don't even need to know your name or what you look like. Very scary! What a pain in the **** this has been but still very painless and $0 liability for me.

It doesn't contain the CVV2 number though - that's the 3 or 4 digit number on the back which is effectively a PIN. It's insane that more vendors don't use the CVV2 as verification. To date it is the best way to ensure that someone has the card in their hand, as VISA will cut your nuts off if they discover an internet retailer that stores that CVV2 with the card number.. in theory the two are never in the same place at the same time apart from on the actual card. Keith

Theoretically the person that used a skimming device could write down your 3/4 digit number on the back when they skim it and them print on the new couterfeit card. Heck, I cannot even see the number on the back of my card anymore.

Dell: Just catching-up with this thread. Sorry to hear it happened to you. Yes it has happened to me as well, at least 5 times. Two of them (one Visa and one Amex) where actually commited by fraudulent employees of the CC company. I also want to point out that everyone should be very vigilant of their savings and checking accounts. A few years back, and yet another fraudulent employee at a reputable bank, was happy eating away little by little at my (amongst other customers) savings and checking account... Bastards!