another credit card fraud!!!

[Arkteia]

Ok this is the card I have been using frequently. Which is very easy for me. I got an email today notifying me that a transaction had been declined. I am not naming the bank because it is so fresh and is investigated, but it is not Citi.

It was sheer luck - I used this card an hour before that transaction in my home town. The next transaction happened at another state, so it was easy to figure out that I probably could not move 500 miles away in one hour. The transaction itself was mundane, albeit not small, at a very common spot, and would not raise a red flag otherwise.

I spoke to the guy from the fraud department. He said that it is very easy to forge a credit card, and it is a commonplace thing. Of course they are going to go through all my transactions and issue another card, but of all the places at which it had been used, I could remember only one that looked fishy to me (it is an online website). But with the same degree of success it could be a food delivery place at my home town. Or Nordstrom Rack.

(Speaking of Nordstrom - it has a nasty habit of asking you not the last four, but the last six digits of your SSN. I have a card with them, which I sometimes forget at home, so to verify, they would ask me a six-digit number. I refused to do it and they said that Nordstrom had these rules. Very unsafe rules, I'd say.)

I do not have much hope that the bank that had issued my credit card will find the thief because apparently it is such a commonplace thing. Good that they have noticed it, and even their analysis of my credit card activity shows professionalism, but since the situation with this card is totally different from what Irishgirrl has, I have little hope that these guys will be found.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Wow, Crasru, that IS awful! You have to wonder how they got your card number, and did they make a fake card that's identical to yours or did they just use the number for a transaction that was entered manually (like online or over the phone)? It sounds like your credit card company believes they made a fake card and actually swiped the card at a store. It's amazing that they can do that! I hope your bank does an investigation and finds this person.

 

[Tuckins1]

Oh no! I'm glad you were able to catch it early!

 

[Arkteia]

No, they made an actual copy of my credit card. The guy from the fraud department said it was a well-known business. As to online service, it is even easier. That is why one of jeweler companies advised me not to send all information in one email - send the number in one, your name on the card in the other one, etc. etc. But this was a big and reputable company. Sending information via several emails could potentially protect you from hackers, not from someone within a company.

And since I use this card quite often, typically its use in a chain department store inside the US would not raise an eyebrow. It could be used for several days and the damage would be done to the CC company. By sheer luck, it was used an hour before.

 

[lyra]

I watched a segment on the news about this sort of thing. It doesn't have to be the case that you used your card at a questionable place at all. What is happening more and more is legit business are being robbed of the point-of-sale machines. So say a restaurant you went to was robbed, the thieves take the hard drive out of the machine and from there they can get both credit card and debit card info, hundreds of numbers at a time. Kind of shocking really. Makes you want to use cash for everything. Apparently stores are not going public about being robbed so that consumers aren't afraid to shop there, but it happens most frequently at grocery stores believe it or not.

 

[yssie]

Gosh, I'm sorry Crasru!


An actual copy of your credit card... that's ridiculous, and awful I'm so glad they caught it early!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

This is so scary! It's also why I check all of my CCs and accounts on a daily basis..can't be to sure!

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you all for your support. Lyra, this is a very important piece of information. Thank you very much.