Credit Card Fraud!!!

[Irishgrrrl]

This is so creepy! Someone managed to get our credit card number and tried to use it for two charges of around $900.00 each at something called "All Request DJ Service" in Wisconsin! The first charge happened on Tuesday and it actually posted to our account. The second charge was attempted yesterday, but CitiBank was very suspicious by that time and didn't let the charge go through. They called me today and explained what was going on. I confirmed that DH and I absolutely DID NOT make those charges, and they assured me that they would remove the one that went through and continue to decline the second one. Also, they are closing our account and sending us new cards with new account numbers.

But here's where it gets REALLY creepy: Evidently, when CitiBank saw the second charge trying to post to our account yesterday, they declined the charge. The person then called CitiBank PRETENDING TO BE ME, and they called from a phone number in Canada that was somehow routed in such a way to make it look like they were calling FROM OUR HOME PHONE!!!

Fortunately, I guess CitiBank has some sort of system that can detect when a call isn't coming from where it says it's coming from, so they could tell it wasn't really us calling. It's bad enough to have someone steal your credit card number, but to call the credit card company impersonating you AND trying to make it look like they're calling from your house?!?! WTF?!?! I didn't even realize that was possible!!! And what's really bugging me is the fact that I have NO idea how this person got our account number. DH thinks it was stolen sometime when we used the card to buy something online, but we haven't used that card in a loooong time (like over six months). I would think that the jerk would have tried to use the account number right away, instead of waiting for several months? Does anyone have any idea as to how this happened and/or what else we should do (if anything)? Thanks!!!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

That is really scary At least CitiBank was onto the creep and didn't let any other charges go through. Since Citi has already cancelled your cards and issued new ones I would pull copies of your credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com and check them for any errors or unauthorized accounts. If there are any mistakes you'll want to dispute them; or if there are unauthorized accounts then place a freeze on your reports until you can get it figured out.

My debit card number was stolen earlier this month and luckily the credit union the card is issued through caught on and didn't allow any charges to hit my account. The account is used to pay our mortgage and that's about it so the c.u. knew it was fraud immediately when someone tried to use the card 9 times in a two day period - all for online purchases.

I hope everything works out for you and good luck!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I would think that the jerk would have tried to use the account number right away, instead of waiting for several months?

Not really. Most skilled credit card number thieves (aka, stealing numbers not physical cards) wait before using the card, as a way for the trail pointing to them to cool. If they use them immediately, the fraud department will quickly note that 10 people who fill up at XYZ station got their number stolen and investigate (eventually informing the police). If they wait 6 months, there will be a lot of other charges on the cards to mask them.

The phone routing part is what worries me, as it indicates that the fraudester have more information on you than just your CC number (at least your home phone number and probably enough data to feel that they will be able to answer security questions). I would also do a little internet research on how hard it is to disguise the phone number as described and if any special equipment might be necessary. If it is complicated or reguires technology, then perhaps you are dealing with organized ID theft.

Regardless, I think you should contact your local law enforcement and see what you have to do in case of ID theft and describe to them what happened.

I am so sorry, Irishgrrrl. Best of luck to you.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Diva ~ I just pulled credit reports for both me and DH from AnnualCreditReport.com, and both of our reports look OK. That's a big relief! And I'm glad your CU was so proactive when your debit card number got stolen! A credit card number being stolen is bad enough, but your debit card is tied to "real money" so that's much scarier!!!

Lady D ~ That makes sense about waiting to use the stolen card numbers . . . people are so devious! And I'm with you about the phone thing. That's what worries me the most. Of course, it's probably not hard to find our home phone number if you have our name, since we're in the phone book. But still . . . it's just CREEPY that they were able to do that! I'll definitely Google the procedure for routing the phone call like they did, and I'll call the local police department tomorrow and see what they suggest. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Tuckins1]

Wow, that is creepy. I think it's a good idea to monitor your credit reports for a while, there are many websites that offer this. When my purse was stolen I signed up for a monthly monitoring service and used it daily for a few months... It cost $15 per month, but it was worth it to me just to see if anything was popping up. Perhaps look into making some sort of safety question/word with your bank that has to be answered before any changes or account information can be discussed. I would be weirded out too, and being as overly careful as I am, I would probably get new CC #'s for all of my cards in case some creep has somehow hacked an account and gotten hold of any other personal info.

 

[Arkteia]

It happened to me quite a few years ago. I opened a joint account with my father, just to see how it would work (he is not a US citizen). The bank (Bank of America) was regularly sending me reports, I was very lazily perusing them... we are talking about $ 1K. And then one month (May, I think) I saw tiny sums being sliced off my account... $ 3.76, $ 4.57, etc. But on a daily basis. So we went to the bank, they traced it to a tiny coffee shop in Barcelona. They said that someone must have made a copy of our card and was using it there. They asked us not to close an account, leave a little bit so that they would be able to track the people down... We did not, and ended up with a minus balance. It took a long time to explain to Bank of America that we did not owe them the money... They did! They finally reimbursed us but never tracked these people down, or so they said. Bank of America was clearly not on top... did not notice anything. But the trick is, very small sums were taken off so it did not raise suspicion.

 

[Nashville]

How scary!!! Makes you wonder how people sleep at night. Not only the bad karma of stealing, but the constant looming threat of getting caught! Ugh.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Tuckins ~ Those are good ideas! I'll talk to DH and see what he thinks. I'm like you . . . I'd rather be TOO paranoid than not paranoid enough! LOL!

Crasru ~ Oh, that's so frustrating that they weren't able to catch the people! I soooo hope whoever tried to use our card gets caught and thrown in jail!

Nashville ~ I know, right??? How do they do it? I know I wouldn't be able to.


Out of curiousity, I logged onto our account online and went back over our old statements to see when the last time was that we actually used the card. I was hoping I might be able to see where we might have used it that the number could have been stolen. I could only see a year's worth of statements online, and I looked at all of them. It turns out that we haven't actually made a purchase with this card in OVER A YEAR!!! So whoever did this must have stolen the number over a year ago and waited this long to try to use the card! Unbelievable!

 

[Tuckins1]

Tuckins ~ Those are good ideas! I'll talk to DH and see what he thinks. I'm like you . . . I'd rather be TOO paranoid than not paranoid enough! LOL!

Crasru ~ Oh, that's so frustrating that they weren't able to catch the people! I soooo hope whoever tried to use our card gets caught and thrown in jail!

Nashville ~ I know, right??? How do they do it? I know I wouldn't be able to.


Out of curiousity, I logged onto our account online and went back over our old statements to see when the last time was that we actually used the card. I was hoping I might be able to see where we might have used it that the number could have been stolen. I could only see a year's worth of statements online, and I looked at all of them. It turns out that we haven't actually made a purchase with this card in OVER A YEAR!!! So whoever did this must have stolen the number over a year ago and waited this long to try to use the card! Unbelievable!

It's very creepy to think about how many people really have access to our personal information. Anytime you buy anything online or do online banking, you information is at risk of being seen. Think about doctors... now many of them have your medical records ONLINE!!! What if someone hacked that, they would have access to SS#, insurance info, health history, etc... Freaks me out when I really think about it!

 

[Steel]

Holy cow. How awful. I'm so glad your bank is proactive. Some people are scum; plain and simple.

 

[Amber St. Clare]

I'm so sorry you are going thru this. I had the same thing happen to me in the summer of 2001. Someone charged over $10,000. in airline tickets to my card. I have to say Citibank was on the ball because they contacted me right away saying that I've NEVER charged an ariline OR an amount even close to that amount in my lengthy history. they cancelled my acct. and issued me another card.

About 3 months later I got a bill from Saks for an expensive Gucci bag. My phantom shopper had struck again.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Tuckins ~ It is creepy! And the medical records thing is just plain scary!

Steal ~ I was soooo glad CitiBank called us right away! I thanked the lady profusely . . . if she hadn't called, we never would have known. I don't know how people can do things like this and sleep at night!

Amber ~ OMG, that's awful! I'm glad CitiBank caught yours early too! And then to get that bill from Saks . . . WOW!!! Did they ever catch the person?

 

[yssie]

 

[Amber St. Clare]

Tuckins ~ It is creepy! And the medical records thing is just plain scary!

Steal ~ I was soooo glad CitiBank called us right away! I thanked the lady profusely . . . if she hadn't called, we never would have known. I don't know how people can do things like this and sleep at night!

Amber ~ OMG, that's awful! I'm glad CitiBank caught yours early too! And then to get that bill from Saks . . . WOW!!! Did they ever catch the person?

The credit card company told me it was resolved but wouldn't give me any info about who was responsible. They said the person was defrauding them, not me.

 

[Lauren8211]

OMG IG! That is so messed up!

I'm glad it all got figured out, but that is seriously terrifying. What an invasion of privacy!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Yssie ~ I know, right???

Amber ~ That's basically the same thing Citi is telling me. They said they are investigating the situation, and that they can't release any information to me unless/until the investigation is complete. If/when the investigation IS complete, I doubt they'll tell me anything.

Elle ~ It seriously is! I'm very weirded out by this! The fact that they tried to make it look like they were calling Citi from my home phone, and the fact that they were able to get my credit card number even though I haven't used that card in over a year . . . UGH!!! And I checked with Citi to see what the person said when they called Citi. Of course, they couldn't really tell me, but they said the person "may" have known my mother's maiden name. Her maiden name is VERY unique, so that creeps me out too!

 

[Arkteia]

I am making my own post because of what happened to my credit card today.
But I just want to make a comment - these days people need a lot of money. Mostly, sadly, for drugs. So you are right, it can happen anywhere. At first when I read "at the doctor's office", I said to myself, no way, because we all have credit card machines. But then I remembered some people working as office managers at different places who I knew were on drugs. So yes, you are looking for a weird online venture... and it can be someone close. Very sad.

 

[Autumnovember]

Thats so weird. I actually know how they were able to call your credit card company making it look like your phone number. There is a website that uses something called a spoof card. You enter the phone number you want to appear on the caller id of the person you are calling. It's really creepy. SO and I were in Mexico for ten days and when we came home we found out someone put 1500$ on our CC at a home depot in Mexico. Luckily, American Express stands by their customers very well and did a full investigation and we didn't have to pay for anything.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Crasru ~ I'll have to check out your thread . . . sounds horrible!

Autumn ~ I looked into the phone thing, and you're right! I think that must be exactly what they did. I have to wonder why websites like that even exist? It's GOT to be illegal! And I'm glad AmEx took care of you when that happened to you. I swear, if these people would put as much effort into making money legitimately as they do into ripping people off, they wouldn't need to rip people off!!!

 

[lilyfoot]

FWIW, there is also an iPhone application that does the same thing (makes it look like someone's calling from whatever number they put in, instead of their own).

 

[Autumnovember]

Crasru ~ I'll have to check out your thread . . . sounds horrible!

Autumn ~ I looked into the phone thing, and you're right! I think that must be exactly what they did. I have to wonder why websites like that even exist? It's GOT to be illegal! And I'm glad AmEx took care of you when that happened to you. I swear, if these people would put as much effort into making money legitimately as they do into ripping people off, they wouldn't need to rip people off!!!

Yeah, its CRAZY! It is bound to be made illegal at some point. I've had people do it to me before and it has really creeped me out. So sorry you went through that.

 

[FrekeChild]

That really sucks for you Irish.

I have to say though, sometimes these places are too...vigilant. We went through a mess earlier this year when I was job hunting, and ordering clothes and shoes off of the internet (the selection in NM sucks) on my dad's Visa. I ordered everything from places I had ordered before. The only difference was that there were several purchases made in a couple of days. My dad had given me full permission to make these purchases on his card, and knew about them. Well Visa called him at his office, and he had no idea WHERE I had purchased from, so when they started listing where the charges were coming from (AMAZON was one of them) he didn't recognize any of them. He called me, I told him to get the names and when he called them back, they said they had already cancelled the card because of a miscommunication between him and then. Unfortunately my dad LIVES on this card (pays off the balance every month) and he was up $#!+ creek, with payments that are recurring and the fact that he literally uses this card to buy everything (stupid frequent flyer rewards). 4 months later I'm still having to deal with fixing this stuff. (I deal with his finances.)

Then the other day, Visa fraud detection went off again. Why? Because my dad sent in an extra $1k to pay towards next month's bill.

Yes, it's a good thing, but OMG it's frustrating to have to deal with all of these calls and the miscommunication!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Lily ~ Wow! Unbelievable! I wonder what possible legitimate purpose that could serve? I'm surprised that Apple even allows that.

Autumn ~ It IS creepy, isn't it? I hope it DOES become illegal soon!

Freke ~ I'm so sorry that happened to your dad's card! That sucks! Reminds me of the time my dad was in Texas on business, and took a tour of the Dell factory. Of course he just haaaaad to get a new computer while he was there! So the card company called my stepmom (who was back at home) to see if she was aware that someone was charging a very pricey computer to her card somewhere in Texas. She told them it was OK since she knew it had to be my dad . . . and then she promptly went out and got herself two more cats! LOL!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

That really sucks for you Irish.

I have to say though, sometimes these places are too...vigilant. We went through a mess earlier this year when I was job hunting, and ordering clothes and shoes off of the internet (the selection in NM sucks) on my dad's Visa. I ordered everything from places I had ordered before. The only difference was that there were several purchases made in a couple of days. My dad had given me full permission to make these purchases on his card, and knew about them. Well Visa called him at his office, and he had no idea WHERE I had purchased from, so when they started listing where the charges were coming from (AMAZON was one of them) he didn't recognize any of them. He called me, I told him to get the names and when he called them back, they said they had already cancelled the card because of a miscommunication between him and then. Unfortunately my dad LIVES on this card (pays off the balance every month) and he was up $#!+ creek, with payments that are recurring and the fact that he literally uses this card to buy everything (stupid frequent flyer rewards). 4 months later I'm still having to deal with fixing this stuff. (I deal with his finances.)

Then the other day, Visa fraud detection went off again. Why? Because my dad sent in an extra $1k to pay towards next month's bill.

Yes, it's a good thing, but OMG it's frustrating to have to deal with all of these calls and the miscommunication!

I haven't had any problems with fraud detection, but I am furious at Amex. You know how they advertise heavily that they can get you a replacement card anywhere in the world, no stress? It isn't really like that. I was travelling in the US, using my Amex for almost all expenses. Sure enough, the card was stolen and I asked for a replacement card when I was in Asheville (NC). They told me the nearest Amex office I could pick it up was in NYC! Yup, 800 miles away. After I told them categorically that it was impossible for me to go to NYC (I couldn't even buy a ticket to get there out of pocket!), they kept me on hold for an hour until they found a nearby ofice for me to pick it up. Well and dandy, I cancel all my plans for the next day and go to the office - where I am told they don't do that service and it was impossible for them to help me! Agh!

Ok, back on the phone with Amex, where they once again tell me to go to NYC, I tell them no way, hold for an hour and get told to go to the same agency that didn't emit emergency cards. AGH! Fortunately, I had a low limit Visa card with me (my internet shopping card) and Visa was able to raise the limit on that for me at once.

 

[ponder]

We were on vacation when visa called us about suspicious activity on a card we had not used in over a year. We had used the card for a one time large purchase b/c it had 0% interest for 18 months. The card then sat in the file cabinet at home. The charges were suspicious b/c they were for less than a dollar. Visa said they were probably testing the card number to see if it worked. Visa was great, cancelled the cards and sent us new ones. As soon as I got them, I cancelled the account. You should never have unused accounts open. I reviewed all of our accounts and whittled them down to the ones we truly use. Its much easier to keep track of.