Came home from work this afternoon and checked phone messages. Had a call from Chase Bank Fraud Dept. - Chase is one of the two cards we use. They left an 800 number for me to call back and said I should have my card number ready, but, being the skeptic that I am, I chose to call the 800 number on the back of my card. (NEVER call back the number given you - always initiate your own call to a different number)

Turns out, the message was legitimate. Today, within a matter of a little over two hours, someone (not me) purchased $240 at a WalMart in SC, then 15 minutes later, purchased another $250 at that same WalMart. Two hours later, "my" card purchased another $275 at a Sears store in West Palm Beach FL! Even I can't fly that fast!

Chase said that the users at both stores had a card in their hand, that had my name, my card number. It was a counterfeit card and since the charge in FL came so quickly, there are probably more than one. It took them a couple of weeks to manufacture the cards, and then sell them.

I am very careful about my credit cards, check book, cash, everything. I know exactly what I purchase, which card I used, and where it was used. In going over my records, I think I have narrowed down when/where someone copied my card info.

On 4/25 I shopped at a Hamrick's store in Greensboro, NC (home town). Their card slider/reader thingy had a paper taped on it that said "out of order", so I had to hand my card to the cashier. She swiped it on her register, which I cannot see from the other side of the counter, started to hand the card back to me then said" oops, it didn't register, I'll swipe it again". I remember saying to her (and so does my husband Tarey, who was shopping with me) "make sure I'm not billed twice" and she responded that I would not be because the first swipe didn't go through. I got my bill, I was not billed twice, so all was okey dokey.

That was the ONLY time that credit card has left my hand.

Now, a couple of weeks later, someone(s) have a duplicate of my card and are using it. Thankfully, Chase caught the possible fraud charges and called me. My account is now completely shut down and I will not be responsible for over $700 in charges. God bless Chase!

Things worked out OK for me, but I'm still pissed. I am going to help the Chase investigator as much as possible by sharing the Hamrick's situation, but I can't prove the cashier did anything. I am also going to the Hamrick's store owner/manager about it. Even though I am not going to be out of any money, I WILL NOT BE COMPLACENT AND LET THIS PASS.

NOTE TO ALL! Always know where your credit/debit cards are at all times. If you have to hand your card to someone else, never take your eyes off it, even if you have to be obnoxious about it. I learned that lesson.

SandyC

Sandy, I'm glad you're not going to be complacent about it.   Good for you...BUT


Quote:

If you have to hand your card to someone else, never take your eyes off it, even if you have to be obnoxious about it. I learned that lesson.

How many times do we go into a resturant for dinner and hand our card to a server where she/he takes it away and comes back with all the stuff for us to sign?   It makes us hard to be vigilant in checking on where our card goes or what is done with it.   :-/

Sandy, Clark and I have been the victims of card theft - actually identity theft, they managed to get a card issued that we had never had issued, it was a secondary account that we used through the bank (check card) and it was a transitory account for our mortgage payment.

Before you do ANYTHING else, contact the FTC and have a fraud alert put on both yours and Tarey's SSN.  If someone has managed to manufacture your card, they will be able to get multiple credit offers.  Putting a fraud alert on your socials will prevent all credit offers being offered without them contacting you in person first, and they set up a series of security questions that must be answered.  We were at Nebraska Furniture Mart and they wanted to extend our limit for a purchase we were making, and even though we were there in person, we still had to talk to the credit department and answer all the security questions.

Additionally, every card I own, including my bank cards, have "see photo id" on the back, and if someone doesn't check my card when I hand it over, I raise hell and call the manager over.  EVERY card purchase that is made where the card leaves your hand, or where it is requested to be verified (such as at the self check outs) should be checked by someone, and if it says see ID, someone better be asking for picture ID.

I made both my teens do the same as teens are a prime target for identity theft.

Please do be sure and contact the FTC though.  
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Cat
(believe it or not mine was someone who had tried to charge over $600 at PAYLESS ... even *I* can't spend that much at that store hehe)

Wow, Cat!

Thanks.  I hadn't thought about the FTC.  If they have duplicate credit cards of mine, they might also have everything else on me, including SS #, date of birth, etc.  I will do that right away.

A few years ago, my former boss (Bossman if you remember my posts), was a victim of identity theft to the tune of over $12,000.  Since he never share any financial information with his wife, I was the one who spent six months trying to clear his credit.

Based on Bossman's experience, I've been very careful, and so has Tarey.  Our Chase account is a business account, in my name.  We both have cards, but the cards have different account numbers.  Only my card was involved in this, but I'll put alerts on both of us.

Thanks!  This is great information.

Sandy

That happened to us with 2 fraudulent charges on our debit cards.  Turned out that it was with our OLD numbers.  The company that issues the cards didn't close out the old accounts when they did the new ones.

Our credit union credited back our account and took care of everything thank goodness.

Definitely have to be vigilant though!

I agree with Linda, and was gonna mention it myself. The best opportunity to nab someone's credit card number is in a restaurantr.why doesn't someone DO something about that?

I had a book of checks stolen from my briefcase a few years ago. To me, it is HUGE that stores like Sears, Home Depot, Macy's an a few more that slip my mind right now, NEVER asked for ID.........but they accepted the checks!

As this economy founders, more and more people are going to be in need....and not all of them are honest. We must be extra diligent about our personal finances!
Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Cathi

About 2 years ago Chase called me about a suspicious purchase on my Visa Card. It was supposedly for some kind of iffy medical "service" that wasn't Kosher.

They've been helpful several times when I found something too.

Charlie

One of our card numbers is stolen every year or two.  We stopped worrying when the call comes from the fraud dept.  'Nope... not our charge... cancel it and send us some new cards.  Thx.'

If you use your card, then the merchants have the info.  
We make 100+ purchases on the net every year.  Thus hundreds or thousands of people have access to our card numbers.  Not much we can do, other than to let the CC company know when a bad one turns up.

That said... you should pull your credit report yearly to make sure everything is on the up & up.
Use this site for free ones.
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Note that 'freecreditreport.com' is not a good site to get your free credit report from, regardless what the loser on the commercials says.  

Lobster wrote on May 18^th, 2009 at 9:14pm:

Note that 'freecreditreport.com' is not a good site to get your free credit report from, regardless what the loser on the commercials says.

  Freecreditrepot.com isn't even free. But being a UK Corp. and working out of CA it only pays passing lip service to honesty in advertizing. I'm not sure how many class action law suits they've been involved in.
  Good people to avoid.
[smiley=smokin.gif]

About 5 years ago I was innundated with collections letters and calls regarding a credit card account.  I'd never done business with that company let alone had a credit card with them.  Having been employed at the time in the collections field I knew exactly what to do.  

1) demand cease and desist pending validation of this debt.

2) pull my credit reports and dispute the claim on all that they appeard.

3) wait the 30 days

4) write the collection company and tell them they have failed to provide validation of the debt and that I demand they remove the mark from my credit report and cancel the debt.

5) once again dispute the claim to the 3 credit agencies that the creditor nor the agency was able to validate the debt upon suffici ent notice and therefore by Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the  collection must report as such, and the credit agency MUST delete this from my credit report.

Citi is good about shutting down my card when they"suspect" fraud. I think I'm on the third card this year.

But it's aggraviating when I go to use it and it tells me it's not good - I have the clerk call and find out they suspect fraud. It takes about 20 minutes to convince them it's me (and my PICTURE is on the damn card!).

But the best one was when someone broke into a MERCHANT's computer and they canceled my card because my card was in that merchant's computer. Got a new card before I even knew the old one wasn't good any more.

But you're right about there's going to be more of it because of the economy. I've had two clients call me in the last month about identy theft. They've lost not only their credit cards but their SS cards also. That's scary.

Hugs BD :-*

Me and My financial manager (the wife) pay cash only, don´t posses a credit card so no chance of any one taking my money that way.

I´ve seen a lot about fraud on TV and there was a whole show about tricksters and how they work was pretty amazing how cheeky and clever they are. If some one knocks on my door i speak english to them and mostly they leave or i let them rabbit on trying to sell me something and as soon as they produce an order form i tell them im not signing anything and ask them where the nearest shop is and ill buy it there. I even (to my shame) sent carol singers packing one x-mas the wife still laughs at me about that one. BAAAAHHHH Humbug

mark (scrooge McGee)

Good point Mark and frankly, living alone I mostly use my credit card to pay for my newspaper subscriptions and "emergency" K-Mart jeans purchases when I don't have the cash. I really wouldn't be all that upset to drop out of the plastic universe. Ebay's unbelievably shitty insistence on using paypal for everything makes my cards less attractive. Using the ATM at the grocery store costs a lot less than Visa or MC.

Charlie

In 2006 our credit union statement had charged us over $150.0 in
insufficient funds someone in New York charged over $500.00 at 3 different stores they had us do paperwork and even had me take info to our local police office (which they were not really wanted anything about it at all) so we had to get new cards and such after 3 days the credit union refunded and made it alright BUT less than 3 months later someone charged $150.00 on a bubblegum colored purse in Paris which "I" caught thur records on computor I even had the copy of the purse stlye,color and where bought I even had the email and address it was sent to BUT the credit union didnt catch it after the problems we had 3 months earlier so after that we got away from the Federal credit union we were at and went to a national bank. Terry

Night before last I bought fuel and used the gas pump card reader. When I pressed the button for my receipt it printed up the previous customers receipt, with NAME, FULL CARD NUMBER, AND ADDRESS!  i never did get my receipt out of the machine.  When I went in and told the person behind the window he refused to do anything about it.  I told him if my identity gets mesed with I would be back after HIM.  Needless to say, I will be doing no more business with them.

Jerry

OMG Jerry! That's horrible!!!! I would probably have stuck a buck in the machine and dumped the gas on the driveway just to generate another receipt.

QnHeartMM wrote on May 19^th, 2009 at 4:54pm:

OMG Jerry! That's horrible!!!! I would probably have stuck a buck in the machine and dumped the gas on the driveway just to generate another receipt.

I'm with you -- and then alerted the credit card company immediately!