Want to go to Venezuela for free? (credit card fraud is FUN!)

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

... apparently someone did. And the took the liberty of charging their tickets to my credit card.

Whoever this person is must think I am much more charitable than I really am.

Anyone else have any scary credit card theft stories?

 

[aurance]

Someone charged $600 worth of online sports gambling to my check card once. It could have been $1200, but the second bet didn't clear, since I was dirt poor at the time

I went to my bank, and filed a fraud report, which I was told would take 2 weeks to process. A big bummer since I had bills to pay!

Luckily I emailed the online gambling site management, and they were very helpful. That was actually a big surprise. They refunded my money, no questions asked, within a day.

Card was, of course, cancelled for a different one.

I went to my bank to cancel the fraud report, after I received my money from the vendor. I even asked, "are you SURE this will be cancelled?" - reply "yes, absolutely." But the bank still put $600 into my account 2 weeks later. It was actually a bigger ordeal to have that now-unnecessary $600 removed from my bank account than to receive credit from the vendor. Hm.

Banks, bleh.

 

[Incenjucar]

... apparently someone did. And the took the liberty of charging their tickets to my credit card.

Whoever this person is must think I am much more charitable than I really am.

Anyone else have any scary credit card theft stories?

Clearly, there's another Doppleganger out there.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Someone charged $600 worth of online sports gambling to my check card once. It could have been $1200, but the second bet didn't clear, since I was dirt poor at the time

I went to my bank, and filed a fraud report, which I was told would take 2 weeks to process. A big bummer since I had bills to pay!

Luckily I emailed the online gambling site management, and they were very helpful. That was actually a big surprise. They refunded my money, no questions asked, within a day.

Card was, of course, cancelled for a different one.

I went to my bank to cancel the fraud report, after I received my money from the vendor. I even asked, "are you SURE this will be cancelled?" - reply "yes, absolutely." But the bank still put $600 into my account 2 weeks later. It was actually a bigger ordeal to have that now-unnecessary $600 removed from my bank account than to receive credit from the vendor. Hm.

Banks, bleh.

and you didnt keep it because?

 

[BrooklynKnight]

and you didnt keep it because?

bleh exuse me

What i shoulda said was.
You shouldnt have canceled the report. You simply update it to say that the company refunded your money but you still needed a new number.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

My girlfriend got a bunch of porn charges added to her credit card. We took to calling her 'The Porn Queen' for awhile.

Wait, maybe her story about 'fraud' was just a cover-up . . .

 

[GlassJaw]

Someone charged $600 worth of online sports gambling to my check card once

Some advice for everyone in this dangerous time of identity theft, etc.

If you have a check/debit card, don't use it online, use a normal credit card. While debit cards are convenient, if someone steals your card or the number, it's your money. While you might be able to get it back, it can be extremely difficult and create a lot of hassles. Use a credit card for online purchases, bill payment, etc. If someone steals it, big deal, just call the credit card company right away and tell them. You never lose any of your "real" money.

Also, if you do online bill pay, use one credit card for all of them and then use your bank's online service to pay your credit card. You'll save a lot of tracking all your purchaes and it's also a lot more secure.

 

[ayrwind]

If you have a check/debit card, don't use it online, use a normal credit card. While debit cards are convenient, if someone steals your card or the number, it's your money. While you might be able to get it back, it can be extremely difficult and create a lot of hassles. Use a credit card for online purchases, bill payment, etc. If someone steals it, big deal, just call the credit card company right away and tell them. You never lose any of your "real" money.

Personally, I approach this online payment differently. I for one would prefer the use of a debit card than a credit card. My debit card is linked to a bank account which i do not store a lot of money inside. I transfer money to the account when i plan to make big purchases online. Hence, in case of fraud, i dont stand to lose a lot of money.

Still, glassjaw has a point about not losing any of "our" money. but, im not too sure about how easy it is to report fraud and get refunds. thankfully, i have not had experienced such fraud cases before.

 

[GlassJaw]

My debit card is linked to a bank account which i do not store a lot of money inside. I transfer money to the account when i plan to make big purchases online.

Well you are basically adding an extra step that I like to avoid. I direct deposit my paycheck right into my account. I like to use my debit card for day-today purchases and therefore need my main account to be very liquid.

im not too sure about how easy it is to report fraud and get refunds

If you have a decent credit card, it's not bad. Most are very concerned (and should be) about identity theft. My point is that if you lose your debit card (or have it stolen or the website you were using gets hacked), then they can clean out your account before you realize it. You might be able to get your money back at some point but until you do, you might have difficultly paying bills if you don't have a backup of funds.

Don't trust the online bill paying services of your cell phone company or cable company, etc.

 

[aurance]

bleh exuse me

What i shoulda said was.
You shouldnt have canceled the report. You simply update it to say that the company refunded your money but you still needed a new number.

Cancelling the report = not wanting the money refunded by the bank.
Cancelling the card = getting a new number.

Cancelling the report =/= cancelling the card. They are independent entities.

Unless you meant why didn't I keep the extra money that the bank gave me? That's a different issue altogether.