My visa card is mine alone. Safe in my wallet. I am cautious with on-line shopping. I check vendors carefully. I've only ever had it abused once and that was a clerk at a Self-Storage unit in Toronto who ran up a few thousand dollars on it five minutes after I left her office but the good news was that she was arrested and charged.
Imagine my shock today when my comfort zone was rudely interrupted when all these euro charges from Brussels, Belgium showed up on my statement. How on earth can this happen? Individually the amounts are not enough to be suspicious but overall they add up to a significant number. I imagine a large cartel of unscrupulous wankers selling off hoards of such numbers grabbed from goddess knows where. Abe books? Walmart on line? Itunes?
Credit card fraud cost the US 16 billion dollar in 2016. No numbers exist for Canada though at one point I believe it was nudging close to 2 billion dollars.
Meanwhile all my fraudulent charges are suspended, the Visa fraud unit is on top of it all and I'll be getting a new card in 10-15 days.
A time consuming business for me today, I logged a couple of hours between the bank, being put on hold for multiple personnel at visa, and taking a verbal oath that all I said was true, etc. I spent a fair whack of that time wondering when, where and how the breach occurred.
Anyone else out there with a fraud story?
Oh, yes, but too long, too cumbersome, and too upsetting to relive. I now have three fraud-containment sources following transactions on all my various forms of credit, taxes, social security number, and email addresses.
ReplyDeleteDKZ, I never heard of "fraud containment sources" before, I will track that down.Thank you and sorry for your distress before, it sounds complicated and awful.
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I've been lucky and had no problems. I also use a little foil sleeve to carry my card in; maybe that's why the number hasn't been stolen in airports and so on. -Kate
ReplyDeleteWell now it's basically a tap, I can't imagine theft of identity from that but all things are possible in the fraud environment continually evolving.
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I got a message one day that my card was used in California to charge $45 worth of food in of all places, MacDonalds. This was the one and only time I used the card so I was able to find out exactly where it happened. Fortunately, fraud department was right on top of things and notified me right away.
ReplyDeleteGood for you MXT, it is alarming how these crooks morph and thrive stealing from and scaring innocent victims.Fortunately the bank pays the piper and we all know they can afford to by levying extra fees on top of those robbed.
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At least 5 times. And we're careful.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, Diane, that's terrible. I had a friend in Toronto who had so much of her identity stolen that the false doppelganger had received both a passport and recognition for taxes by Revenue Canada under her name. It took a year to straighten it out.
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Luckily I've never been caught in a card fraud. I also check online vendors very carefully, but after your experience, who knows which site is really safe? My bank keeps a very close eye on my transactions, and they'll contact me over anything the slightest bit dubious - or transactions in a foreign country if I haven't told them I'll be travelling.
ReplyDeleteNick they're supposed to flag unauthorized travel in my case but all the charges fell under the radar. I think they need a better algorithm to track multiple charges in a foreign country. The fraudsters knew what they were doing.
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You know, say what you want about our modern economy, but those credit cards are amazing and the companies always back you up. (If only they didn't charge such exorbitant interest rates.) My only experience occurred a few years ago when we were taking a bunch of kids out to dinner -- and when I went to pay, my credit card was refused. Fortunately, I had another card. I found out later the card was shut down b/c someone out in the Midwest was trying to charge some expensive electronics on it.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was immediate Tom. Good that it was caught in time.
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I once had a new credit card stolen in the mail, I didn't know it was missing because I didn't know that it was coming. Then the credit card company phoned me to ask if I'd made such-and-such purchase. They listed off a few purchases which I denied knowledge of so they reversed the charges and sent me a new card. In the meantime I got the monthly bill listing all of the charges that had been made. Pages of them, all small purchases made within a couple of days in a nearby town. Maxed out my card. Credit card company raised my limit because I'd maxed out my card.
ReplyDeleteWow what a story Annie. I notice that my card is being sent to my nearest bank branch and not to the home anymore. Further protection against thieves.
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That happened to me and my husband several times, but the credit card companies always wiped out the charges and sent us new cards. You have to be vigilant.
ReplyDeleteExactly Gigi and yes they do bear the cost of such fraud but as I said above we ultimately do.
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Three months ago I was hit by a fraudster from Argentina. My bank the Standard Chartered, blocked that payment and immediately suspended the card. They also sent me a new card with new numbers etc and I was quite impressed with their handling of the matter. So far, I have not lost any money.
ReplyDeleteYeah Ramana, we only lose time and a sense of unease and worry as to what else has been compromised. I am super careful but one never knows how advanced technology is.
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Had it happen once. Visited my cousin in the FL Keys. Returned home and got a call from the credit card company asking if I had been shopping in Boca Raton on (date) -- No! All I can figure is the number was stolen when I bought gasoline on Big Pine Key and the pump was out of order. I had given the clerk my credit card to pay. I remember feeling uneasy about it. Charges were right after that. Credit card company saved the day by noticing the anomaly in my spending-type and amount. Kim in PA
ReplyDeleteYes, Kim, the bots know us better than we know ourselves! I never let my credit card out of my own hands but the sophistication of fraud these days breaks many former barriers. Online being a major one I would think even though vendors are reputable, there is breaching of the firewalls - witness Air Canada and a recently plundering of credit info on 40,000 customers.
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A few years ago I was notified by a bank that a credit card had been opened in my name at a business on the opposite coast. Two relatively small charges had been made, one at the business, another at a hotel there. The bank Fraud Dept. simply wanted to verify with me their assessment the account and charges were fraudulent which I confirmed. I never received a statement for that account and heard nothing more about the matter. I'm certainly pleased with whatever the system that bank used, and however this fraud was caught so quickly.
ReplyDeleteYes they seem to be right on top of things and quick to reverse suspect charges which takes a lot of the stress away. We are predictable in our spending habits obviously!
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Let's just say: Beware of those "contactless" cards where you don't need a pin. You just wave the card at the reader. Brill. Particularly if your home grown slightly dizzy me manages to drop her purse. It was about twenty four hours later till I noticed I was minus card. There are only so many just under £30.00 (the limit on contactless) purchases you can make before my current account was wiped out. Still, the thief was good enough to leave the actual card on the counter of some pub - owner of which duly returned it to my bank. Sweet.
ReplyDeleteNever mind. I can't wait for the time we need our finger prints to authorize a purchase. Which will pose its own difficulties in countries where they chop your hand off should you have no choice but steal a loaf of bread; then getting caught.
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Daughter maintains we will all have a chip implanted in our wrists soon but as you allude to hand chopping that might be the downside of such technology.
DeleteIris recognition might be a thought, then again to be blinded by fraudsters might be a worse scenario. What other trait is unique to us humans?
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I haven't had a problem since using American Express. Back in the UK, not too long before I left, my Mastercard was 'hacked' - or whatever the term is - by someone doing online gambling...thousands of pounds-worth. Mastercard reps alerted me to this before I was even aware of it, and dealt with it quickly - new card etc.
ReplyDeleteOh good, I think gambling would alert my card too, I only use the one which gives me cashback, tho possess 2 or 3 more. The desperation of gamblers and drug addicts often drives these types of crimes.
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