What Happens Now???

[jttheclockman]

Well I got a call this morning from a credit card company which I do have a card with. They wanted to talk to me about recent activity and gave me a # to call. I looked at my card and it was not the number on the card so I got a little suspicious. I am figuring it was a scam.

I decided to call the card company using the number on the card. Well to my surprise it seems my card has been hacked and the thieves went on a spending spree last night. The person from security dept. of the card company started reading some of the charges and they were internet charges and I finally told her I did not use the card yesterday so any charges are not mine. I did not hear the rest. So I had to cancel the card and now it will be 7-10 days before a new one is issued.

What a pain in the neck. It goes to show you how vulnerable we are. Have no idea how this happened and when or where. It is my go to card. I usually try to always pay with cash in stores but when buying on line you sort of forced to. I wish more people would use PayPal as a means of payment acceptance. I accept the extra charges for the sense of security.

My question is what happens next??? Do these thieves get away with this??? Will they get their merchandise??? Will the authorities follow up and try to catch these people??? Do companies send product out before the charge is cleared??? I never did ask the person from the card company these questions. Was wondering what have others found out.

Thanks in advance.

 

[stonepecker]

That is one of the reasons card companies ask you to look at the statement. Most likely, they will get nothing. The card will not pay them. That stops anything being shipped.
Sorry that you won't have a new card for so long but better to be safe then sorry. If the card company can track them down.......they will see jail time. Sadly, most often, these scams happen outside the USA and finding the people who do this is next to impossible.

What is really sad is when an older person get hit like this and are not aware it is happening. My father paid several bills without going over the statement. He lost a little over $1,000..........and they never were caught.

You did the right thing. Be sure to keep this in mind. Then you will not fall for any of these scams.

 

[JimB]

You will probably never know. I had it happen on 2 separate occasions a long, long time ago. The CC company issued me a new card and sent me a statement to sign that the charges weren't mine. I never heard anything about it after that.

If you have other credit cards it would be a good idea to call them and just ask what the last few charges were. That will give you peace of mind that the other cards weren't compromised.

 

[tomtedesco]

I had the same kind of call that you got. The bogus charges were out state so I guess they knew it was not me, they took off the charges, issued a new card and I never heard a thing after that. I guess crime does pay.

 

[bjbear76]

Had this happen a few times in the past couple of years. The charges are declined, they get nothing. Basically just the inconvenience of waiting for a new card with a new account number. And if you have automatic payments made from the card, be sure to notify the company making withdrawals.

The credit card company told me that typically they try to charge a small dollar amount, like $10 first, to see if the charge is accepted. If it is, they go on a spree. If the charge is declined, they'll try a different card.

But I've been impressed that I've been contacted right away to verify the questionable activity.

 

[walshjp17]

It pays to check ALL your accounts (checking, credit/debit card) frequently. I try to not go more that two or three days without logging in to my online financial accounts to check to see if there are any fraudulent charges. I have caught some but the banks usually are more ahead of the game than I am and have notified me of a few fraud attempts.

 

[SteveJ]

I got a call from my CC company on March 9th. They asked if I was traveling in South Africa...It seems I was trying to rent a car there for about $2500. Canceled the card, they were to send a new one. Was supposed to arrive in 7-10 days. Never arrived. Called them again. They confirmed that they had canceled the card, but said the new card had not been sent. I had to call the issuing bank.

Went to the bank. Turns out they had been bought out and the new bank owners wouldn't issue a replacement card. I could however apply for a new card through the new bank...I still don't have a replacement.

Some people work hard at not having to work...

 

[jttheclockman]

Had this happen a few times in the past couple of years. The charges are declined, they get nothing. Basically just the inconvenience of waiting for a new card with a new account number. And if you have automatic payments made from the card, be sure to notify the company making withdrawals.

The credit card company told me that typically they try to charge a small dollar amount, like $10 first, to see if the charge is accepted. If it is, they go on a spree. If the charge is declined, they'll try a different card.

But I've been impressed that I've been contacted right away to verify the questionable activity.

Yes that is the rub too. This sets in motion a whole other set of problems. They told me the reason they called was because they monitor my usually charging patterns and when something is out of the norm they flag it. Now I have had to call the CC company before when making a large purchase because they flagged the charge because it was out of my norm. What I was amazed at it was so quick. Happened overnight and the next morning they were calling. Thank God they did not call at night. Would have ruined my night too.. I guess there is nothing you can do and just accept it. I will be checking another card I have for emergencys.

 

[thewishman]

I use a debit card. Traveled to Vegas in February, charged plane tickets, shuttle service, hotel, food, conference registration and a few other things. After being there a few days, I bought a $2 pair of nail clippers at Walgreens and the card fraud department called to see if it was me in Walgreens five minutes earlier. They didn't care about the other expensive charges, but the $2 charge set off their alarms. Go figure...

 

[Cwalker935]

Unfortunately, this has happened to me several times as well. The last time included a $10000 purchase of construction equipment. The credit card company would never say more than it was under investigation so I have never learned whether anyone was ever caught or investigated. I finally bought one those incredibly ugly wallets that cards cannot be scanned through and have not had any issues since then.

 

[Akula]

My experience working cases.

You will not know what happens next. You can not file any charges as you are not out anything other than time waiting for a new card. If you had suffered any actual loss, then you could file. The problem is when the transactions occur across State lines or even out of the Country, there will be no follow up, they just don't have the resources.

The CC Company will be the one who has to do the follow up if they are out any money. Most likely it's not worth their time (why CC fraud continues). They will close the account and if any retailer did honor the transaction, the CC company will do a charge back. It will be the retailer that is out any merchandise if they sent it. Big retail companies just write it off as they would a theft in the store, they expect a loss. It's the small (Mom and Pop) stores that get hurt the most. They are trying to compete with the Big Retailers and work extra hard on Customer Service (quick shipping ect). The exact details between retail and the CC companies, I'm not sure.

Successful convections in cases is when the workers at a retail location were involved.

The advise of checking your statements is very true. If you miss the deadlines to report suspicious transactions, then it will all fall back on you. Some CC companies are much better at flagging transactions.

 

[walshjp17]

I use a debit card. Traveled to Vegas in February, charged plane tickets, shuttle service, hotel, food, conference registration and a few other things. After being there a few days, I bought a $2 pair of nail clippers at Walgreens and the card fraud department called to see if it was me in Walgreens five minutes earlier. They didn't care about the other expensive charges, but the $2 charge set off their alarms. Go figure...

Most likely, this was because the other charges were made from your "home" locale and the $2 charge in Vegas was a new and possible far distant locale.

 

[monophoto]

Been there, done that. It's life in the 21st century.

I have a habit that I frequently go online to check the new charges on my credit card. My wife complains that this means that I can know about her purchases even before she get home from the store!

And I have also had the CC company call me about suspicious charges that they detected before I did. That's more than just OK - that's a service that makes the particular card I have worth more to me.

I have a practice that if I'm going to travel outside the local area, I either call the credit card company, or go to their web site, to alert them to where I expect to be using the card, and also specify a date range for that use. Last year, I made a purchase in England without notifying the card company; that purchase triggered their alarm, and while I was able to quickly confirm that it was a legitimate charge, the fact that it had rung a bell meant that I had to take the additional step of contacting the merchant to have them run the charge a second time. I certainly wouldn't want to have that happen when traveling, so making a phone call or visiting a web site before leaving home is a great solution.

In addition, my CC company offers automatic e-mail alerts whenever there are charges that meet specified criteria. I have set those up to receive alerts whenever there is a charge from a vendor outside the US, or whenever the charge exceeds a specified dollar threshold.

 

[dbledsoe]

I have been a victim, also. It did not cost me any money but it sure did hack me off.
I don't think the internet created any new thieves, but it surely made it possible for those so inclined to get into the act with no adverse consequences. It is disappointing that that many humans are willing to prey on fellow humans.
And it's not just credit card theft. These hoodlums kidnapping computer files for ransom are just as bad. As far as I am concerned, we could cut off all internet transmissions outside the US and we would be far better off. It would be inconvenient, but it would limit the access for the Nigerians and Russians and all the others with economies built on theft.
Note to self: Get off the box, Dave. Your blood pressure can't handle it.

 

[Rick_G]

Wife and I both had this happen a few months ago. Charges on the card from some company in China. Then a few weeks after I got my new card I got a call from CC company about charges made the night before. Not mine wait for another new card. Only thing I had used the new card for was purchases from Amazon. They automatically store your card info unless you delete it after your purchase, I forgot. Makes you wonder?

I have 2 cards one of which I only use about once a year to keep it active the other is my goto card because of the rewards for using it. They have never made a cent of interest from me but I have got several hundred dollars of free groceries over the last couple years. I check my statements on line every couple days and if there is anything out of line I notify them immediately. Never had to pay for fraudulent purchases.

I use paypal for as much as possible and don't have a credit card linked to my account. The bank account linked to it is a different bank than what I normally use and I only keep a few dollars in it and do an interac email transfer when I want to use it. Costs me a dollar each time to use the interac but thats a small price to pay knowing even if my paypal account is hacked there is only a couple dollars in the linked bank account.

 

[bobleibo]

Something to consider....
I only have one credit card and one debit card and travel a lot. My bank offers a service where if either is used without actually being physically presented such as used to order on-line, I get both a text message and an email immediately. I can also set it up to give me the same notices if they are used at gas stations, which is where lots of thieves go.
You may want to see if your banks offer this service. Gives a lot of peace of mind.
Cheers
Bob

 

[moke]

I am a Policeman in a small, but very wealthy town. It is actually 35th in the top 50 in the nation. We have constant issues with CC and identity theft. They are two different things. Credit card comprises are usually on line, where the individual does not have the actual card in his possession. From what I see they are often turned away by the merchant for the wrong or inadequate information. Identity theft is quite another animal. People that have suffered identity theft often times loose thousands of dollars. Some of them are very extensive. In identity theft, most times the perpetrator acquires new finiacial instruments and uses them under the name of the victim and charges very high amounts. These usually are a loss to the CC compaany, but other times the prepetrator accesses bank accounts, and other types of monies that the victim has. I have even seen where they have tried to access a 401K/503B type of account....now, in anything I have been invovled in, they have never been successful at any retirement type things, mostly because they are longer and more laborious to access funds.
There are often tell tale signs of how access was gained, so I might report it to your local authorities, they may or may not be able to help. In our case, we employ an extremely experienced detective that retired from a large dept. We are lucky, most patrolman, like me, are clueless what to do. They are very invovled and often the perpetrator is not on this continent.

I will say one thing, in identity thefts, often times the information has been gathered from insurance companies. I was recently told that the ACA is one of the worst. As mentioned earlier, auto deductions to CC's are another way to access your identity.....

As I said, I am truly no expert at these kind of cases, because I really only take the original report, then pass it on. But I have heard some horrific stories. So as mentioned, check your CC and bank statements often, that is good advice.
Just my .02
Mike

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks everyone and I see I am not alone as I suspected. I did pick up some nice advice like calling the card ahead of time when traveling. I like that one. I do always check my statements and have called to question a few transactions but they usually turn out to be something I forgot about. I am careful as to where I use it. The big fault is the internet. No way to know who is on the other end or who is in the middle. I guess it is something we all need to be aware of. Just makes for inconvenience which is counter to the reasons we use them.

 

[BRobbins629]

Has also happened to me several times. One thing you can do is get a prepaid credit card and only keep a small balance on it. Use it for Internet purchases anywhere in the world without fear. Doesn't interfere with monthly payment options.

 

[tjseagrove]

I get an email within about 5 seconds of any charge so I can be on it right away. Caught 2 charges in Tailand and the 3rd was declined. Caught within 15 minutes of the fraud...new card came a couple weeks later.
435

 

[randyrls]

I get an email within about 5 seconds of any charge so I can be on it right away. Caught 2 charges in Tailand and the 3rd was declined. Caught within 15 minutes of the fraud...new card came a couple weeks later.
435

My Credit Union Sends me an email for every charge on my credit card. Check with your financial institution to see if this is available for you.

 

[jttheclockman]

The thing is even if you get an email stating the card has been hacked you still have to now cancel the card and get a new one. If you keep that card on file with a bill collecting company, now you have to cancel that and change that. It is just a hassle.

 

[OLDMAN5050]

It happened to me last month and the credit card company caught it . cancelled the account and fedx me a new card the next day. Great service from my card company.

 

[sbwertz]

Unfortunately, this has happened to me several times as well. The last time included a $10000 purchase of construction equipment. The credit card company would never say more than it was under investigation so I have never learned whether anyone was ever caught or investigated. I finally bought one those incredibly ugly wallets that cards cannot be scanned through and have not had any issues since then.

That won't help you if the pump at the gas station has a scanner in it. That is what happened to me. I ran my card to pay for gas and it collected my card info and the scammer sold the number to someone who had a GREAT vacation in Florida.

Didn't cost me anything but a lot of hassle and having to notify everyone that I use that card for that auto pay wouldn't work on it any more.