Victim of cc fraud!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Victim of cc fraud!!
10
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 12:54am
I had my dh take me out for a drive this evening as i haven't left the house in days, and when i came home, there was a message from my cc company (Chase) that said that there was suspicious activity on my account and to call back. And sure enough, I looked online, and today, someone used my cc to make a purchase in excess of $2500 online. i am so glad that they caught it and called me (I have never actually used this card for anything other than a balance transfer, never a purchase. i don't carry the card with me, even. Anyhow, their fraud dept is all over it, and i will call the credit bureaus tomorrow. I also called the police, though dh thought this was overkill. I would rather be safe than sorry. I am so frustrated right now!!
It scares me how easy it is for people tp be able to do this sort of thing. And for that amount of money!!! (like I need anything else to worry about right now LOL!)
Oh well, tomorrow is yet another day. Sheesh! Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 9:30am

Hi Heather,

That same thing happened to me back in Dec (right before Christmas), boy was I steamed!!! You did the right thing by calling the police; you are a victim of a crime. Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on identity theft:

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Sorry you have to deal with this; I know it's a real pain and causes additional stress...SHAME ON whoever did that to you!

BK




iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 11:00am

Honestly I doubt the person knows your name, so I would not worry too much about the identity theft part..

My company just got taken for about $18,000 worth of fradulent charges. It was a theft ring out of Nigeria. They would just randomly try 16 digit credit card numbers until they found one that matched, once that had a number they would use it till it no longer worked, and then they would change just a number or two until they found another working card, and so on...

We do everything over the phone or internet, so we never actually "see" the cards, and the credit card machines don't ask for the name on the card, just the number & expiration.

We processed the transaction over 3 months ago, the card owner called and disputed the charges. They were not responsible for any of it, and the credit card company has been seizing all our cc transactions until we hit the dollar figure we owe them.

Unfortunately there are crooked people all over the place.

Shannon

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 11:43am
I have to gently and respectfully disagree with Shannon (who I know is trying to offer support and comfort). Our society seems to think that when someone uses your credit card numbers to steal from someone else (which means they are posing as you, even if they don't know your name, because the numbers are unique to each of us), it is not personal. Like b/c someone else (ie a big company) will most likely eat the fraudulent charges, it is a victimless crime. I felt very violated and nervous when it happened to me, especially since I can't be sure and will probably never find out how the thief/thieves got my numbers. Did they guess? Shoulder surf? Get into a database? Fish something out of the garbage? Wait on me at a restaurant? I have no clue.




iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 12:08pm

Credit card theft generally is not personal, thieves will steal from anyone, they are not doing it to personally attack you. They are doing it to benefit themselves. To steal anything you have to be a selfish, thoughtless person. Those people are only out for themselves. Believe me "whoever in the whole wide world" did not steal your credit card number just so they could punish Beeking2001. Unfortunately it how it works.

I have had my credit card numbers used a couple different times, one was an ex, even he did not do it to "punish" me, he did it because he wanted the things he bought. The other time it was a clerk at a store that copied the number down. She did not know me from Adam, how could that be considered a "personal attack".

Unfortunately the people that are hurt by fradulant activity are the companys and many times small companys that accept the cards to begin with. My small company will struggle for the next 12 months to pay back the money we lost.

If you are dwelling on being a "victim of a personal attack" because someone stole your cc number, you are definately wasting energy and thoughts. Unfortunately this is going to be an ongoing problem that will get much worse before it ever gets better. Now it you felt vulnerable and attacked because of a physical crime, I would whole heartedly agree that you were personnally attacked and are in a vulnerable position, and should be angry at the world.

Just my opinion, take it for the 2 cents it worth.
Shannon

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 2:02pm
I don't think cc fraud is a victimless crime..I was pretty shook up about it last night. It might not be personal, but I don't know how the scam artist got my information in the first place. I'm going to be extra cautious, put fraud alert in my credit file, etc, but I won't lose too much sleep over it once the affidavit is returned and the amounts are removed from the account in question. I don't feel so bad for the business that might get screwed..I don't have any reason to believe that this person knew my name or any of my pther personal information for them to accept the card OVER THE INTERNET as payment without any sort of verification whatsoever ticks me off (one transaction in excess of $2500). And if the person does know me? This is obviously much worse. Unfortunately, I don't even have enough information to figure this part out..I don't know. I understand how you think that I'm not as much a victim as say, a victim of a physical crime (I am not) or a victim of identity theft, but I still feel like a victim today, even if I don't have to pay one red cent to resolve the issue because I have to put in time to make sure that this whole thing is handled properly... I can't just "trust the bank" when my creidt score, etc is on the line. That would be stupid..I've worked over ten years to build a strong credit score and such. Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 3:37pm

Well unfortunately its impossible to verify a cardholder over the phone or the internet. My company does business all over the world, and we have to accept whatever name they give us, address, and if the card gets approved, the product gets shipped.

The credit card company that receives our payments should be the one verify the numbers and names & address of the card holders. They are the ones that should be stopping the fradulent charges from the get go instead of making the consumer report it after its already hit their credit card statement.

I agree you are a victim, I just said that credit card fraud is not a "personal attack".

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 5:25pm
Why don't the companies all ask for the 3 check digits on the back of the card? i know some companies will only proceed with a transaction with this information (priceline, for example). Wouldn't that prevent a lot of this?? Or is there a good reason for not doing that? I just think that if companies are will to take cc orders over the internet without verifying even the name on the card, then they deserve to get burned once in awhile. just my opinion. Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2004
Fri, 07-08-2005 - 6:51pm

Yes, I agree with you about that. Some companies are very easy to use credit cards with and never even ask you for those 3 digits on the back. This makes the person using the number at least have the card in hand. I suppose even that's not 100%, but it's a lot less chancey than not asking for it.

I do a lot of technology purchasing where I work. When they don't do Purchase Orders, we sometimes have to order with an American Express card that's in someone else's name. It is only about a fifth of the time that the vendor asks for the 3 digit code. I actually LIKE it when they make me jump through some extra hoops to use that card.

Just my observations.
SpyWeb

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Sat, 07-09-2005 - 9:34am

The credit cards get processed through a credit card processing center "Merchant Services". Its a company in itself, not affliated with the little store or company that is selling its goods and services. They issue the little store a credit card machine that they regulate. We can only enter information that they ask into the credit card machine. We could ask the 3 digit number, but if it does not get entered into the credit card machine, how will we know thats the correct 3 digit number?

Do you understand what I am saying?

Shannon

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Sat, 07-09-2005 - 9:45am
Yep, I understand. And I think it won't be too much longer before transactions over the internet are regulated a bit better..we will see. I hope so, because it is just too easy to get ripped off these days. If it was a $200 purchase, i'm pretty sure the cc company would not have been suspicious.