Credit Card Scam (buying, store, buses)

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

This is something all credit card holders in NEPA and all over. Charges were made to our credit card from Hong Kong. What they do is start off small to see if you notice and then get brazen and start charging more expensive stuff.

I highly recommend that folks get the email notification so they can keep track of any charges that are made. This is the second time it happened. Thank god we have protection and are not liable for any charges, but you can imagine how scary it is.

The Hat

[nkotb]

I had that happen to me !!! It was a small charge outside of PA, my cc company took it off immediately and said the same thing. They start off small...
Too bad we have to be so on guard !!!

[wanneroo]

Probably a good question would be to try to find out how they got the number to begin with? Partly for prevention for future abuses.

The only trouble I ever had was with a debit card in Colorado. I had set up a checking account at a local bank when I had moved there permanently and got a visa debit card. Unbelievably, the bank sent the card in the mail already activated. Every other card I had ever gotten you had to call and activate it and I assumed the same with my new debit card. After a period of time had gone by and I didn't get the card in the mail, I called the bank and the fraud department called back in a hour saying the card was already being used! WooHoo! Someone had got the card and was buying prepaid phone cards over the phone with it.

Long story short, I spent a morning at the bank filling fraud forms in triplicate for the many small transactions and with help of the phone card company I managed to finger the person responsible. The cops of course did nothing, nor the bank and I got my money back which was a small sum as we stopped the damage before too many charges went though.

The question unanswered though was how did my card get intercepted between the bank sending it and my PO Box? The bank was also embarrassed they sent debit cards though the mail already activated!

[mathjak107]

i have one particular card which i only use at 1 particular bank atm which i only use to get my weekly money from my direct deposit account. that atm is in the bank lobby. that card had never seen the light of day in any store ever and those are the numbers that were stolen by the bad guys somehow thru the banking system..

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

The fraud department just said that this is on the rise and there is a program where it configures numbers to credit cards until they get it right. You have to think about also when you go to a resturant and give them a card - always possible that someone copies the numbers. Wasn't there recently some news about theives that stole credit card numbers from a store where numerous people were affected.

[ff18wife]

Are there any specific banks that these cards are connected to or is it random?

[mathjak107]

pretty random, mine was north fork bank but i had it with fidelity investments cards too thru the years.

[I LOVE PA!]

My daughter had a credit card that was activated but never used. She had fraudulent activity on the card within a month of getting it, purchases of on-line games. So...being her credit card was never used...I came to the conclusion that it was internal within the credit card company. It is impossible to protect yourself with the many different way people can get your number.

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

Originally Posted by ff18wife

Are there any specific banks that these cards are connected to or is it random?

FF the security department was very hush hush about giving out information and would not answer any specific questions such as what banks were connected to the cards.