hczone6...credit card fraud got me!

I don't know how they did it but I received my statement today for one I use on the internet quite alot and lo and behold there was over 350 dollars charged to my card...

I didn't panic of coarse and called my cc company and they are investigating where it came from and will let me know soon!

I can't believe this has happened...I have used this card for 5 yrs on the internet and I will never use another one on the internet again for anything!

This is terrible!

Oh, no, Reb! I haven't used mine for awhile, and was about to order some iris before all the good ones are taken. I think I will place the order online and then call the number in. I hope you find out who did it. Wouldn't it be a riot if it turned out to be the same guy hczone6 had rip him off?

I didn't know about HC's experience. That stinks, you guys! I've heard it is more likely you'll have someone perpetrate credit card fraud from a phone call or even a server at a restaurant getting your card number than it is for an online order at a secure site to be jinxed. There are portable card readers that some unscrupulous servers wore inside their jackets, swiping their customers' cards through when they took the cards to ring up their orders. They just downloaded all those recorded numbers are the end of their day. Rotten, eh?

I've heard that GW and so now we always sit where I can see the cash machine and I never take my eyes off the waiter/waitress!! Sorry to hear this!!

Oh that is so shame of them "Theif"

We don't use credit cards anymore (baaad with them, LOL). We keep a separate checking account with a balanced of under $10. We have a debit card tied just to that account, and when we want to make an online purchase, we transfer cash into that account for the purchase amount, and use that card. That way, if someone does get ahold of the card information, there's not going to be anything they can really do with it, anyway. Can't squeeze blood from a turnip!

GW, my bank won't keep an account open if it consistently stays that low. A debit card account here must have at least $150 or it is flagged, and after about three months, it will be closed. How do you get them to do that? Of course, it costs that much in service charges each month, so I would not be likely to do it, but I thought all banks had stopped keeping "maintainer" accounts.

Update! My CC company has reversed the charges and will let me know who the predators are soon!!!

Hooray!!!

Congratulations, Rebecca! I love a happy ending.

Well, I Think I know who it was already!

From a business person's perspective, I learned something new last week. And this bit of news should benefit those of you who have experienced some "unauthorized" charges. I work for a workshop company. We had a person from a corporation attend a workshop in November. In October, another individual in this person's company charged the $1200 fee to her company credit card. In March (5 months after the original charge), I received a letter from Mastercard that they were deducting the $1200 from our account because the fee had not been authorized and I needed to provide proof of authorization in order to get it redeposited. I indicated to Mastercard that I had voice authorization. Mastercard would not redeposit the $$ into the account. I was told that the only official legal authorizations are if the vendor has an imprinted copy of the credit card or the credit card has been "swiped" through the electronic machines. So I said, in other words, anyone that makes an online charge or a phone charge is not legally authorizing the use of their card. She said that is correct. Lesson learned from a "card holders" perspective, if the credit card company cannot produce a swiped receipt or a imprinted receipt, you should not be liable for these charges.

That's good news, Rebecca - fast, too.

Thanks for that info, Nebraska; that's worth filing away in the "hope it never happens, but..." file.

Aimee - we have direct-deposit with the bank, so there are no monthly fees with our checking accounts. We do have fees with savings if they drop below a given average daily balance, though: $2/month fee.

Must depend on where you live. I direct deposit, but I also have fees. And my bank is the best in this area for tailoring accounts to different situations. Others don't offer as many services or types of accounts. Well, it's a trade-off, isn't it?

Now Aimee...Don't tell me your bank doesn't give you a no fee account and free checks too and I get interest on top of that!

Have you shopped around?

Sorry, that is a thing of the past around here. There are some accounts that have no set fee, but I don't like the restrictions you are under to keep it at $0, and no one gives free checks unless you maintain a higher balance than I am willing to keep in a checking account. As for interest, I can do better with any "investment" funds than the puny bit they offer. I also have found that it's worth the small charge to have my checks in my file, instead of being held hostage for a search fee when I need a copy. So I guess I am not a good candidate for the minimalist accounts available.

Why that is awful for you...Our bank offers to it's senior citizens (50) free checking and free checks with no balance requirements that I know of and I receive my checks back too every month too!

I reckon Al is still way behind all the bigger states but will eventually catch up with us little folks too!

You come to Al and open you an account and it will be free for you! Come on up and I will help you!

That is too bad! Our bank has what they call safe-keeping, where they keep scans of the fronts and backs of all your checks and you can retrieve them online. It's very handy if there's a dispute over payment.

Sorry...haven't been checking this forum much...I just saw your post. Sorry to hear that :( Your CC company should be able to tell you right away WHERE the charge was made. Mine was used to purchase an internet domain name...and it had the company listed where the purchase was. You should be able to get that right away...I can't understand why you wouldn't be able to. Now as for WHO made the charge, that's another story. I can check my credit statement on the online, maybe you can set that up too? It's easy to keep an eye on it that way.
As soon as mine happened, I contacted the company that charged me and told them I didn't make the purchase. They were nice about it and within 2 weeks shut down the website that had been established with the use of my card. Maybe you can get some help from the company that charged you too...unless they're a bad business.
I would also recommend putting a fraud alert on your credit report. You'll have to contact the 3 main credit reporting agencies and they can help you. That's what I did...just to be safe.
Sorry to hear about your trouble...that really stinks :( I still think it's safe to use a credit card on the net...just be careful where you use it though. I'm going to stay away from cheesey looking websites run out of NJ from now on...lol (nothing against you folks in NJ, but I think that's where I had the problem with bad security). If only we could get Dave to give security lessons to these poorly run websites...we may have better luck with CC purchases on the net...hehe :D

hc...I don't know but my CC company said they would send me a letter in 10 days...should I call them back and insist on knowing?

I really don't use it on anything but reliable sites with security coding!

This message was edited Wednesday, May 1st 9:20 PM

The site I bought from had encryption too, when you place the order. The problem is hackers coming back later to the computer itself (at the company you bought from) and breaking in to steal the numbers. The guy that used my card number admitted that's how he got the numbers he had. I'm not saying that's what happened to you, but it's possible. (In case you didn't watch the thread about my problem with CC fraud, I've been in contact with the guy that used my card because he had his email address on the website he created, using my card to pay for the registration. I didn't let him know I was the one he stole from, so he opened up a little and told me about it (in general terms)

As for calling the card company back, I have no clue why they can't or won't tell you WHERE the charge was made (to whom it was paid). That would be on your monthly statement anyway!...I can't imagine why they wouldn't be able to tell you right away. If I were you, I'd call them back and not let them off the line until they tell you where the charge was made. It's your card, you have a right to know.

This message was edited Thursday, May 2nd 9:05 AM

I just asked our CC company to produce our signigature on the charge, we did not authorize the charge and wanted it creited to our account. And they did so, it took three months to take off the charges, this same person from the Gas station did it three months in a row, be sure to check all of your charge accounts, we found another charge around Christmas time, a childs learning game, $256.00 this went to a neighborhood in a area where we knew no one, it was reversed. We just asked for proof of purchase, which they couldn't produce. We also had this done to us on our phone bill, we caught that person as well. Check your charges on your monthly bills. Norma

Update!!! I received a letter and the charges have been reversed and are being investigated and should receive another letter soon telling who is the culprit!

I am so glad I have 100 % fraud protection!!!

Please be careful who you give your CC # to!

I never pay anything in itnernet with credit card (though I don't have one, only Visa Electron, which is useful but doesn't work like credit card you know ;)
I always pay with internet bank. I think it is not used so much there, Finland has got the biggest internet bank in the world :)