Posted on 08/19/2010 9:51:07 AM PDT by davidosborne
Greetings my fellow FReepers. Before anyone complains that this post in "unsourced" let me say that as a recent VICTIM of Credit Card Fraud as well as a law enforcement officer I am very concerned about this epidemic that is hitting our nation HARD ! My main concern about this is....... WHO is paying for it? When a victim of credit card fraud reports unuathorized transactions to their bank they are reimbursed immediately for the unlawful transactions. The bank then becomes the victim, but who reimburses the bank? Is it US the taxpayers? If so what is the DAILY cost of these transactions? Who is tracking this data?
For the past 2 months I was TDY to Fort Knox, KY and while in Kentucky I got a phone call from DISCOVER asking if I had made a charge at a grocery store in OHIO. I told them no and my card was immediately canceled and I was reimbursed for this charge. Important to note is that the fraudulent transaction on my account was done using a physical CARD SWIPE, not a keyed in number, but I had possession of MY card, so the only way that could be possible is if a FAKE PHYSICAL card was made using my credit card account number.
Important to note is that I DID NOT file a police report, and DISCOVER did not request that I do so as a condition of refunding the ammount of the fraudulent transaction. My first day back to work, as a law enforcement officer, after returning from military duty, I personally took 4 reports of credit card fraud. Now these are cases in which the bank REQUESTED that the victim file a report with law enforcement. So you can be sure that the REPORTED cases are only a fraction of the actual cases out there. Have you or someone you know been a victim of credit card fraud? What are we going to do about this?
I don’t know who ate the charges.
The fraud people were very circumspect about what would be done except to be very gracious in apologizing for having the problem and the necessity to issue a new card. They did say they would aggressively pursue the thieves.
The issue was raised about law enforcement getting involved. Lord only knows where in the USA the anti fraud people were. Brookstone is in New Hampshire and I am in Tennessee.
It is clearly a federal matter.
Hey, don’t worry about it! Didn’t you hear that Obama’s going to pay our credit card bills?
bert,
as a local law enforcement officer I can tell you that the problem is massive and yes often involves investigations that cross state lines. Our detectives work closely with bank officials on these matters, we initially list the cardholder as the victim, however we transfer “victim” status from the cardholder to the bank as soon as the bank refunds their customer the cost of the fraudulent transactions.
yes I did.. and the is EXACTLY what worries me... Obama is going to pay MY bill with YOUR money.. and vice versa... UGH !!!
Well, if I’m paying your bill and you’re paying my bill then it all evens out right? Wait a sec, I don’t have a credit card bill... d’oh!
“My main concern about this is....... WHO is paying for it?”
Anyone paying 21% to 36% interest.
“if they get by me and the product gets shipped”
Wouldn’t the shipping address be the location of the thief?
I thought Florida was like here in Texas where we just shoot robbers dead?
I can’t say what would happen to stores, they may start taking it serious when that happens.
I just know that Cash is how I do business. I can’t buy anything at a garage sale or off of craigslist without it. It is the real deal. If you ask someplace to take a check now many don’t do it, if you ask if they take one card or the other, they may not do it, and if you buy anything from another person, it is only cash.
Check out www.daveramsey.com
I am not sure what I will do when Cash isn’t taken by anyone, but until then....
Obama has the ultimate credit card, YOURS and MINE!
I had they exact thing happen to me on a trip to Los Angeles last summer.
They duplicated my card and waited a month and hit it from 6 $200 transactions at grocery store in Malibu.
I think they physically make a copy of the card, and also copy the info on the magnetic stripe.
Then it's easy to build a new card. Any card is from a bank where my photo is on the front of the card.
I think I know where the card was copied; if you have seen the movie Rush Hour; don't eat at the Chinese restaurant featured in the first movie! Or pay in cash if you do!
I got hit twice the past year for a total of $9,500 overseas. Credit Card companies are going to have to do something more.
If the cash purchase is over $10,000 YOU WILL be investigated for being a drug dealer.
Car dealer will take cash for a car, just ask them. They don’t care about “drug dealer” or any such nonsense. They are in business to sell autos. If you go to your bank and have $26000 in there and say “I’m going to buy a car with this money, what do I need to do?” they will help you do a wire transfer or a certified check to the auto dealer. The auto dealer also will work with you to get paid. Cars are paid for in cash every day. If you come up with a miracle giant wad of $5 bills yeah, they will probably think you are up to something. But it is just a car, and if you save your money you can buy whatever you want. And when did you last use your CREDIT CARD to buy a car?
Dave would say dump the cards for people who use the cards to live beyond their means and then get into debt problems. We’ve been using our cards for almost 100% of our purchases for 20 years, and have never carried a balance or paid a penny in charges. A simple question of discipline: don’t buy if you can’t afford.
He also says “play with snakes, expect to get bit”
You may never get any of the horror stories people have had with credit card companies. But as you see here, they don’t care, they are misused, and stolen, and abused.
So for you so far it has been good. Congrats! I hope it stays that way. For us, they do nothing but cause problems or take up energy to pay for it later.
Now I don’t worry about it, they can’t steal the numbers, I don’t have one. They can’t over bill or change the rules or due dates to get a fee, I don’t have one. They can’t open an account in my name, I have no credit history anymore so my FICO is “not on file”. I have moved beyond the need of them. You don’t have to do the same.
And Dave would still say Dump the Cards. To EVERYONE. Call his show and ask the man.
Yep, within the last month.
It does not matter. ANY cash transaction over $10,000 must be reported to the FEDs.
A few months ago, an unknown individual tried to withdraw $1,000.00 in cash from one of my credit cards at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Tex., right on the border.
I have no clue how the perp got the account number, but I can only suspect that it was skimmed at a store or merchant on one of my many road trips.
Anyways, my bank caught the transaction and declined it.
So when your debit card gets hit by fraud, all of a sudden you have to fight your bank to get your money back.
Nice.
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