Posted on 06/23/2017 1:54:44 PM PDT by johniegrad
Purchased gas on my credit card today. Several minutes later, I received a text message from my credit card vendor asking me to confirm other purchases, none of which I had made. Contacted credit card company and they froze the account. They are expediting me a new card which I will receive Monday.
I've had this happen in the past also and things are always resolved quickly and to my satisfaction. But I wonder how often this happens to other Freepers. Basically, I'd like to know how often this should be expected to happen to see if I need to do something differently with the way I use my card.
Been using credit/debit cards for decades. Had problems only a handful of times. Suggest you save ALL your receipts, and check your account online daily to make sure nothing is charged that you didn’t authorize. Contact card company immediately if there’s a discrepancy.
So far, 5 times it’s happened over the past 4 years or so.
Always handled properly and promptly by the card company.
I just had a card replaced when someone tried to make two iTunes purchases with it. The bank called me, I denied the charges and they sent me a replacement card.
“It’s probably a good idea to get a wallet or card holder with an RFID blocker. There are readers out there that can get your card info from a foot or two away so thieves can steal your info even if the card’s in your pocket.”
That is very good advice.
In addition, whenever we charge gas at the pump we always select the cancel button after the purchase is completed. It’s our thought that cancels the number so it can’t be hijacked.
The chip gives a different number each time that is only usable once. I don’t know if is particularly derived from the transaction amount and vendor ID so it can only be used for that exact transaction, or if a smart crook could get the number from your card, cut off communications from the card reader and buy something big with that one time code.
I had this happen twice to me with American Express. One had the chip and one didn’t. After the second time, I stopped using AmEx and primarily use Visa. *Knock on wood* hasn’t happened to me since (going on 10 years now).
The very same thing happened to me this week - iTunes purchase.
Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. I had never heard of this skimmer people have referred to so I called the station. They informed me that there is a corporate wide policy ensuring pump checking at least once per shift. They were also going to recheck after my call. Perhaps someone snuck one by or maybe the info was obtained another way and my gas purchase was just coincidence. Overall, it doesn’t sound like my experience is anything out of the ordinary but I’ll take all the helpful information. Thank you.
Someone in the Philippines tried to charge a car to my daughter’s credit card. We’ve had to have our card reissued several times.
A lot of these must be inside jobs. After getting a call that my MC had been used to buy gas that morning in Ohio (I don’t live there), they sent out new cards. When they arrived I threw them in a drawer, and never used them. Three days later, it happened again, on the new card numbers.
I clised the account.
I’ve had it happen once at a Houston Texans football game; bought some food for my kid at a stand, and by the time I got home, the credit card company had reached out to my (at the time) wife, and asked about these other charges in Michigan, etc. Uhm - no, we were in Houston at NRG Stadium, there is no way we could have made it to Michigan, and then back home.
Cancelled the card, refunded the charges, and sent out a new one, which was received within the next day or two.
Had it happen several times.
I’ve had this happen SIX times in less than 3 years.
I finally made a concerted effort to change ALL online passwords, limit the card’s use for recurring charges to about ten bills and usually pay cash at the stations I fill up at. Going on 8 months - knock wood - with THIS card, but when I spoke with the fraud division at my bank (USAA) I was told there was probably NO correlation between filling up at a local gas station and getting my card “hacked”.
I got charged $300 at a Michagan Dollar store...I live on the west coast....credit card company did take care of it and got a new card....they had no explanation...I never lost my card...
You could tell you cc company that you will be traveling before you go. If you travel a lot or all over the place that would be a big PITA.
This has happened to me twice several years ago after extensive traveling. Could be skimmers or it could easily happen when you give your CC at a restaurant. My bank has always been good about contacting me right away and making things right.
I have a Discover for only gas purchases and another Discover for regular purchases. I have AMEx for dining, motels only. If I travel I call and tell them I’ll be on the I-95 corridor or the I-80 corridor, etc. Discover has caught at least 7 false charges and notified me. AMex did a bang up job when I went West and was charged for a 995.89 bill in Atlanta for a catering service. I believe they do their best.
I recently had multiple fraudulent charges on my debit card. It started after a gas station visit. I contacted a store my card was used at and discovered that a large black woman had a plate with her name and my number. She went all over south GA using my card number. She would go into the store and buy a small purchase. If it worked she would ring up a big purchase. I made a police report but nothing came of it.
This seems to happen to us whenever we go on vacation and use Amex to pay at a restaurant: three times in the last three years, Hawaii, Arizona, and NYC. The card is out of our sight so I suppose the waiter skims it. The pattern is a few 1-2 dollar charges, then a huge purchase. Once Amex called us to see if we had authorized the payment of a cable TV bill in India.
Get the app from the google play store or iphone store. Then you can log in to your Chase (or whatever) app and see charges instantly on the go.
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