Several years ago, one Saturday morning, they called to ask me about some suspicious charges -- airline ticket from Turkey to Dubai and a similar ME airline charge. The 2nd charge sparked a 'hold'.
If your CC company or bank sees suspicious activity, they will call you, but they will clearly identify themselves as being from “XYZ bank” or “ABC Master Card” and typically not something generic like “Credit Card Services” and they won’t ask you for your full card number, your pin number, the 3-digit security code on the back of your card, or your SSN or DOB or full billing address, etc. as they already have that information. And they will never ask you for your on-line account password.
If you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank or CC company and they ask for that type of detailed and personal information or the call seems in anyway suspicious, don’t give it to them and ask them to give you a reference number and that you will call them back using the 1–800 customer service number on the back of your card. If the call is legit, they will be more than happy to give you a reference number and completely and politely understand why you prefer to call them back.
Last year I got a call from my bank informing me of a suspicious charge on my bank debit card that they were holding, a charge of $1 to an on-line sporting goods store located in CA – scammers and CC thieves will often try to put through a charge of a $1 to see if it goes through first before racking up big charges. The woman from the bank asked me to verify the last 4-digits of my card number and then asked me for my billing zip code for purposes of identifying and confirming that I was the card holder. Then she asked if I had made the purchase, to which I said NO! So she told me that she would immediately cancel my card number and that I could go to any bank branch to get a new card with a new number on the spot. And I love that about my bank, not having to wait a week or more for them to mail you a new card.
Also last year I was making travel arrangements for a business trip to the UK. I booked the flights and the hotel through our corporate travel agent using the company account but I needed ground transportation from Manchester to Hull and tried ordering train tickets on-line with my Master Card because it seemed easier and cheaper to do myself. But the charges were denied. Within only a few minutes I got a phone call from my credit card company and also a fraud alert text message to my phone. I completely forgot that I had to notify my CC company and my bank, if I was planning to use my CC or debit card for overseas travel or overseas purchases.
The very nice man who called from my credit card company asked if I was attempting to make an on-line purchase for train tickets in the UK on “XYZ” website in the amount of £109 to which I said, “yes” and then after asking me to confirm only the last 4 digits of my card and my billing zip code, he told me that they would release and process the charge and then he asked me from what date to what date would I be in the UK and where I would be in the UK so they would not question charges in the UK while I was there. He also gave me some advice on using UK ATM’s, where to find ATM’s at the Manchester airport and in Hull where I could withdraw £ without hefty additional service fees, told me about resources on their website for overseas travel including up to date currency exchange rates and their current currency exchange fees. He then told me to “have a safe and happy trip”. That was IMO, great customer service.
FWIW, I also have alerts set up on both my credit cards that send me an email for any purchase of $1 or more. Sometimes I get these alerts via email that goes to my phone even before I even get home from the store.
And another piece of advice, never click any log-in web links contained in any email from what appears to be from your CC company or bank or bill paying alert emails. Always use the URL that you have booked marked and know is legit for purposes of logging in to your accounts. And use strong passwords and change them regularly.
My Discover Card calls me every time I charge over $100. I’m very grateful. I always call each discover card I have (one for gas and one for incidentals) tell them I’m going to Florida or wherever and all gas charges on the 1-95 corridor are ok and any one night stay in hotel in the south is OK. This year, I forgot to tell them that I’d be fishing and any charter charges would be OK. I got a call that they wanted to know if the two $800 charges were legit.? I really believe they are looking out for me, but I could be wrong.