Credit Card Fraud

[GrySql]

Today I was looking at my online banking and noticed two $322 withdrawal's from one of my credit cards made by Western Union this morning... :redcard:

 

I called my financial institution's fraud line, they looked at my account and found two other withdrawals done last month, two weeks apart, $6 and $12.50, trial runs the fraud expert thought. They try a couple of small withdrawals then hit you with bigger and bigger amounts until you notice.

That particular credit card is the one I use for internet purchases only and it was closed immediately, another card will be issued to me.

 

My financial institution's fraud expert contacted Western Union and they have already replaced the hacked money back into my account.

 

I was lucky.

 

Beware...

[corncobs]

Good for you!

 

I get notifications whenever there is card transactions without a card being present on my phone and email so I could react quickly.

I have caught my wife a few times ;) but knock wood no bad guys.

[billford]

Is there any particular website that you think caused the problem?

[jeff_h]

This has happened to me 4 times in the past, last time about 6 months ago when there was a $1 charge pending for a parking meter in NY CIty... I haven't been there in many years. BUT - I had been to Home Depot several times, so I think my info was caught up in that breach.

 

I found the charge when I checked my online credit card statement, I check it every morning because these hucksters are everywhere.

[hermans]

I check on-line our personal and business credit and debit cards daily. This takes me all of a total of 30 seconds. This is well worth the time as I once found where a grocery employee had charged over $400. to our debit/checking account right after my wife had spent $36. Turns out her friend was the next person in line. Lots of steak and shrimp. I happen to be checking the account and found this about 1/2 hour after it happened. The charge was pending and hadn't hit the account yet.

[GrySql]

Strangely, I got a phone car from a person about 1 month ago, they said I had money waiting in a Western Union account and left a number to call on my answering machine - a version of telephone Phishing. I reported this to Western Union Fraud, the person I spoke to was not very interested, said it happens all the time - I was not impressed by the response.

This was about the same time as I had the first $6 trial theft that I didn't catch.

 

Yes, having any sort of banking notification now days is a good idea, check daily if necessary.

I was also part of the Target and Home Depot breach, got new CC's each time.

Debit card PIN number theft is also a big item now, even bigger that CC theft because it's easier to obtain a PIN.

Articles like this explain how some of it works.

[hybridbear]

GrySql - glad it wasn't worse! This is why we always use credit cards. The risk with using a debit card & having money come right out of your checking account is too high.

 

We've had two credit cards be used fraudulently in the last few years for online purchases. The credit card companies have really made the process smooth & easy for the victim. It'll be interesting to see how the liability shift in October with the new chip cards impacts things. Merchants will start having to bear the costs of in-person fraud.

Good for you!

I get notifications whenever there is card transactions without a card being present on my phone and email so I could react quickly.
I have caught my wife a few times ;) but knock wood no bad guys.

I also have notifications set up on all our cards. Capital One sends a push notification to my iPhone for every purchase, even in-store purchases. It serves mostly the same purpose...catching my wife more than any bad guys lol ;) :spend:

 

This has happened to me 4 times in the past, last time about 6 months ago when there was a $1 charge pending for a parking meter in NY CIty... I haven't been there in many years. BUT - I had been to Home Depot several times, so I think my info was caught up in that breach.

 

I found the charge when I checked my online credit card statement, I check it every morning because these hucksters are everywhere.

I try to check at least once per week. We have 3 credit cards that we use all the time based on the varying rewards they give, plus our Target REDcard. We record all of our purchases on an Excel spreadsheet for the purpose of making sure we don't overspend since we only use our credit cards. This makes it super easy for me to reconcile what shows up online from each credit card.