2020 was one of the most eventful years of all time for identity theft and credit card fraud. The Federal Trade Commission received almost 1.4 million reports of identity theft in 2020. Most people who filed these reports were between the ages of 30-39. Additionally, there were 393,207 reports of credit card fraud, which was up 45 percent from 2019. Wow!
Has your credit card (or its number) ever been stolen from you and used fraudulently? We’re crossing our fingers that most of you say no!
I recieved a call from the credit card company asking if I was buying groceries in Mexico.
They stopped the payment
I have had cards compromised after online purchases in the past. I now use the one-time options for my card. They provide a virtual number that can be used only once and then it is dead. This works well for any online purchase or over the phone provides number, dates and CVV. I can have as many one-time numbers as I want and keep a list on them. These are also good for purchases that have auto renewal as the card is dead after first use and when the renewal comes up it will be declined.
I recently had a phone order charge of over $1200 on my credit card at a store on the east coast. I’m in California. I received a text from the credit card company about the purchase. I responded advising them that it was not me. The purchase was cancelled, and I got a new card and number several days later.
Over the last couple months, I have given my card info over the phone to campgrounds while making reservations. I also use that card frequently when dining out giving it to the server to pay the bill. It’s not difficult for a person to take a picture of the front and back or retain the info after writing it down. Whoever used the number could have gotten it any time in the last couple years and decided that enough time had passed to use it.
My suggestion is to have the credit card company text you anytime a purchase is made, and the card is not present. That is how I was notified of this fraudulent charge.
Yes, a teenager and his mother crowded at the register of a hair salon and stared at my card. They must have memorized the number because that night they charged a number of things against it. I contacted the bank and they voided the purchases. Another time in Dallas at the Federal building in while getting our passport photos the person running the counter used the card to purchase exotic coffees from a vendor in Europe. We didn’t know about it until we returned from a Cruise the next week. Visa intercepted the transaction and stopped the shipment.
It seems either of our credit cards gets scammed every year. Do a lot of online shopping or gas purchases with them. Credit card companies always quick to respond and I set limits with notifications to alert me to usage. Never use debit card except at banks for cash as I’ve read about horror stories on fixing fraud on debit cards.
Not my credit card for several years but my debit card at least 5 times in the last 4 years. I don’t use it anymore except to go to the ATM.
My credit card was cancelled while I was on a cross country road trip. I purchased gas at a Flying J in TX and a couple of hours later at another one but that one showed up as their corporate office in TN. They assumed the card had been stolen. I managed to make it home pulling money together from other sources.
We had an Oil company card compromised last summer. We watched the user travel from Washington State to Ohio. It took the company a week after we alerted them to block the account. The charges were finally reversed. It was a little disconcerting as we were traveling and in Pennsylsvania at the time. We hadn’t used the card as it was for an emergency and our Daughter had the card. It’s always a PITA.
Another choice, “Not Yet.”
My Wells Fargo debit card was scammed, and the crooks spent out my entire checking account in the course of a week. Wells Fargo is taking their sweet time investigating. By law they have 10 days, and they are going to use every minute. Meanwhile, they have not replaced any money in my account. Anything bills coming into the account to be paid are bouncing. Even got charged a $35 overdraft fee by Wells Fargo. The crooks took $1700.
WOW. Whenever my WF debit card gets compromised, 5 times in the last 4 years, I immediately get a text from them asking if I bought… Last time I woke up to a text asking if I had spent over $200 at Walmart. Turns out someone got into my Walmart account and ordered for store pickup at a store in Alburquerque (I live in NV). I called, they cancelled the card and sent a new one. Only use it for the ATM now.
A couple of times but the Credit card company was wonderful to deal with!
We suspected a local gas station that we rarely use on two occasion. Another purchase from AlixExress in China was suspect. I now try to use PayPal for any company that isn’t large and well-known. I’ve never had a problem with PayPal.
Luckily my credit card company contacts me when some purchase out of normal happens. I also let them know what my travel plans are and the states I will be in. This helps them and apparently me as well.
I do that too. Been with my bank >20yrs, so they know my spending habits. This way, it prevents denied charges when I go out of state.
Yes, used by someone to buy In-n-out burgers over a few days. Nothing else. I now have txt messages for any credit card purchase over $1.00.
Yes, just once, by the wait-staff at the Olive Garden in Grand Junction, CO. We don’t go there anymore. But our credit card company had alerted us quickly, blocked all the bogus charges, and replaced our card with a new account number before we were inconvenienced during our travels.
Once and Capital one was on top of it before we were even aware.
same…we were in Ireland and had a great time. After we had returned to the states, a charge for ladies frilly pink undergarments were charged to the card from England. Almost had to explain that one to my wife! Capital one declined the charge and got a new card out to use immediately
Yes, after an Ebay purchase. eBay didn’t care, but our credit card company was on it fast. No more Ebay for me.
Got notified that my information was compromised in the Wells Fargo Fiasco. Never done any business with Wells Fargo. I went online and put credit freeze on our accounts with all three credit reporting bureaus. It’s easy to do and if you need to apply for credit you just go back online unfreeze it for any length of time you want to and then it will go back to Frozen.
We keep one card for internet purchases only. One for daily use. Several for back up. We had one compromised while overseas. they would only replace with a new physical card. That’s why we have spares. Once in Mexico a restaurant double charged for the meal. That was the last time I used a card in Mexico. Always cash thereafter.
My favorite was an ongoing series of $1.25 charges, once a month, for I don’t know how long. Went back several months to verify the pattern but not to the beginning.
Citibank has been the worst for me, one time somebody charged $10, when that worked they followed up with two $10,000 charges, none of these were caught. For some reason they used it again for $5 and Citibank caught that one allowing me to discover the bigger charges in good time. I didn’t have to pay any of the charges which were all made in Luxembourg, but I did have to get a new card which was a PITA. Another time I used my Citibank card in JFK airport, by the time I got to England somebody had used it again for me and Citibank cancelled it, unfortunately it was the only card I had with me, won’t do that again.
We’ve never had this happen yet. I heard a financial expert say that we want a cc that uses a pin instead of a signature because that is harder for thieves. He also said not to sign the card but write, “see ID” where the signature is required. He then added that this is not a guarantee it won’t happen but will add a level of security.
I have had See ID written on my cc for years and I have only been asked for an ID twice!
Though no one has asked to see my signature in years, my card was once refused because I had written See ID in place of signature. This was by the State of Washington.
Never had anyone ask to see my ID when across my credit cards and used to travel a lot with work all over. However the park ranger at Badlands entrance made me sign my Senior parks pass before letting me through. And didn’t ask for my ID to confirm. Actually when I got the card earlier in the year they didn’t ask for my ID even now that I think about. Just wrote in their log and paid.