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!
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Never had my card scammed when it was just the strip on the back to swipe but as soon as as I was issued one with the chip in it things went south. We are averaging a new card ever year because of theft. These so called safe chip cards are so easy to scam.
This is one of the banking industry’s biggest screw ups, as Robert said before the “chip” cards a thief had to physically have your card in their hand. Now with the new chip card you can buy a code scanner from just about anywhere and walk or stand within 10’ of someone and it will read all the info on your card. This same thing can be done with the keyless entry/ignition vehicles. Once the thief scans your info it’s easy to program that info into another device that will send the info into the store or car computer and they’re buying on your dime, or they wait until you park your car and walk up, the door opens, the engine starts and they drive away with no one being the wiser. No more breaking and entering, no more “hot wiring” the ignition. Every time I bring this up to a bank official they’re amazed that thieves can do this. I brought this to the attention of a bank VP who checked it out an told me nobody was aware of this in the banking industry.
Don’t know how the person got my card number but he purchased a computer and some things to go with it to pick up at a Walmart miles away. I received an email from Walmart when it would be ready to pick up (this is how I found out) I called the store told them it wasn’t me. I talked to manager and police they were able to arrest him when he went to pick it up. The police said he had done this a number of times around the state.
wow. good for you.
Same happened to me. They did it overnight and picked up before I was able to contact Walmart. Actually did it in two states but one didn’t go through. Amex sent new card and didn’t charge me anything.
I once had BofA Call me about the validity of a $5000 charge online. When I said it wasn’t mine they declined it. A few hours later they approved an $8000 charge from the same company and purchaser. When I asked “why?” did they approve a subsequent larger charge for the same fraudulent purchase, they didn’t have an answer. Go figure
I had my bank card stolen at a gas station while on vacation. The bank (local Credit Union) caught the transaction because they knew we were home. Now I use a gas card and get money off at the pump, plus it’s only good for gas and easy to lock out.
The actual card has not been stolen but the number has been stolen and/or compromised. Our credit card company usually texts or calls us to verify a charge and we check our accounts about once a week.
One time during a particularly bad day at work AMEX called me wanting to know had I charged 2 first class tickets to Oslo for over $7000. They cancelled my card and I had a new one two days later. That fantasy of the two of us going to Oslo after my shift sustained me for the rest of the day. As much as we travel I do try to keep a close eye on things but there does not seem to be a lot you can do to prevent identity threat
Yes, 4 times. 3 times in 1 year. 2 of those times were in 2 months. All were stolen the cash registers or gas pumps. I had no idea until the credit card company called with questions. All were taken care of after only a few transactions.
Yes, once in a restaurant in the Detroit Airport. They had made a new card, but had got the expiration date wrong. They first tried at a Dollar store for $1.06 to see if it worked.
I had the Visa # compromised once. Someone tried buying a $4,500.00 exercise machine with my card #. Visa knew better that my fat butt would not be buying an exercise machine. They denied the charge and issued me a new card asap. Thanks Visa.
Security wondered why I was buying crotch less female steam punk clothing for teenagers in North Dakota.
And why were you? 😎
One time it was my debit card and they paid their electric bill with it. I caught it and was reimbursed. That wasn’t the only time, I’ve had to replace card at least 3 times.
My debit card number was hijacked last month. The good news is it’s not CC , so it does not have a max, it only has what we deposit into the account and usually we keep it about a thousand, for small amounts or cash debits. They were able to pay there Verizon bill, electric bill and play station bill before my husband caught it. They took it down to 0 in 24 hours.
The card that we use the most a Chase Visa– has been compromised at least twice. Chase has been very good to immediately identify fradulent charges, notify us and receive our confirmation that we did not make the charge(s), and cancel and quickly replace the card (overnighting the new one if requested). Thus far we have not been stuck with any charges not our own.
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.
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 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.
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.
Yes, after an Ebay purchase. eBay didn’t care, but our credit card company was on it fast. No more Ebay for me.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
A couple of times but the Credit card company was wonderful to deal with!
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.
Another choice, “Not Yet.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 recieved a call from the credit card company asking if I was buying groceries in Mexico.
They stopped the payment