Post by: kimmer on November 27, 2007, 01:15:58 PM
QUOTE
Ever got a charge on your credit card that you never asked for?
It happens to almost everyone sooner or later, and most of us have at least heard of most of the common reasons, but there are several newer wrinkles or sudden resurgences of old tricks that you may not know.
Cross-selling or how you unknowingly "opted in" to buy/subscribe when you left a site after a purchase
Force-posting or how charges can appear on a card you haven't even activated yet.
You can contest either of these with good success, if you notice, and know about the possibility. Otherwise they often try to convince you that it must have been your mistake somehow.
It happens to almost everyone sooner or later, and most of us have at least heard of most of the common reasons, but there are several newer wrinkles or sudden resurgences of old tricks that you may not know.
Cross-selling or how you unknowingly "opted in" to buy/subscribe when you left a site after a purchase
Force-posting or how charges can appear on a card you haven't even activated yet.
You can contest either of these with good success, if you notice, and know about the possibility. Otherwise they often try to convince you that it must have been your mistake somehow.
The only problem I have ever had shopping online (or via mail or telephone) was when we were planning our vacation in 2005. I used an online reservation system for a major motel chain and when the credit card bill rolled in we had a $9 charge for “WLI Reservation Rewards” (which is mentioned in the first blog article). I called the motel and asked what it was. They told me it was a fee for making the reservation online and that WLI handled the transaction, so they got the money. I nicely complained and told them that their web site never stated there was an online fee -- in fact it was the opposite: better rates for going online. I finally printed out the screen cap I'd taken of their web page with my reservation information and the motel chain gave me a refund, plus a discount on our room for "the inconvenience".
I've never had another charge from WLI, so I guess I'm lucky. Two other things in the first blog article stuck out at me:
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Visa and Mastercard rules state that card data should not be stored, and the CVV, the verification codes are NEVER to be stored.
I don't understand this. We shop regularly at Amazon.com and they do store our credit card info. How can both be correct?
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Usually I make purchases on-line using my card and a bit of software called Shopsafe which produces one-time cards with a specified expiration date and a specified credit limit.
What is Shopsafe and is it really safe?
I haven't finished the second article so I really can't comment on it all.
We watch our credit card use very carefully and closely, and monitor our credit report on a monthly basis as well. Comes from having the state of ca's computers hacked and then having calpers "share" our social security number with the postal system and world.
Anyhow, what do you financial wizards think of all this stuff?
Post by: Paddy on November 27, 2007, 11:32:47 PM
http://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy/index..._about_shopsafe
Free service through Bank of America. Have to be a BOA card holder though:
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ShopSafe internet safe shopping service is only available for Customers who have a Bank of America Credit Card and use our Online Banking service
I'm sure it's safe, but I'm not THAT paranoid - even though both of our Citibank credit cards have recently been replaced because they were among the thousands upon thousands of numbers stolen in the TJX mess. That was a brick and mortar store - ShopSafe wouldn't help there!!
Methinks you're already being careful - I too keep an eye on things, and have had two experiences with cc fraud in the past - one via a gas station I stopped at (fraudulent charges appeared 6 months later - from the gas station and a restaurant; I was 500 miles away at the time) and one via an online check-printing outfit; the thieves in that case goofed up spectacularly in that they used the address for checks (which were for an organization for which I was treasurer) instead of MY address as the billing address. Wolf Camera smelled a rat and called me when they tried to use the card - for an online purchase of the same model of camera I already owned ironically enough! The online porn site wasn't quite so suspicious, but it was clear when I called them that they were well used to hearing from people who had just found out that their cards were used fraudulently!!!
Post by: Gregg on November 28, 2007, 07:32:15 AM
Just last night, I called one of my credit card's customer service, because the bill wanted me to write my check to a different entity that I had written checks to in the past. Just wanted to be sure it was on the up and up, and it was. You can't be too careful.
Post by: kimmer on November 28, 2007, 11:25:51 AM
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The online porn site wasn't quite so suspicious, but it was clear when I called them that they were well used to hearing from people who had just found out that their cards were used fraudulently!!!
hehehe I'm sure it wasn't funny to you ... it just kinda tickled me.
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Just last night, I called one of my credit card's customer service
Me too, but for a different reason.
I was arguing over a 50-cent fee. Seems we don't put enough on this card every month, and we pay off the balance, and it annoys them so they now charge a minimal interest rate each month. I told them - politely - that I would be locking their credit card in my vault and never using it again. They didn't seem to care, and seemed to think I needed their credit. I told them I didn't - not by a long shot. If they check our rating, they'll find out I'm right and they'll be sorry. 
Post by: Gregg on November 28, 2007, 01:02:16 PM
Post by: kimmer on November 28, 2007, 01:40:09 PM
I refuse to cancel this card - I know that shows as a negative on your credit report; so it can just sit in the locked box.
Post by: jwboyd on November 28, 2007, 04:13:15 PM
Calls to Customer Service resulted in cancellation of the late payment fees, and one even waived the finance charge!
Post by: Paddy on November 28, 2007, 09:29:11 PM
More on how and when to do it (and the "cancelled at customer's request" is probably important!) here:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20020102a.asp
http://www.fool.com/ccc/check/check02.htm - How Lenders Keep Score
Post by: kimmer on November 28, 2007, 09:40:54 PM
QUOTE(jwboyd @ Nov 28 2007, 02:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Calls to Customer Service resulted in cancellation of the late payment fees, and one even waived the finance charge!
See, it pays to have good credit.
A bill arrived today and showed a finance charge. Odd since I pay it off every month. I called, asked why the charge and was told, OOPS, apologies and the charge is gone.
Paddy, thanks for the info - much appreciated.
Post by: Gregg on November 29, 2007, 07:33:57 AM
QUOTE(jwboyd @ Nov 28 2007, 04:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
We try to pay in full each month, but we were away from home for about three weeks in October and missed payment deadlines on two cards. On the next bill, they both added finance charges AND late payment fees (one was $29 and the other was $39).
Calls to Customer Service resulted in cancellation of the late payment fees, and one even waived the finance charge!
Calls to Customer Service resulted in cancellation of the late payment fees, and one even waived the finance charge!
I got a finance charge cancelled once because I told them there had been a huge snow storm the day I mailed my on time payment. It was July! Just kidding. There really was a huge snow storm that day. I guess they noticed my decades long record of paying by the due date.
Post by: krissel on November 30, 2007, 12:40:43 AM
The only card I cancelled was the one I was using when I signed up for AOL back in '97. Two months after I got their service they went to the all-you-can-surf for a fee and they were so overwhelmed I couldn't get online for a month. I dumped them via email and snail mail but they continued to bill my card for 6 months even after I cancelled the card. Seems there was fine print which allowed them to continue to bill as long as the service was in force. These rules have changed and are no longer valid. I finally did manage to get them to release me and refund the charges that I had stupidly paid. (I was afraid of killing off my credit.)
The only recent 'problem' I have had was Bank of America put a stop on two of my purchases because they were 'suspicious'. Seems they didn't know that I was a nightowl and when they saw a couple charges that were made around 4 AM they thought they were by crooks.
I had to call and confirm that indeed it was I who made the purchases.
Post by: Highmac on November 30, 2007, 04:56:10 AM
QUOTE(krissel @ Nov 30 2007, 06:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only recent 'problem' I have had was Bank of America put a stop on two of my purchases because they were 'suspicious'. Seems they didn't know that I was a nightowl and when they saw a couple charges that were made around 4 AM they thought they were by crooks. I had to call and confirm that indeed it was I who made the purchases.
I had to call and confirm that indeed it was I who made the purchases. Nice to know they were as awake as you were! I'd rather have a phone call to check a purchase than go through the hassle of trying to get a refund
I too check all our statements (credit and debit cards). Only mystery item I've caught so far was many years ago (pretty well before online shopping), a fairly small charge appeared on my cc for a phone company I'd never heard of. Tried phoning them and was told they were ex-directory. An unlisted phone company sounds mighty fishy to me! My card company removed the charge and I never heard any more about it.
Post by: Gregg on November 30, 2007, 07:35:23 AM
QUOTE(krissel @ Nov 30 2007, 12:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only recent 'problem' I have had was Bank of America put a stop on two of my purchases because they were 'suspicious'. Seems they didn't know that I was a nightowl and when they saw a couple charges that were made around 4 AM they thought they were by crooks. I had to call and confirm that indeed it was I who made the purchases.
I had to call and confirm that indeed it was I who made the purchases. That can be annoying. One of mine did that to me once because I purchased gas twice in the same day, in my home town! Sheesh! We have two cars! :duh:
When we actually needed them to stop honoring the card, we had to call them. Had they done it on their own? Nope.
Post by: jcarter on November 30, 2007, 08:22:09 PM
They are good to old customers. And you can put an ALERT on your account so that they watch for something out of the ordinary, and they will actually call your home phone # to ask if its cricket.
So when you plan to buy something large, or travel out of the country, they advise you to call them and tell them what to expect.
We have found that if you are careful and look at your bill online and carefully watch your statements, that you will find very few errors with BOA.
And if there is a problem, just call them and figure it out.
Jane
OH, another thing, in Massachusetts coming soon you will be able to put a credit freeze alert on all 3 of the credit bureaus, so that nobody can access your information without your actual written permission. This will be a great stop of fraud, as anybody who has a bogus business, almost any excuse, can get info on citizens. So this means that they cannot get into your files without permission unless they are already part of who you do business with. Like if you apply for a loan from your local bank, OK, but if someone bogus says they are an employer and you are applying for a job, they would NOT be able to access your stuff. While in MA, up until recently, they could.
I know I am not wording this properly, but you catch the drift.
Post by: hingyfan on November 30, 2007, 10:33:45 PM
I changed all of my accounts (and there are many) to tougher logons but i expect it will keep happening.
One time we picked up my mother law and drove her to our place. She was complaining (what else?) there is no place to buy classical music anymore. We we were telling her the Net is the place to do all that and she was sayin she'd never do that and we were saying how safe it is.
When we all arrived at our the house there was a message from a card company saying they expected more hijinks.
In a way though, that's reassuring. They're looking out for me. That's more than I do!
Post by: jcarter on December 01, 2007, 06:46:22 AM
Also our little local banks will call if they see something odd too. Like a very old man in our town went into the bank and
signed a check to another person who the bank did not recognize, it was a pretty big check. So the teller pretended to mis-read
the account number, whilst she was actually calling the police. They walked in, and arrested the guy, popped him right into the cruiser, and one of the bank people called the old man's daughter and she came and picked him up and took him home. The bad guy had done this several times, he was a local fly-by-night contractor.
This has actually happened several times in our town to very old people, but the banks are always on the alert. One good thing about
brick and morter banks.
Jane
Post by: hingyfan on December 01, 2007, 09:29:41 AM
When I got home, it was a call about another Amazon purchase that was awaiting me. Amazon i think is an area where a lot of fraud takes place. This was my second call regarding them. The first came from them, this time from a card company.
By the way, i have my suspicions about how ive been targeted. I rather not go into it but i have changed my MO.
Post by: sluggo on December 01, 2007, 12:04:34 PM
So far, the purchased have all been mine, but nice to know that I can be on top of things immediately if I need to be.
For $99 a year, I've also signed up for LifeLock. Hopefully I never have to use their services.
Post by: Gregg on December 01, 2007, 09:34:59 PM
QUOTE(sluggo @ Dec 1 2007, 12:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I have a fraud alert set up on a B of A card, however it isn't ShopSafe. Anytime a purchase is made online or via telephone, I receive an email from B of A.
That sounds like a great service! This is becoming a very informative thread.
Post by: jcarter on December 01, 2007, 09:52:21 PM
I forgot to say, that every time I make a purchase on-line, I get an almost instantaneous email receipt. I LOVE shopping online, its so easy and I hate messing around in the malls and stores unless I am on a hunt for a particular product.
Jane
Post by: Paddy on December 01, 2007, 11:34:39 PM
One thing to remember - your CC number can be stolen in any venue; restaurants, gas stations, stores - all it takes is a dishonest employee. If they note the security number AND have your name and perhaps your phone number, it's pretty simple to get the billing address if you've got a listed phone number. Much fraudulent use of credit cards happens online because it's easy to do - and some companies will not check with the purchaser who wishes to ship to a third party address (the usual method of shopping using a stolen cc number). The smart companies do, of course, but too many don't. A lot of people think that it's online shopping that puts them at risk - when in fact it's simply using a credit card. I've had my cc used fraudulently twice - and the first time didn't involve the internet at all, but a gas station I'd stopped at 6 months earlier. Someone who worked there lifted the number and used it twice (at the same gas station and at a restaurant) and the second time, the fraud was perpetrated by a company I'd ordered checks from online for an organization for which I was treasurer. I was called by the online retailer who noticed that the billing address given by the thief wasn't correct - he'd given the address of the organization, rather than my address. I knew darn well who the guilty party was, but the police are hopeless at following up on these cases unless they involve a great deal of money. In the second case, the police in NYC (where the items the thief had ordered were to be delivered) informed me that they already had a watch on the Mailboxes Etc. outlet that was receiving the packages and that the Russian mafia were involved. The guy I spoke to in accounting at the check-printing company had a Russian name and a very strong Russian accent, and of course, denied any involvement of his company in my cc number theft, even though the particular combination of information given with the fraudulent orders could ONLY have originated there. You'd think that would make it pretty easy to nail them - the breadcrumb trail led right to their door. Who knows if they were ever caught - though the check-printing company was gone within 6 months.
Post by: jcarter on December 02, 2007, 07:25:28 AM
And a couple of restaurants in town did this also.
Thats why my husband and I pay cash at all gas stations and eateries.
And just recently an older friend of ours responded to a phishing e-mail and stupidly put in all her account numbers and info. Didnt take 2 days for the info to be used in a far away city. By closing the account right away, she was able to stop the fraud.
There are dishonest people lurking at every corner! It pays to be incredibly watchful, and only do business with reputable companies.
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 03, 2007, 05:10:56 PM
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only do business with reputable companies
Ah, but isn't that the hard part! There are hundreds of thousands of reputable companies out there, but we may never have done any business with them. But we have no way of knowing for certain which ones they are, do we? BBB has some cursory info about recent 'complaints' about businesses all over the US (whether they are BBB members or not ) but that doesn't help much if the companies are elsewhere or if they have no data at any BBB. And, as has been said, the employee walking off with your card for a few minutes has all the data he needs. Places with card swipes prevents that problem...assuming the data is actually going where it's supposed to securely. The point is, there will always be people who will spend most of their time and effort in finding ways to steal something rather than more conventional and productive pursuits. So, think about what you are doing and keep a close eye on the monthly reports.
