Fraud alert

16 years ago

This evening I noticed my answering machine blinking to indicate a new message that had come while we were away this morning. It was a fraud alert from Citi cards. Being the suspicious person that I am, I wondered if it was legit. But I called the number given and then entered a number I was told to use. The person on the other end asked if I knew where my card is. It is in my possession so I answered that. Then he asked about purchases made on Oct. 30 to a company whose name I could not understand, but had never heard of. When I indicated no, I was transferred to a "live" person who then spelled the name of the online company where the purchases had been made. Then I knew for sure I had never ordered anything from this company. She said they will close that account and issue a new card and I am to destroy my present card. I reminded her that I had used this card today for two purchases, and she had that information. So I am awaiting a new card to arrive in a few days. I used this card for all my online transactions and also for gas and groceries. I have a Pay Pal account linked to this card and Amazon and a couple of other companies have this number. Somehow, someone has accessed either some Pay Pal accounts or accounts of some online merchants. I am just thankful that this purchase, made on Oct. 30, triggered the alarm. I am hoping that there are no other fraudulent charges since that time.

Seems no matter how careful one is, these things will happen. I never let either of my credit cards out of my possession, ever. This is one reason I would never, ever use a debit card for online purchases. In fact, the lady I talked to asked if this card was linked with any bank account.

Just be careful, folks. There's always someone waiting to steal from you.

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Comments (10)

zep516
16 years ago
Do you think your PC is at risk for vulnerabilities?
kudzu9
16 years ago
grandms-
It sosnds like this was a legitimate warning, but you should have called the Citi number on your credit card, rather than a phone number left on your answering machine.
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jane__ny
16 years ago
I agree. I got a similar warning from Citibank and never responded. I don't have a Citibank credit card. Maybe you should call the bank and verify the phone call.

Jane
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
16 years ago
absolutely call them directly from the number on the card.
also if you find it is legit you need to immediately alert all 3 of the credit bureaus to have a fraud alert put on your accounts, if you were not told to do this during the phone call I would be suspicious, they usually will direct you to do that immediately.
steps to respond to and recover from identity theft
azinoh
16 years ago
As far as PayPal is concerned, I use it infrequently so I do not leave a CC number linked to it. When I want to make a transaction, I'll enter the payment information-complete the transaction and then delete the information. I'm not sure if this helps, but it can't hurt.
DA_Mccoy
16 years ago
Bonnie,

There may be a good chance Citibank was cracked. If you recall some years back I had the exact same experience on both my Chase Visa accounts (yes, two accounts not cards) within ten days of each other. One I kept in my wallet and used, the other always at home for Internet and telephonic purchases. They absolutley never were used with the same purveyor. The first I determined it was hijacked, the second Chase notified me. They fell over themselves making things right. I was suspicious of their security.

About two years ago my wallet Visa was hijacked again, and once again Chase called me. Hmmmmmm??

DA
grandms
Original Author
16 years ago
I will call the number on the back of the CC to check this out. Only the last four digits of my CC were used in the message, and the woman I talked to only asked if I still have the (864) phone number linked with this, did not ask for the full number and just verified my mailing address; that is all. So the call was not to get any more information from me at all.

I will also check my Citi account online and see what it shows. Just haven't had time to do that as yet.

I'll let you know what I'm able to find out.
grandms
Original Author
16 years ago
I logged into my Citicard account online and it does show the charge I was told about and then a credit for the same amount. There are three additional charges on 10/30, 10/31, and 11/01 for amounts of $6.95, $1.00, and $1.95. These were all online purchases, and I'm sure these were made just to check that is was a "working" account. It also shows that the account has been closed. So the call was legitimate. I will call the number on the back of the card and ask that those charges also be removed.

I also checked my Chase account, and there is nothing suspicious there. I never use the Chase card for online purchases.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
16 years ago
I would for sure then call the credit bureaus and have a fraud alert put on your name immediately.
DA_Mccoy
16 years ago
Usually credit card hijacking and identity theft do not go hand-in-hand. However, an alert won't hurt.

Bobbie you are likely correct. The unobtrusive charges were more than likely validity tests.

You might want to see if your credit card company offers alerts. As a result of the above, I have mine set to notify me by e-mail and telephone call (recording) if my card is used with a value greater than $50.00. The value is your selection.

DA

Fraud alert

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