did you contact all the credit card bureaus and put a fraud alert on your name and accounts? That will help protect you should they try to use your info in creating new accounts also.

Fraud Alerts

How Do I Set Up a Fraud Alert?

we had it happen to my husbands American Express card they used it at an online electronics store in a foreign country and purchased a big screen plasma tv. Now why American Express did not stop that transaction since it was in another country and for a large amount no idea but they admitted they sure should have especially since my husband only uses that card rarely for his business and had not used it in a year. We never did figure out how they got his info, AE said they thought it was someone just randomly trying numbers and they hit a good one. He never lost his card and it had not been used for over a year. They did take care of it but my thought was well surely they had to deliver that tv somewhere so that should leave a trail! AE did not care they just charged it back to the store apparently for them to find out what happened.

Also, you need to file a police report. You don't say so, but I assume you cancelled that card, as well?

Do you have any idea how they could have gotten your info? Do you need to close out your bank accounts and open new ones? Sadly, in these situations you can't be too careful--I know, my wallet was stolen a couple of years ago, and the hassle you have to go through to protect yourself from future problems is unbelievable.

Hope this was an isolated incident and things go smoothely from here on.

I'm having a hard time, too, with this one. My CC was stolen a couple of years back, and used within 15 minutes of being taken. The thieves attempted to use it 4 times--the first two for small purchases that went through, then for a larger purchase that was turned down, and another small purchase was turned down after that. I didn't realize the card was gone, but my credit card company immediately noticed the extremely unusual activity (for me) and cancelled the card. They called me the next morning and I was WAS NOT charged for the purchases that went through, even though I'd not reported the card stolen yet.

There's no way any legitimate cc company is charging you for purchases you didn't make--they just don't do that these days.

The week before Christmas 2010, I got a call from our credit card company. The woman apologized for possibly ruining a Christmas surprise, but tactfully asked if DH or I had charged an $800 airline ticket to China. No way! DH and I do not like to fly; he is disabled, so we don't travel; and China would not be on my itinerary if I were going to travel. She said they were cancelling my credit card immediately and reissuing a new one. I use that credit card only for online purchases, and have been for over a decade, with no other problems.

Sam, hopefully that will be the end of it for you and John. Hugs!

My daughter's credit card was recently frauded, for three gasoline purchases at one gas station in Tampa FL, total around $200. She's never been in Tampa. No idea how it happened, her card never left her possession. Luckily she discovered it early, reported it and she is not out any money.

You may want to freeze your credit reports for a while. We froze ours years ago as a defense against identity theft. You can call a reporting company to 'unfreeze' for a short time if/when you apply for credit somewhere.

If you're sure that the card hasn't been out of your possession/eyesight for quite a long time, probably a good idea to record where you use your card(s) - that way you can go back to contact the persons in charge in those agencies to report the problem. That way, though possibly the credit card issuer hasn't, they may choose to investigate their system and people in order to try to find whether there's an auxiliary recorder that (one/some) of the staff is/are using, to double-swipe, with the second reader going to an operative in the identity-theft business, who can afford to offer a substantial supplement to (often poorly-paid) retail staff persons' wage.

Usually the cost of the fraudulent purchase is charged back to the store, so the credit card company isn't taking the hit.

Actually, this suggestion is probably of little use ... for the store owner, who has to take the cost, will find out about the problem routinely, when s/he gets hit with the charge-back.

Drat!!!

One other cost levied on the store owners or service providers ...

... that has to be paid for by the cash customers, as well as the ones using the cards.

But one more fee caused by the "credit" card system: not out-of-pocket on a per-transaction basis for either the users of the cards ...

... or the issuers of the cards.

ole joyful

Unfortunately this has become commonplace. We have had this happen to us a couple of times in already this year. We don't lose the cards, so it probably has something to do with a restaurant where the card is out of our sight or online ordering. The cc companies have a system that sends out red flags fairly easily, which is a good thing.

Have you seen those stories on the news where people walk along a busy sidewalk or mall with a device that can scan their credit cards inside their wallets? It is scary. Your credit card does not even have to be used to be "stolen."

OJ, Canada might be different than Minnesota but here, the store does not get charged for a fraudulent purchase and I'm guessing that would be nationwide. Once the store gets an approval code for the card purchase (and the sale isn't normally complete until the approval these days) the purchase then goes through and the card company is now liable, not the retailer (except of course for the card fee). That's why I often took a card over a check. Challenging a charge these days is more difficult. Used to be people would get buyer's remorse on a custom purchase and try to challenge a charge. Doesn't work like that anymore which is good.

Those charges go against the profits, much of which is the 20% or more interest that some fools pay.

There was also a check approving company who would give a code and if the check bounced, they paid for it. That was rather expensive though so it's not real popular. And checks aren't real popular around here anymore anyway.

I had my card stopped while I was out of town because of suspicious activity and got a call from them once asking if I had bought a computer from a large discount retailer who shall remain nameless (so some grouch won't go nutzo!) They replaced the card the first time.

I wonder how much of the scam is coming from inside the card companies themselves. I can't believe that they do intense background checks on their phone support folks.

Most of the time and in both of my cases there was no loss to anyone but me (for my inconvenience - fortunately I had cash to cover the hotel) since card purchases need to be approved up front now. In the old days of carbon impressions and sending them in to be processed there was quite a delay and more trouble for everyone involved.

I have had my cc number stolen twice in the last year. The credit card company attributes a lot of stolen numbers to the little scanner insert that devious people can put in a gas pump. They come back in a short amount of time and retrieve their little scanner card, get the number off it and use the number over and over until something alerts the cc company's computer.

My credit card company and I have agreed that I will call them for purchases over $200 because I have a very high credit limit and an unscrupulous thief could charge a bunch before caught. Now, I take my card inside to purchase gas instead of sliding it outside at the pump.

I also alert the company if I'm going out of town so red flags won't go up. Since my charge pattern tells the cc company I stay in close proximity to my home, a change in charge pattern tells them that if something is charged in Alabama (as an example), it's probably not me.

Can you *see* a 'scanner' in the CC slot on a gas pump? (I seem to remember something about being able to detect one on an ATM.)

I wonder if more restaurants will have the customer pay a cashier at the door instead of handing a card to a waitperson.

I can only recall having a credit company call me *once* with a question about a charge. I'd given my card number to a jeweler to help DS pay for DIL's diamond engagement ring. (NOT my normal hundred-and-under grocery store purchase.)

Sue, I don't know if those scanner cards can be seen or not. My cc company just noticed that odd items were being charged in odd places right after I filled my car at the gas pump.

The first time my cc number was stolen, I was at a Waffle House in my home town, trying to pay my bill. At the SAME time, someone was using my cc number to buy a washer and dryer in San Diego, Ca. The computer denied my charge and I paid in cash. As soon as I got home, I called the cc company and they explained what had happened.

The second time, I was trying to buy something online at Amazon.com and it wouldn't go through. I called the cc company, who said someone had tried to use my cc number in Canada at the same time I was trying to charge at Amazon.com. It was then they started to investigate what was happening and called me to suggest the gas pump scenario as a real possibility.

Kayjones -- Did you cancel your card and get a new number after the first incident? Are you saying two different card numbers were 'sold' right after you'd used your card at one gas statiion pump? (It would seem easy for the local police to nab the person tampering with those pumps.)

If you've continued to use the stolen-number card, it could be coincidental that your number got sold twice in such far-apart locations. I'm sure there is a vast number of stolen CC numbers in play everywhere.

Please tell me you have a THIRD number now! -- Sue

The cc company canceled the card and sent me a new one, both times. YES - they issued me new numbers each time. I now have a new number. I've had this cc company for over 20 years.

Wow. This is why I wonder why anyone wants a *debit* card.