38 times!! You'd think by the first few times the crook would have figured out it didn't work.

They used it at lots of places. First one was at Best Buy for $400. Card company named off each place and I had to reply with yes or no. Of course, they were all no's on my part. Don't how much they actually got away with.

At least I'm no responsible and they will send me a "rush" replacement card with of course a new number.

Wow, the card companies are usually much quicker to pick up on fraudulent than that! Sorry you have to go through the hassle.

They told me it all happened today. But I am surprised they didn't call me, as they did before the only other time it happened, about 8 years ago.

And, they got your card or number how?

Once, our number was wrongfully obtained at a restaurant and all the purchases were done online so that no physical card was necessary. They got the number one evening and they started to use it the next day. Fortunately, the card company noticed a pattern that was not like what we did and put a stop to it after less than $2,000.

Credit card holders are generally not responsible for fraudulent or unauthorized charges, no matter what bank or org issued the card. There's a federal law that limits liability in such situations to $50 and most issuers waive that limit and take it down to zero.

The banks are skittish since they're on the hook and sometimes they jump TOO fast. I had a problem on a European trip a few years ago when a restaurant charge was refused even though I had called Chase in advance to tell them of my upcoming trip and I have a premium card. After calling and determining they had been trigger happy, I asked them to note my file that they are NOT to refuse a foreign charge until they've sent me a text message and an email that I have time to respond to. I have gotten two such alerts, both false alarms. So far, so good, no further problems.

The rules are slightly different for debit cards, but debit cards are more secure since they require a PIN when used in person.

It is my Master Card! I'm just thankful the card company is on top of it and it taking care of the matter, of which I will no be responsible for the charges.

So scary, Glenda. Could happen to any of us at any time. I think there must be a special hell for people who do these things. I'm sorry you're having to go through this and glad you are the strong competent person you are so you can get through it. Blessings.

I'm surprised the card company let that many charges go through. We have our charge cards set to text us the minute a charge is made on any of our cards. And Chase is spectacular on noting fraudulent activity. We had a card skimmed at a gas pump (the skimmer was inside the pump, btw) and the crooks charged $300 at JC Penney, and tried to charge $400 at Express. I was confused by the even dollar amounts, but quickly came to realize that crooks buy gift cards with the stolen credit card numbers. That way, they're not limited by "time" to purchase (steal) stuff.

I'm surprised it took so long, because when Discover found three strange purchases on our account we got a call. They weren't even for much money but it was an out of character purchase.

They didn't let the charges go thru. I just know she named off each place the card was used today and I said No to each one. She told me the first place was Best Buy, for $400, and after answering No, I was told that none went thru and I will not be charged, as my account had been locked.

Time to watch football ROLL TIDE TOLL!

Glad you are free and clear but it makes me angry that someone got a hold of your number and was using it so freely. I hope they get caught!

I'm sorry this happened, but glad you won't be charged. The same thing happened to me years ago. I was very appreciative that my card company was on the ball.

Danged crooks. Last year someone tried using our Discover card to the tune of over $2000 for sports equipment in a store out in California. Discover caught that immediately and locked our account, then sent us new cards.

I remember 20 years ago when our eldest was in college about 6 hours from home. She headed back to campus after filling her tank and paying with the credit card. When she was close to her destination, she decided to top off her gas tank, and the card was refused because it had been used a couple of hours earlier in the southern part of the state. Thank goodness she had enough cash with her. Sometimes the charge company can act too swiftly.

Sheilajoyce, the same thing happened to me some years ago on a long distance trip. When I got home the phone was ringing, the credit card company telling me someone had tried to use my card, did I have it in my possession? I told them that was me, and what should I do if that happened again. They said to call the number on the back of the card. I assume they would ask identity questions to be sure it was me.

I love how quick companies respond now. We got our new cards overnighted by Discover.

lily, that's for their benefit as much as for your benefit, but mostly it's for them. Card issuers make money only when the card is used. When your old number is cancelled but your new card isn't yet in your hands and activated, you can't charge anything.

Quick response is good for customer relations but even better for having more business.

Glad it all worked out OK.

No doubt, the credit card fraud departments stay busy.

I'm bruising my forehead "knocking on wood"... haven't encountered this kind of problem. Unfortunately, it's probably a "yet" situation? Sister had 2 credit card situation in one week back in spring. One, she got a call/notification from company asking about a particular purchase. She hasn't made it so card was cancelled and new card was issued. Second, within a few days, different card. Bill came in mail and actually LOOKED at it right away rather than usual set aside for bill paying time. There was another odd purchase and SHE ended up notifying card company.

You would think that with that many attempts to use the card, there would be some sort of "alarm" that would go off at point of use? But what could stores do? It's my understanding that if store personnel see someone stuffing merchandise into pockets, they really aren't supposed to confront the shoplifter, so what are they to do with credit card fraud?

My Discover card is constantly locking me out. :0) When I'm shopping for remodels for a house I spend erratically. Once I stopped in and purchased ALL the appliances at one store, not my usual MO, got home and had a message to call them before they'd let the purchase go through. LOVE IT! I'm "not" complaining. I've tried calling ahead, I tell them I'm going shopping BIG time for the next 3 days...and I still get locked out.....so I don't do that any more.

Just to clarify....credit card companies charge $50 if your breached, $500 if it goes on for more than 2 days....according to the law.....but they waive that fee if they want to keep you as a customer. :0) Good for YOU Glenda. Sorry it happened to you, just glad it's not been a problem.

(I replaced my Discover card twice one year)

The legitimate cardholder doesn't get dinged, but we all pay more due to this and any other 'shrinkage'. It's a pretty safe cottage industry, as banks do not go after the thieves.

This thread is an opportunity for a question: When a bank offers a "Master Card" or a "Visa" or Whatever, what's the deal between the "Name of Card" and the bank issuing the card? How do the two entities work together, or IS there a separate entity that is "Name of Card".

When one of us praises or complains about a Credit Card, are there shared responsibilities between XYZ Bank and "Name of Card"? Would you have different service on the same barnded CC issued by ABC Bank than you'd get for the same brand of CC issued by XYZ Bank?

Credit card fraud is like shoplifting at a store, just as you said. The business will expend a reasonable effort for deterrence and detection but they accept that a certain amount is unavoidable. The phrase is - it's a cost of doing business. Prices reflect costs of doing business and shrinkage and losses are included in that bundle.

Assume Acme Bank is issuing a VISA card to you. Acme determines whether or not to issue you a card, what the limit is, how much the annual fees and interest rates on balances, etc., Acme handles billing and collection and monitors account activity for questionable charges. Customer relations, customer service, etc., are solely the domain of Acme. If you are displeased, getting a VISA card from a different institution would be a completely different experience.

VISA is the clearinghouse that processes card transactions and handles appropriate account entries. It's the biggest card payment system by a large margin. VISA used to be owned solely by the hundreds/thousands of card issuing institutions using its services but it's now publicly traded. HQ in the SF Bay Area.

When a Merchant accepts a card for payment, the data entered goes to the Merchant's Bank, then to VISA, then to Acme for approval, then back to the Merchant with acceptance. VISA transmits the charge to Acme to put on your account, and the payment (like a cash deposit) to the Merchant's designated bank account. The Merchant pays a fee for the processing, which is shared between Acme and Visa.

If you have some kind of affinity Visa card, like - Dallas Cowboys, or UCLA, or NY Yankees, or something like that, there's a bank acting as the issuer (like Acme) and the affinity subject gets a small fee.

Liability for fraud has changed recently with the introduction of chipped cards. With an in-person transaction, if the customer produces a chip card and the merchant uses a chip reader, the issuing bank is responsible for fraud. If the merchant has failed to upgrade its card readers and instead uses the mag strip to read the chip card, the merchant is responsible for fraudulent charges. That's how the industry got stores to buy new readers.

Sorry for the long response

Elmer J Fudd - in Canada Amex runs a commercial which states that the company is always on the lookout for unusual transactions in unusual places.

When we go to Europe or the U.S. I always call and give Amex our departure and return dates and our destination. Over the past couple of years I have been told by Amex that it is not necessary since any unusual spending would be immediately noted. Right. We are usually in Italy??? I realize that the CSAs are just reading from a script, but really.
Our Visas are with a different Bank. The Bank will make a record of travel plans outside of Canada, but not within. Guess where our cards have been comprised?

We have PINs of course. If someone gets too close I won't put in my number(s).
Before we had PINs our cards were copied from the duplicate copies in restaurants/hotels - but not used for a few months - in the U.S. We had to sign affidavits etc.

We now have fancy debit cards. Well, ours our not so fancy any more. We have disabled all but the taking out of cash features. However, thieves love to put cameras in the ATMs in the bank - we have each had our cards compromised a few times - hence new cards.

We never "tap" our cards. Some clerks have tried to grab my cards from my hand to tap them rather than allowing me to enter my PIN for the applicable card.

Our new credit cards were rushed to us as well - actually took over a week - premium cards as well. If the fraud department calls I am very polite and tell the CSR that I will call right back on the number on the back of the card in question. Too many scams out there. I am still waiting to see who is going to be arrested by the Canada Revenue Agency - my husband, me or the dog.

Neither of can remember what or when , but years ago, Discover called us about a purchase we actually made. Can't remember if it was out of our area or an odd item , but they sure keep track. I do love Discover.

eccentric -

Amex is different from Visa. Visa is an open system, will work with any member banks. Amex is called a closed system, its clearing and payments are internal.

While credit cards issued in Canada and almost everywhere in the world have PINs, US cards don't. They're substantially less secure and prone to more fraud as a result. I myself have a Chip and Pin card for use when abroad, there are a small handful of US institutions that have made them available in the past few years. More will be available in the future.

I suspect VISA operates the same way with participating banks in Canada as in the US but I'd guess consumer credit and protection laws and practices there are different from what's in the US. We're neighbors but we're also two countries with many differences of all kinds as is the case when comparing any other two countries.

I have read the post about the charges, but I still don't see anything
about how the thief used her number. How could that happen, or did I
miss something? Years ago, so long ago I had forgotten about it til now
that I'm reading this. I was in a different state from where I lived at
the time; visiting family and Christmas shopping. I bought a gift, took
it home and put it away until Christmas time. Later there was a charge
on my bill that I didn't recognize so I questioned it and it was
immediately removed. Yikes, Christmas came and I remembered that gift,
still in the closet. I notified the card holder and explained what had
happened and told them to add it back to the account. I received a
wonderful note of gratitude from them, and yes, they did add it back. I
don't remember if I was using Discover then or not, but I am now and
have never had a problem with them. I lost my card a couple years ago,
notified them and in a flash had a new card with a new number. Like Lily 316, I do love my Discover card!!

Mr. Fudd -- Thanks for explaining. So...is Amex the only CC that is both card and bank? Visa, MasterCard and Discover are all partnered by various banks? (Why do I associate Discover with Sears?)

My ATM card (through my local - not national bank) is partnered with Discover. That was new to me. Discover is generally not accepted in Europe or Africa unless dining where Diner's Club is accepted. Go figure!

More and more Caribbean spots are accepting Discover, 20 years ago it was not that way.

Glad it was an easy fix for you, Glenda. Still a hassle.

Glenda, that happened to me about a year ago. I got a call from my CC company on a Sunday morning, and they asked if I was in New Jersey buying airline tickets. I was not, I was in my kitchen in my nightie on the opposite coast. In just a few hours, someone had slipped through several charges in several states and a couple of 'dating' services in Germany.

They read me a list of about 20 charges, maybe 4 of them actually mine. Everything was agreeably credited that I had not charged, and they overnight expressed a new card with new number to me the next day. My cost was only a little of my time and inconvenience + the bit it took me to get over being angry ;0)

Jim_1, the only place I'd used the card that was a little out of the ordinary was a Christmas gift purchase at a national chain where I had never shopped previously, either in person or online. I never did get an explanation as to how someone had that number.

Discover is being used more and more lately, but we still have to have a Visa for our gym and dentist. Otherwise, we use Discover all the time. I have no idea about any Sears connection as I haven't been in a Sears store in 20 years.

We used to be able to pay our Discover bill at a Sears store--I don't remember what the connection was.

chisue, I don't know anything about Discover cards. Notwithstanding my "neighbor" sjerin saying she has one, I don't think they're very common in my area. Maybe it's more popular in other parts of the country?

The linked Wikipedia article says the business was started by Sears but has passed through several other owners since. It also suggests it is a closed system like Amex.

Wikipedia info on Discover Cards

Discover is the second most popular credit card around the northeast. Except for the two aforementioned places, we have always been able to use it. WE get cash back for purchases made. We use it in our favorite restaurants in town. After dealing with brain dead people some of the time when I call businesses, the Discover people are very nice and accommodating ,and no I have no connection to the company and know no one who works there.