Credit Card Fraud, Again

6 years ago

Yesterday I received an e-mail from VISA "Confirming the change to my mailing address". I logged into my account and sure enough my address had been changed; new city, state and street. I called and spoke with a representative who told me to change my address back and change my password. We also reviewed pending charges for any fraudulent activity. There was none.

This morning I awoke to 2 emails from VISA saying they detected "suspicious activity" on my card and had "restricted" my account from any further charges. While I'd slept I'd had notifications of 6 different charges being made on my card: Netflix, HULU, and a hostel in Ireland.

Again I called and spoke with a representative. This time we closed my card and noted the disputed charges. I mentioned my earlier call about the address change and that I use a 16 character, randomly generated password for my account. "Wouldn't that make it hard for someone could get into my account and change that information?" I asked.

I was told that the address change was made from a phone, using the services on the phone tree and not by speaking with a representative or logging into my web account. Still, you'd have to use the last 4 of my SSN and know my birth date, I believe.

Question: What was the fraudster's goal in making the mailing address change in my account? They had my card #, why not make the charges as they did later?

Featured Answer

olychick

6 years ago

Maybe thinking if they send you a new card it would go to them if visa canceled your card and no one noticed the address change.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (23)

JoanMN
6 years ago
This happened to me last year. First, the fraudster canceled my card. I called US Bank, they said they already had a new one in the mail to me. The next day, I got a text saying it was being sent to a town and state I had never lived in. I called them again. So then they sent another card to the right address. I asked how someone could cancel my card, he said the caller had enough info to do it. Scary. No charges were attempted.
jrb451 thanked JoanMN
Related Discussions
Credit card fraud or theft
Q
Comments (11)
You might want to check with your state consumer agencies ( CA and WI) to be sure what your rights are, also check your cardmember agreement. I believe that it is federal law that you have so much time to dispute a charge, AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT IN WRITING (sorry for the caps but it is so important) but since you failed to notify them of your new address and didn't close the account, you may be stuck. Find out! Also when you call, ask for a supervisor right away. Don't wait for the company to get back to you. If you are going to start using the card again (well not that one since it is hacked or something) because you are now in a location that is convenient, perhaps the company will accept your explanation or cut you a deal if you were an excellent customer before in order to keep you as a customer. A similar situation happened to me when I moved cross-country and forgot to notify 1 card, and the post office did not forward their bill-- I found out about it a year later!! but we were able to work it out.
...See More
Credit Card Fraud - stupid thief?
Q
Comments (6)
It's a great idea to check all your credit or banking accounts online every day or two. It makes it much harder for anyone to use your existing accts past the first time. Kids like to order stuff with parent's cards because they might have easy access to them and the computer. If they can catch the mail and you don't know that something was delivered, they'll deny it forever. If an outsider stole your card, it's not likely, but possible that things would be mailed to your own address unless it's a neighbor's kid who thought they could pull it off. There is much good info to be found in mailboxes. Just think, when you write a check with your address, phone number, checking acct number, and possibly driver's license number, and put it in an envelope with a credit card bill, with your account number, place it in your mailbox for pickup, and send up a red flag for all the world to know that's it's likely they'll find some good stuff if they grab your mail. Outgoing mail should be mailed at the post office or handed to the carrier. If this were me, I would get online and check my credit reports right away. You can't know if any other accts. have been opened in your name without checking there. It's a good idea to go to your local police station with the evidence, and have them write a police report on this theft. If someone has your identity and commits a larger crime or skips out on bail, you can be arrested for it. The burden is then yours to prove that it wasn't you. This theft can get much more serious than a few videos showing up in the mailbox. Here's the website of Clark Howard. He's on top of all sorts of money scams and has a lot of useful info for anyone with a fraud type problem. He's a radio and television consumer advocate and doesn't charge for any help. Most of the needed info is right on the website. Hope some of this helps. Linda Here is a link that might be useful: Clark Howard's website
...See More
Two Credit Card Scams
Q
Comments (12)
Cynic >This one has me confused though: "...my cell phone provider gouged me for 4 consecutive months of payments even though I was paying cash at their store." If you have auto-pay, why are you paying cash at the store? Something's missing or I'm not following something. I was paying my bill in cash at their store. I had already called the (cell phone provider) ahead of time and told them I would be doing this. Each month my bill would arrive, each month it kept reflecting an overpayment. I would call them and they said it would be corrected. This happened FOUR months in a row. I contacted the credit card company and told them to cancel the card. Same thing happened with them. They would say it would be canceled. The following month I would get a bill for the same incorrect amount. I finally spoke to someone at the CC co. who said until the cell phone provider notified them, I would continue to be responsible for the charges whether they were right or wrong. They never said ANYTHING about having to have a cancellation number. BOTH the cell phone provider and CC company neglected to inform me of this necessary requirement. I wonder why? Well the reason why, is because THEY were MAKING MONEY and didn't want it to stop. These companies do not make it easy. They don't fully inform you when you sign up, and they don't tell you what you really need to do in order to cancel this type of payment. I finally contacted a consumer newspaper reporter. She said she doesn't care for automatic payments for the same reason and gets many calls regarding this. She contacted the cell phone provider's publicity relations department. That worked. They must have called my CC company because everything was taken care of within the month and I didn't receive any more credit card bills. My cell phone bills are what they are supposed to be. I still pay in cash. I no longer have the credit card. They send me solicitations all the time. Thanks, but no thanks. Contacting the AG's office is a good idea. dadoes >dreamgarden probably thought if he/she paid cash, the autopay wouldn't trigger. That's not necessarily the case. I wonder what IS the case? Who at EITHER company, was supposed to tell me I needed a cancellation number in order to stop the autopay? Out of a total of seven calls, 4 to the cell phone provider and 3 to the CC company, not ONE person mentioned this. Don't they teach customer service reps this information? I no longer wanted auto-pay and told them this. I said I would be paying in cash from now on and to cancel auto-pay. I don't understand how I could have been any clearer. >I recall a couple cases where I work of customers having autopay set up through CheckFree. One fellow died, his wife had NO CLUE about any of their finances and the auto-pay kept coming, for MONTHS. She no longer wanted the service, but she didn't contact us or was even aware the service existed, so how are we to know that? "How are we to know that?". How did you find out that her husband died? How do you know the wife no longer wanted the service if she was never contacted? Was she on the account too? Doesn't your company have some policy regarding taking money from a deceased person's account? > The other case, the fellow changed his account services, but didn't change the monthly autopay amount. We contacted him, he still didn't change the amount. Built up a large credit that had to be refunded when he eventually closed the service. When the fellow called to change his account services, was he asked if the present autopay amount was ok? If he was changing his account services, this would seem to be a logical question to ask a customer. Was he notified by telephone or in writing? This is why I like to receive paper billing. Sometimes when a credit card company calls (and leaves a message), they don't always state the nature of their business. When I have called back, they try to sell me some service or item I'm not interested in. Now I don't return calls unless they leave a message telling me something is wrong, or needs to be corrected. I had them put this in my file. I don't want to be bothered with solicitations or irrelevant matters that aren't directly related to some kind of problem with my account. In my opinion the above examples are just more reason to pay as you go and not allow company's to have recurring access to your bank account.
...See More
Credit card fraud
Q
Comments (8)
There are two kinds of chip cards - chip and pin and chip and signature. Chip and pin, like ATM cards here, require entering a PIN to authorize a charge. They are very safe, reduce fraudulent charges for in person use significantly, and are virtually un-counterfeit-able. They have been the standard for many years for credit cards issued almost everywhere in the world EXCEPT in the US. In Europe and Canada, when you are in a restaurant, for example, they bring a little machine to you. You insert the card and then need to enter your PIN, for the charge to go through. The newly issued chip cards in the US are chip and signature. What's the difference between that and what we used to have? Not much. The old style mag strip cards were easily to counterfeit. The chip takes the place of the mag strip to identify you. They can't be counterfeited but they can still be stolen and misused. It disables the ability of the bad guys to make phony cards but otherwise, offers little boost in security over the mag strip only cards. There is a small but growing number of US card issuers that offer chip and pin cards. I got one a few years ago after encountering situations abroad where my mag strip or even newer chip and signature cards couldn't be used.
...See More
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
@joanmn, what’s to prevent that from happening again? I can understand using your card number. It’s when they can get in your account and manipulate all your info that I find most troublesome.
wildchild2x2
6 years ago
They wanted to have the address changed first so that they would receive statements before you missed them. They would have more time to rack up charges this way. Especially if you don't have online access to statements as backup.

It might be a good idea to check your credit reports to see if anyone tried to change addresses on them also or tried to open new credit in your name.

This is probably just this one card that was breached but it costs nothing to check.
jrb451 thanked wildchild2x2
User
6 years ago
I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm not an expert, but am following, to hopefully learn something.
jrb451 thanked User
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
@watchmelol, I had to replace this same card back in October and now again. I should probably just notify the Big 3 to freeze my credit. I haven't applied for a loan in years anyway. I was notified that I was part of the Experion data hack a couple of yeas ago.

I am concerned about someone being able to access my personal account info through a phone tree and without having to provide my password. What would stop someone from changing my email address and text number so I wouldn't receive any real time updates and taking me out of the loop in my own account altogether?
JoanMN
6 years ago
I should have added, I reported it to Experian. Also a short time later, an account was opened at Samsung. I reported it as fraud. Froze my account and am on the free monitoring/reporting. Was part of a couple of security breeches. It is a scary world out there.
jrb451 thanked JoanMN
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
@joanmn, I received 2 years of Identity Guard in the Experian settlement. The only information found on me at enrollment was that my Garden Web account info, name and login, was found on the "Dark Web".
User
6 years ago
It is indeed a scary world out there.

I decided to freeze my credit too. I don't anticipate needing to unfreeze it in the foreseeable future. I just hope by the time I do need to unfreeze it, I can remember how. Ha!
jrb451 thanked User
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
Found out something interesting yesterday while looking at my Apple account information. Listed in my account as associated with our two IPads was a credit card for Apple Pay, a service which we have never used. Only the last 4 #s of the card were shown. They weren't the last 4 of the cancelled card but the last 4 of the replacement card, which I have yet to receive.

I though it odd that Apple would have this information when I didn't share it with them so I called VISA. I was told that there are agreements between some of the larger companies to share this information automatically when changes are made.

So, Apple has my new credit card account number before I do for a service I've never used. That's kind of weird don't you think?
Fun2BHere
6 years ago
Even if you've never used Apple Pay, you've probably used iTunes which is linked.
jrb451 thanked Fun2BHere
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
@Fun2BHere, The new # was under each of the 2 IPads for Apple Pay. There was a second card shown that was for my Apple account. It was the hacked #

It would be more understandable if it was for the card I associated with my Apple account when I first set up the account. That card has been billed for iTunes in the past.
graywings123
6 years ago
Apple was given the credit card number electronically. You are getting the card via snail mail. That would account for Apple getting the info first.
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
So, here I am today when I get an e-mail from VISA saying my recent Spotify charge of $9.99 was declined because it was posted against my old card number and I should update Spotify to my new #. I've never had a Spotify account, knew it was someone attempting to use my hacked data from my previous card and assumed the charge would not go through. Wrong!

I called VISA and was told that through a "courtesy agreement" VISA has with certain companies, VISA had updated Spotify with my current card number. (They do this for recurring charges.) I asked why this would happen since I'd never had a Spotify account? I asked if I could prevent VISA from using this "courtesy agreement" on my accounts?

VISA will not block "courtesy" updates until a recurring charge has occurred twice. In the interim, my card is being cancelled and I'm being issued a new card#. But, I have to wait until May 23rd to see if Spotify attempts to process another monthly charge to my just cancelled card and they update it with my newest card number. If so, I'll have to file another fraud report and then they will cancel future automatic updates. I will also have to cancel this newest replacement card that I've yet to get.

Confused? It is hard to follow but I'm mostly mad!

This will be my third VISA # since late October 2019.
Lindsey_CA
6 years ago
Wow. If I were you, I'd be canceling that account altogether, and getting a new Visa card from a different bank.
jrb451 thanked Lindsey_CA
happy2b…gw
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
That is awful. I would drop Visa.
jrb451 thanked happy2b…gw
chisue
6 years ago
I'd be done with this particular VISA account. Too many problems.

We froze our credit reports about ten years ago. It's simple to reopen if needed, and you can reopen only to a specific inquiry, for a specific amount of time.
jrb451 thanked chisue
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
Perhaps you guys are right in suggesting I look elsewhere. This is a Capital One VISA and I'd always assumed that a VISA is a VISA, is a VISA. When I was working I exclusively used an American Express. I changed over to VISA when AX refused to waive the foreign transaction fee for an out of country trip I was making. VISA offered cash back and no transaction fee so it was an easy decision to make.

It just seems that these scams are getting more sophisticated.
Lindsey_CA
6 years ago
jrb451,if you have a checking or savings account, check with your bank - they likely offer a Visa card. If you're still traveling, look into Visa cards that are affiliated with hotels, such as Hyatt, or airline-affiliated cards. Or get a Discover card - they don't charge an annual fee, and you earn cash back.
jrb451 thanked Lindsey_CA
Elmer J Fudd
6 years ago
In a way, a Visa is a Visa is a Visa because the Visa organization sets the major ground rules and is the clearinghouse for charges. In another way, they differ because the issuing bank or other organization is responsible for the relationship with the cardholder.

The issuing bank or other org is ALWAYS responsible for fraudulent charges but each administers the customer relationship differently. That doesn't mean any individual is protected from annoyances or even major inconvenience. There have been so many hacker data incursions and break-ins that that's to be expected by everyone with any kind of card, unfortunately. It's not the bank's fault.
jrb451 thanked Elmer J Fudd
maifleur03
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Since there are security questions that are asked when you call the original caller knew the answer to those questions. Change those questions on line. The other method that banks used beyond asking for some information is checking that the telephone number listed on the account against the number that is calling. I had to contact my bank this morning. I had to enter the card number and once on line verify my name. If I had called from another number like I did once additional verification questions would have been asked. I would be more concerned with how someone knew the answer to the verification questions.
jrb451 thanked maifleur03
Elizabeth
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Have you checked your computer for Trojans or worms that may be stealing your information and handing it out to evil-doers? Do you use this credit card on your home computer?

https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-malware-what-is-a-trojan.html

"Trojan banker

This Trojan takes aim at your financial accounts. It’s designed to steal your account information for all the things you do online. That includes banking, credit card, and bill pay data. "
jrb451 thanked Elizabeth
jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
This latest fraud originated on 2/23 with the other stuff but only came to light yesterday. (See OP.) What they did that day was open a Spotify 60 day free trial using my CC#. Spotify "pinged" my card to make sure it was a legit account but that did not show up when I was checking for fraudulent activity related to the other charges. Then, yesterday, April 23, the 60 day free trail period expired and Spotify attempted to charge the old CC#. VISA, through their "courtesy agreement" said, you're using an old no longer valid CC#, here let us update it for you and did.

That's what I found jaw dropping. I didn't open the account and 2 months later my CC company is giving out my current CC#.

Elizabeth, I'm current with my ESET and Malware Bytes virus programs. My pc is turned off most of the time. I never use public wi-fi for financial transactions. I'm sure I could do more though, apparently.

Credit Card Fraud, Again

olychick

Comments (23)

JoanMN

Related Discussions

jrb451
Original Author

wildchild2x2

User

jrb451
Original Author

JoanMN

jrb451
Original Author

User

jrb451
Original Author

Fun2BHere

jrb451
Original Author

graywings123

jrb451
Original Author

Lindsey_CA

happy2b…gw

chisue

jrb451
Original Author

Lindsey_CA

Elmer J Fudd

maifleur03

Elizabeth

jrb451
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Credit Card Fraud, Again

Comments (23)

Related Discussions

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

jrb451Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author

jrb451
Original Author