23
Nov 2007

Credit Card Fraud Sucks

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This morning I sat down to enjoy my breakfast at my desk while I opened mail from Wednesday and prepared to pay some bills.  The first thing I opened was a letter from our bank saying that our request for a balance transfer had been processed through our business credit card.  Hmmm.  We hadn’t transferred any money, so I assumed the letter was a scam and set it aside to call the bank and alert them that someone was sending out fraudulent letters on their behalf. 

Then I opened our business credit card statement, and noticed that the balance was $3600 higher than it should have been.  We charge the same stuff to our business cards every month, and the balance is always around $600/month.  Now we have a $3600 ACH transfer from last Friday on our statement.  I guess the letter from our bank was real after all. 

So I called the bank and told them the problem.  The fraud department verified that someone had called in last Thursday, armed with our card number, the security code from the back of the card, our address, and my husband’s personal info that is verified when people make phone transactions.  Then they transferred $3600 from our business card to their own bank account, at a bank that we have never used.  What a scumbag.  I guess whoever did it must have gotten the credit card info from an on-line purchase we made, since that’s really the only place we ever use our business cards, and both of our cards are safely in our wallets. 

Anyway, our bank has had to cancel our card and issue us a new one.  The downside to that is that all of our business expenses are automatically charged every month to our credit card, so we’re going to have to call about 10 different vendors next week and have them switch everything over to the new card.  Not what I had planned to spend my time doing, but I suppose it could be worse – at least the bank is dealing with the $3600.  I hope they can track down who owns the bank account where the money was transferred.

The good news is that while I was on the phone with people from our bank, I noticed that we had almost 10,000 rewards points on our business card.  They were offering $50 gas station gift cards for 5000 points, so I redeemed 5000 points and ordered a gift card.  We were left with 4981 points.  Then they offered me a survey about their customer service, and said I’d get 100 bonus points if I completed it.  So I did, and then we had enough points for another $50 gas card.  So now we have $100 worth of free gas coming our way, which will last us a couple months.  That made me feel much better. 

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  • http://mrsmicah.com Mrs. Micah

    That really sucks. My cousin had that happen to her earlier this week. Fortunately, her card was immediately frozen by the bank and she got a new one.

    The $100 of gas is awesome! very practical. :)

  • alicia

    Someone stole your identity, transferred money out of your account and into their own and you’re happy you at least got a $100 gas card out of it? You all deserve each other.

    What happened to you is a very serious thing and I am sure will not be the end of it. If you pay your bills in full at the end of each month, why not use a visa/debit/check card and fund it only with the cash you use and need? This way you limit your liability and you still get the safety measures a charge card has?

    Play with snakes get bit by snakes. You got bit!

  • FrugalBabe

    Alicia,
    I think you misunderstood my post. They transferred money from our credit card – not a bank account – to their own account. So we didn’t lose anything at all. The bank has shut down the card, issued us a new one, and they are dealing with the $3600. If we were using a debit card, thieves would actually have access to our bank account, as the card would be linked to the account. Credit cards have automatic fraud protection, as long as you notify the credit card company that someone has used your card fraudulently, you are not responsible for any charges they made. I would much rather do that than have people use my debit card and actually take money out of my account. Then I would have to make sure that the bank got it straightened out and put the money back. As it is now, the money is the bank’s problem – I’m sure they’ll get it back, but if they don’t, it doesn’t have anything to do with me.

  • http://www.paidtwice.com paidtwice

    Well Alicia, that was unnecessarily harsh. Geez.

    That stinks FB what happened to you and I am glad it is sorted out. Bah on those dishonest people. :(

  • alicia

    You actually think that because it happened on a credit card you (and all of us) will not be affected by it? The banks will have to charge all the rest of us higher fees in order for them to make up their losses. There is no such thing as “their problem, not mine” I said to use a visa debit/charge card and only fund it with the money you are going to spend. What makes you think the thieves don’t already know about your bank account? Your own words are: The fraud department verified that someone had called in last Thursday, armed with our card number, the security code from the back of the card, our address, and my husband’s personal info that is verified when people make phone transactions.
    SOMEONE, A REAL LIVE PERSON CALLED YOUR BANK AND VERBALLY SPOKE WITH A TELLER and knew all your husband’s info and was able to verbally get the ACH transfer done????
    Have you checked your credit reports yet? Betcha there are more things being done?
    Your laise faire attitude is amazing. You actually think that this has nothing to do with you and is not your problem.
    Just know that those 10 different vendors you have to call and change your info, one of them may have been the thief and you are going to be giving him/her your new information. Nice.
    Have a great day.
    Oh! and enjoy your ‘free’ gas.

  • http://frugalbabe.com Frugal Babe

    Alicia,
    you seem like an angry person. I would suggest chilling out, but that’s probably not your style. What good would getting upset do me? Stuff like this happens. If you get this upset over something like this, how do you deal when something really goes wrong?
    Sure, this sucks, and I’ll have to spend an hour or so changing credit card info with the vendors we use for our business. But why not look on the bright side? This was a business account, set up through our corporation, so it has nothing to do with our personal finances and can never end up on our credit report, even if the bank takes a while to get it straightened out. Yes, I check our credit reports regularly. We only have two credit cards for personal use – an AmEx that we use only at Costco and a Visa that we use everywhere else. I check the balances and transactions daily, and would catch a fraudulent charge within 24 hours.
    Yes, it sucks that banks charge higher fees when they are unable to recoup losses. But keep in mind that a lot of fees (over limit charges, interest, atm fees, overdraft, etc.) are things that can be avoided by shopping around for a bank and by being careful with your banking. Our corporate bank account has a $7/month fee. Other than that, we pay no bank or credit card fees, personal or business.
    In the overall scheme of things that can go wrong in any given day, this really isn’t worth being angry or upset about – life goes on, and I intend to face it with a smile.

  • Pingback: Frugal Babe » Archive » Progress In Preventing Credit Card Fraud

  • http://radioventriloquist.blogspot.com GC

    hi
    I sometimes pass through here and don’t say anything
    thanks for sharing this story
    it’s frightening that someone is able to do that. I wonder if a bank would be willing to say who the person was.

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