Good advice, RE: credit cards

[babylonsister]

SCENE 1. This is a new one.. People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they??

A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker.
After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, "Funny, I thought I locked the locker. Hmmmmm."
He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.

Everything looked okay - all cards were in place. A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000! He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions. Customer care personnel verified that there was no mistake in the system and asked if his card had been stolen.

"No," he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had been made. An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet. The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.

Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them. How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped? Small amounts rarely trigger a "warning bell" with some credit card companies. It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!

SCENE 2. A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card.
The bill for the meal came, he signed it, and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along. Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another person.

He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man. All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card. No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology.

Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet at yours. Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short period of time. Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, "assuming" that it has to be theirs.

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!

SCENE 3: Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly to my checking account. The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it flat on the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.

While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing. I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture. He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on. It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing.

He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open. About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.
Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card. Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.

Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlor. All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Whenever you are using your credit cards, take caution and don't be careless. Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card. Be aware of phones because many have a camera phone these days.

When you are in a restaurant and the waiter/waitress brings your card and receipt for you to sign, make sure you scratch the number off..
Some restaurants are using only the last four digits, but a lot of them are still putting the whole thing on there. I have already been a victim of credit card fraud and, believe me, it is not fun. The truth is that they can get you even when you are careful, but don't make it easy for them.

[pitohui]

1. scenario no. 1 is not true

it was played on my mom over 20 yrs ago and even then there was zero liability for charges made by the thief, my mom paid nothing, it again happened to a friend a few months ago, my friend paid nothing

by federal law you are not allowed to be charged more than $50 per stolen credit card by the credit card company but most credit cards including "visa" and "mastercard" guarantee that you have zero liability for illegal charges

the $9K story is just not true, if the person paid it, they were stupid and allowed themselves to be cheated twice

don't believe pitohui, you can read the wording of the fair credit act yrself, google is your friend

[ieoeja]

17. I've had cards stolen or compromised at least three times.

First time several cards were stolen. I reported these stolen that day. One card, a department store card, tried to make me pay, but I just cut up the replacement card and mailed it back to them with instructions where to shove it. The rest didn't bat an eyelash.

Second time the card wasn't stolen, only the number. And it was a card that never, ever left a drawer in my house. My guess is that that someone went dumpster diving, got the number off some of the voluminous crap they send me each month, generated a magnetic strip to match my numbers and glued it onto one of their cards. They then went around gassing up vehicles for a month before I got a bill and called it in. This particular credit card company sent me a threatening letter every month til they reached the point of saying they were going to refer me to a debt collection agency. Each previous month I called to explain the theft (again) very patiently. That last time I finally started screaming at them. "No need to scream". "Well, apparently there is !@#$%^&*() since you !@#$%^&*() ignored me each of the previous five !@#$%^&*() months and are now !@#$%^&*() reporting me to a !@#$%^&*() debt collection agency! JUST ... !@#$%^&*() ... FIX IT!!!! {slam}" They seemed to have some difficulty understanding how a number could be stolen, but the card not. Not exactly a rare occurrence. In fact....

Third time the card was again not stolen, only the number. This one was a debit card, so I noticed my bank account activity right off. In addition to calling the card in (and having my money replaced before the day was out), I decided to call the vendors who'd been ripped off. That turned out to be a mistake as one of them flipped the address for "shipping" from somewhere in Vietnam to my address even though it had actually been purchased as a download. They then shipped it to me and used that fact to report me to a debt collection agency whom I told to shove it. Nice thing about already having mortgages on a house AND an a apartment building, is that creditors aren't going to care about some piddly $500 dispute I have with Quicken.

Yeah, I should have returned the shipment. But I didn't order it. I don't work for them. They weren't offering to pay me to stand in line at the post office Saturday morning. So f--- 'em! I tossed it into the trash (I didn't even have a PC at that time).

[tilsammans]

2. Very scary stuff!

Thanks for posting these warnings. I'll tell my friends too.

(Love your username. I'm a big fan of The Dan!)

[pitohui]

12. before you get too scared & look silly in front of yr friends

check out your rights under the fair credit act

by federal law you are only legally liable for charges up to $50 when made by a thief

most credit card companies won't even make you pay the $50, this is why visa and mastercard advertise their "zero liability" policy

they have insurance that pays when they are robbed, just as your bank has insurance to pay when it is robbed, otherwise no one could take the rist of using credit cards (or banks) now could they?

scare stories are fun but the fun stops when people buy additional credit card insurance or identity theft insurance that they don't need because they are already protected by federal law

this has been law for decades by the way, nothing new, so i'm surprised people aren't aware of this, haven't we all had a credit card stolen, i sure have, everyone i knows has had it happen at one time or another, it just wasn't that big of an issue to fix & certainly i didn't have to pay for the thief's purchases, if you were faced by such liability we would all go back to using cash since you would be limited to losing the amount of cash in your pocket whereas with a credit card you could lose everything you had if the credit limit was high enough!

[tilsammans]

24. Not to worry; I've know about the law for years . . .

. . . and I'm extremely careful with my cards. I'm aware of where they are at all times, and I check my invoices online regularly for mistakes and overcharges. The cell phone camera story did creep me out nevertheless.

Unfortunately, several of my friends are careless with their cards and ignorant about the kinds of scams that can be pulled.

[Debau2005]

3. Also

Check your statements. I worked in IT for a major restaurant chain for years. The big scam was to leave open a table that paid with cash, and closed it to the next person that came in and paid with a card. And of course closed the card holders table with the card. The server then pocketed the cash. Most people don't check their statement for two charges from the same place. These would rarely be duplicates, as the table charges are probably different. Call the restaurant manager right away and get verification that the charge was returned to your card.

The manager should catch this at night when he batches the credit cards but they NEVER pay attention to things like this.

[Berry Cool]

4. Read this...it's a bit more edifying, I think:

The above scenarios are possible, but not all that common:

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/cardscams.asp

[babylonsister]

10. I did receive this as an e-mail, but thought some of those

scenarios could happen, especially with the phone that takes pix, since I don't own one or know anything about them.
I know, Snopes is also my friend!

[ET Awful]

5. Scenario 1 is highly unlikely considering there are federal laws in place

which state that you are not liable for fraudulent purchases. The limit of your liability for fraudulent purchases on your card is $50 according to federal law.

[acmejack]

6. BB was too quick!

[CabalPowered]

7. I just got scammed on my AMEX.. a little different than these..

They somehow duplicated my card with the proper encoding and everything. The original card was always in my possession. My best guess is that an employee from some establishment that I visited gave my CC info to someone with the technology and know-how to duplicate cards. Thankfully AMEX caught it before they charged too much.

[Tesha]

19. A common technique is to "double-swipe" your card.

A common technique is to "double-swipe" your card.

Once in the legitimate reader and once in a clandestine reader that
just saves away the credit card info. Then they can clone your card
later at their leisure.

Tesha

[CabalPowered]

25. Thanks.. didn't know that. Unfortunately this card has never

been used at a retailer. It's been in my lockbox at home. It's used almost exclusively to buy travel related stuff online for employees.

[drdtroit]

8. I check my cards almost every night on the web.

All credit cards have websites where you can monitor the entire activity of the card.
I had my ATM identity stolen or cloned but caught it the very next day, A total of $1500 was withdrawn in a series of 4 transactions and the transaction initiated in Mexico.
I immediately notified my credit union and the card was invalidated and I had zero liability.
You have to be vigilant.

[Tesha]

20. Credit card issuers are getting pretty sophisticated at fraud detection.

I once got a call from my credit card provider asking me if I'd been
in (foreign city) recently. I said "No, not for maybe ten years. Why?"
"Well, you purchased a $1500 camcorder there yesterday." "Oh."

They confirmed with me that this was *NOT* a legitimate in-person
purchase or a a mail order, suspended my payment for that amount,
cancelled that card and started the issue of a new one, and
eventually credited that "purchase" back to me once I signed an
affadavit attesting that it wasn't my purchase.

All this happened on their initiative.

You may also find that at least some CC companies (such as American
Express) will initially decline a purchase that doesn't meet your
usual "purchase profile", insisting that the merchant put you on
the phone to AmEx prior to authorizing the purchase. Once you're
onthe phone to them, you can prove you're you by knowing something
about your credit history with them or about information about
some genuine purchase you made in the not-too-distant past.

Tesha

[sui generis]

9. More advice

get a "low balance" card, not a debit card to your bank account.

Use this for exclusively for internet transactions, and for restaurant / nightclub drink tabs, etc. Don't let the company increase your credit balance or talk you into "Identity Theft" insurance.

Regarding the guy who had to pay $9000 - he actually can sue the credit card company.

The credit card company sues the merchants who don't ask for and validate ID, and also raises their merchant account rates, so it profits either way from his loss.

The key in the law is this:

If he can prove that he did not make those purchases and that he did everything he was supposed to do in best faith, the credit card company HAS to take the hit.

Even if they disagree with him on this point, he needs to write official letters claiming the amount in dispute and spelling out every detail of the dispute before it gets reported to the credit card companies (he can do this afterwards as well), and he needs to get a lawyer, and he needs to dump that credit card company, and he needs to file a better business report and a Consumer Reports report and copy the company on all of it. Also getting onto a web page and laying out the details, names, places, etc. of everyone but himself and making it VERY public is sure to embarrass that company and drive customers away.

******
Regarding the camera incident -- you should have immediately gotten the guys boss. It's not enough to shut down your card - you could have shut this guy down. Even if what he did was perfectly innocent, the first rule of business ethics is, the appearance of impropriety is the same as impropriety, and it reflects poorly on the business owner to have an employee scaring his customers.

[MsUnderstood]

11. Better Scenarios

Scene 1: a person gets an e-mail that scares the sh!t out of them and they say "I've got to tell everyone I know!"

Scene 2: that person, without modifying, verifying, examinging the text posts it everywhere and sends it to everyone.

Scene 3: time and energy is wasted AGAIN on a scam.


Let me break this down for you: if you don't charge it you aren't responsible. It has to be your signature and your presence at the purchase (when not online).

IF you see someone doing an illegal activity and WALK AWAY you are permitting the crime. The last 2 scenarios are classic examples of watching a crime and doing nothing. CONTACT the manager, get the buffon in trouble, get your meal for free.

[begin_within]

13. Better yet, just cancel all your credit cards and just use a debit card.

[Lex]

14. Keeps me from going into debt--I love my debit card.

If I don't have the money to buy it, then I don't buy it.

I refuse to get into credit card debt again.

[begin_within]

15. I believe that credit cards can only harm the consumer, in the long run.

[Tesha]

21. Debit cards have (had?) less legal protection against fraud than...

Debit cards have (had?) less legal protection against fraud than
credit cards.

Tesha

[Lex]

23. Visa gives mine the same protection as its credit card.

Don't know if that's true of all debit cards.

And anyway, a thief can't charge thousands on the card, and I only keep a couple of hundred dollars in that checking account that the debit card pulls from.

Way safer than if someone stole a credit card.

[Tesha]

27. Way safer? No.

> Way safer than if someone stole a credit card.

Federal law limits your credit card loss to $50/card, *MAX*.

What does *THE LAW* limit your debit card liability to? And which
is less convenient: Having a thief tack a $50 liability onto your
credit card bill due at the end of the month or having a thief
completely drain your cash reserves (that you need to pay the
rent, the mortgage, the electric bill, the heating bill, the
car payment, etc.)?

Tesha

[lakeguy]

22. maybe, maybe not. credit cards offer a layer of protection between

you and your bank/money. of course this doesn't seem to be the case in this instance. i never use debit cards for purchases and i have successfully gotten several charges reversed on credit cards where the items paid for were never delivered or were less than advertised.

another thing to try with credit cards is to take out those 0% offers and put the money in the bank during the duration of the offer. online savings/checking accounts give ~4%. i make enough to cover my student loan payments every month (~$150) thanks to credit card companies. the cards i do this with sit in a drawer and are never used. with online payments i never have to mail anything in either. it does take some discipline though.

[mtnester]

16. Snopes says "possible, but not common, unable to prove true or false"

here is their info:

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/cardscams.asp

[soothsayer]

18. i was headed there when I saw "a friend was....". Saved me a trip

Thanks!

[mtnester]

26. Snopes is your friend!

:)