I recently ordered some ammo from PSA. A few days later a charge on my card i didnt recognize. No problem the bank took care of it but it got me thinking....I believe this is the second time this has happened. Granted, I can't prove the fraud was related to the PSA purchase but it seems suspicious. Anyone else experience this?

Bought a pistol from them last Nov. and so far no problems.

 
My belief is that there is usually no cause and effect relationship between individual purchases and fraud. I have had fraud on a card that is used only locally, never online, and I have had fraud on cards used online, but not within the six months prior to a fraud attempt.
 
I think the usual course for a stolen CC number is for it to enter the vast online hacker marketplace, where it will eventually be sold as part of large batch of CC's, and will at some later point turn up as a fraud attempt. Trying to link that to a recent purchase is not going anywhere, (usually). An example of the Post hoc, ergo propter hoc logical fallacy.
 

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My belief is that there is usually no cause and effect relationship between individual purchases and fraud.

This. Even more so in some of the examples like the OP post where it happened so soon after it seems like they must be the source.

Our credit cards float around out there in the ether all the time 24/7. The lag between use/snagging/using it could be hours or years, and in many cases it's just a mining with trial and error approach anyway.

If your card hasn't been hacked, it will be. Don't sweat it, just have a backup for the time when it will be being replaced. Also strongly recommend setting up alerts on checking accounts in case debit cards get hacked which, while less regular, can have far worse cascading affects if not caught quickly.

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Originally posted by Georgeair:

...Also strongly recommend setting up alerts on checking accounts in case debit cards get hacked which, while less regular, can have far worse cascading affects if not caught quickly.

+ 1 on the alerts. We have a credit, not debit card, but Mrs Sigmund set it up so she gets a text every time we charge over a certain amount. The text alert comes seconds after the charge.

Anymore, it's not necessarily even that your card number was lifted/copied somewhere. Computers run random number generators to create HUGE digital lists of possible credit card number/expiration date/security code combinations, which are then "trial run" for success. Numbers that work are then sold off in batches on the black market; some to be used online, others are printed on plastic to be used in person. You and/or PSA likely never did anything wrong.

Okay that makes me feel better. It just sure seemed suspicious. Thanks for the information guys

This has been a longstanding (albeit intermittent) problem with PSA because of their payment processing partner(s).

The solution is to purchase a prepaid card and load it with the amount of your purchase to prevent the number snatchers from profiting from their crime.

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Originally posted by Jager:
The solution is to purchase a prepaid card and load it with the amount of your purchase to prevent the number snatchers from profiting from their crime.

But then you miss on rewards points!

I've had a card compromised a few times. One was a random internet thing that signed me up for a ton of online offers and book of the month club type things. The other someone from Taco Bell swiped my info and ordered a bunch of video games from Walmart. Googled the name on the 'ship-to' and he popped up as a local, working at T-Bell, formerly a Walmart stocker. Wasn't too hard to put together. AFAIK nothing happened to him, I wasn't out anything but frustration, and he had $700-something worth of Xbox or Playstation and games.

Once you enroll a card into Applepay, the iPhone will give a notification on every purchase, even those not done with the phone. It’s a nice way to verify that all purchases are legit.