Getting ready to go to a gun show, checked my credit card balance with the app before leaving. noticed a 112 dollar charge to JC Penny dot com. I have not shopped there in years. I called my credit union to report it. The lady there just cancelled my card and removed the charge. A new card should be to me next week. I did not get transferred to the fraud department or have to sign any statements or answer any questions. It sounds like no action taken. For those with experience in the banking industry, has CC fraud become so common place, they just write it off? It's not much money, but I'm am exited enough to build a cage with this thief's bones!

I feel for you. My AMEX just got cloned again the other day. They do some minimal purchases before they go full retard with it. AMEX always very cool about it, I've never been held accountable for charges. A few have been big. I try to use cash on the road but that gets tough after a week or so. This time I think it was lifted at a hotel when I used it for personal travel.

Yep. There have been previous threads on this topic. It has happened to me repeatedly. It seems to be the cost of business these days. Criminals versus the banking industry. I remember a SF member stating that most people would be pretty uncomfortable knowing how much your credit card company knows about where and when you make your purchases and their tracking capability.

Was it one of the new chipped cards?

Mine was. Both purchases I suspect were done in my presence. So, either the worker had a skimmer in their hand, it was hard wired into the store/hotel system, or I was "butt-cloned". I need to get a RFID wallet.

This happened to Christy last week. I found 9 35 dollar charges to Dominos in NYC, an I-tunes purchase, some clothes etc. It was close to $300 total.

We had to wait for the charges to clear for them to refund everything. She also had to fill out the report.

It was a chipped card as well.

quote:

It was a chipped card as well.

How could that be? Could they intercept the reset of the chip in the card and use it again and again until you tried to make a charge and it was rejected??

My card got compromised this week. Has the chip. I hate thieves.

With the chipped card, it could be they photographed it with their phone and got the number that way.
I noticed that the last two renewal cards I got in the mail have the name and card number on the back, and not raised, so it is not visible with normal handling.

I got a text from Chase at 2am Thursday morning because someone used my Amazon card to buy $50 worth of iTunes gift cards (why does iTunes always pop up as being a popular choice). Anyhow they sent me a new card next day since we were leaving on vacation. It's been a while since I had my CC# stolen thankfully.

quote:

Originally posted by billnchristy:
This happened to Christy last week. I found 9 35 dollar charges to Dominos in NYC, an I-tunes purchase, some clothes etc. It was close to $300 total.

We had to wait for the charges to clear for them to refund everything. She also had to fill out the report.

It was a chipped card as well.

I'm confused. I thought chipped cards were to fix this. Is this a card that you filed with Amazon or some other online automatic pay thing?

No, her card is hardly used at all. She bought a gun and some LPs earlier that day, but who knows when it was actually compromised.

quote:

Originally posted by entropy:
Mine was. Both purchases I suspect were done in my presence. So, either the worker had a skimmer in their hand, it was hard wired into the store/hotel system, or I was "butt-cloned". I need to get a RFID wallet.

Chipped and RFID are not the same thing.
I won't use a RFID card but most all cards are either chipped or will be.

My chipped card was fraudulently used. I suspect the number was stolen via an online purchase I made with a UK based merchant. My purchase was the typical online thing where one enters all the info including the 3 digit security # on the back of the card. They don't need the physical card and thus the chip doesn't provide any protection. Presumably someone hacked their database (they are a reputable small brick/mortar store).

I'm not really sure what kind of protection the chip even provides. Merchants without a chip reader just have you swipe it like usual. You can use it online.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:

I'm not really sure what kind of protection the chip even provides. Merchants without a chip reader just have you swipe it like usual. You can use it online.

Yep. A chip reader minimizes risk of your CC number being "captured" at a biz using chip readers but does nothing to prevent your number's use online or at place that can manually process your number. A simple PIN being required could help as secondary authentication but nobody seems to want to try that. Customer service/support costs would probably increase more because of people who forget their PIN than fraud costs possibly. CC companies pass their fraud costs onto the customer via interest rates on balances and merchant transaction fees.

Most people don't seem to use text/email alerts either to monitor their CC activity.

I wish there was a way to suspend your CC account when you want to use it and only activate it when you plan on using it. I suppose that could cause problems with authorized merchants though who do not process your payment immediately or again support costs from those who forget to remove suspend from their account.

I thought if you had a chip, you automaticaly had the RFID too. Im ignorant on it though. I tried to ask AMEX a few questions hoping to educate myself and protect things in the future but they were VERY tight lipped on details.

They did tell me the card was PHYSICALLY swiped in NJ 4 times within an hour or two period. I was sick on the couch in IL with the card on my nightstand when that happened. So can they duplicate the magnetic strip? How? Isnt that somehow encoded? What about that damn chip?

Its all frustrating and another reason Andrew Jackson is my best buddy more and more...

One of the questions I asked was what the typical timeframe between the point the card info is swiped and when it is then fraudulently used. No answer. I was hoping to narrow down the culprit for future reference if nothing else. Besides the restaurant charge and the hotel, I had a few online purchases (from vendors everyone here would recognize immediately) within the past 45 days or so. It would be nice to know where to keep an eye out.

Anyone here "in the know" offer some protection tips??

I use my credit cards A LOT for business and personal use. I live in FL and have never had my chip cloned. The BIGGEST place someone will copy your credit card info will be restaurants, they have access to both your card for a few mins AND your signature and it's an industry that employs people that don't need to be educated and can have a criminal record and can use drugs without losing their job in most restaurants/bars. I don't use my credit card at restaurants.

quote:

Originally posted by entropy:
I thought if you had a chip, you automaticaly had the RFID too. Im ignorant on it though. I tried to ask AMEX a few questions hoping to educate myself and protect things in the future but they were VERY tight lipped on details.

They did tell me the card was PHYSICALLY swiped in NJ 4 times within an hour or two period. I was sick on the couch in IL with the card on my nightstand when that happened. So can they duplicate the magnetic strip? How? Isnt that somehow encoded? What about that damn chip?

Its all frustrating and another reason Andrew Jackson is my best buddy more and more...

Way less than 1 percent of credit cards have an RFID chip and the fear surrounding them is blown way out of proportion. RFID chips actually transmit a signal and that signal can be picked up by a scanner.
http://www.infoworld.com/artic...blocking-wallet.html

The cards you are getting from your bank now have EMV chips in them. They are mandated by the .gov so every new card you get will have an EMV chip. These chips do not transmit a wireless signal and cannot be intercepted by someone standing on a corner with a scanner.

Credit/debit magnetic strips contain all of your card information and when it is swiped by a retailer (not inserted using EMV technology) that information was stored by them. Thus when Target got hacked, millions of card numbers, along with their security codes were stolen and distributed by thieves.

The EMV chip is inserted into a reader and generates a one time code for the retailer. Your card number and information is not given to the retailer, so if they get hacked, there is nothing there for the thieves.

EMV and/or RFID chips do nothing to prevent fraud online. If you give your card number to a retailer online, they can store that number and if they get hacked your card is compromised. If someone physically copies your number down along with your security code, they can order stuff online with it.

Thanks Bama.

Traveling as much as I do, its hard not to be forced into using the card occasionally. I try to walk out the door with enough cash to last me until I can hit up the local bank or Ralph's grocery store by the crashpad that has chip readers at the checkout. In my mind, thats the best compromise for me. Carrying a wad of cash all over the Country isnt the best idea either, although Ive never been mugged and have other measures to deal with that.

The online purchase thing DOES bother me. If thats where it was stolen, I suspect there are a few folks on this forum Im in good company with...

quote:

Originally posted by grumpy1:

Most people don't seem to use text/email alerts either to monitor their CC activity.

I dont why they dont either.I set mine to alert for any purchase over .o1.