Anyone ever have their CC number stolen?

sporty ↓

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 6:27 pm

I got a call from my Credit Card company today to ask me about some charges. They were all internet charges, from yesterday, two on sites I have used before (for ex, one was barnes and noble.com) and then some other stuff I had never used before. I told the company it wasn't me and they declined the charges and canceled my card. I feel so violated though!!! Someone was using my name to do all this? And my address? So creepy. Has this ever happened to anyone?

SuperMama

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 6:28 pm

Yes. This actually happened to my mother 3 times.

Clarissa

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 6:46 pm

Yes, it happened to me. The weird thing was that it was all small charges, with really odd amounts. That's what flagged it to the cc company -- odd amounts, done in a certain way, very typical of cc thieves. No biggie -- I got a new cc, and that was that.

↑ sporty

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 6:59 pm

Right - exactly. The two charges the lady read to me was one for 300 dollars and another for 250....I dont know what alerted them because those aren't crazy charges and it was from 2 websites I have bought from in the past, but...I guess they know what to look out for.

Tehilla

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 7:10 pm

it happened to my husband a couple of times before we got married.

it's only happened to us once, recently. it was from a website I've never even purchased from.

the bank and the company were both amazing about it. the bank was happy I caught it the same day (I check my banking info almost daily).

greenfire

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 7:15 pm

how do they catch it and notify you ... just curious ...

Chocoholic

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 7:22 pm

There are people controlling all transactions, and they are trained and have experience with odd and suspicious transactions... they also use your past spending habits to see if it is your regular behavior... when they just have a tiny bit of doubt, they give you a call to check to see if it's ok....
(they do NOT do this in my country though... more like the other way around!)

Lechatchila Ariber

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 7:37 pm

it happened to us few times but years ago. my husband caught it by going over our statements.

self-actualization

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 7:39 pm

Happened to me recently. I caught it and the cc company did not. The thieves were charging around $100 multiple times to a Dominos pizza store in the Bronx. Very exciting.

BennysMommy

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 7:59 pm

Never happened to me but a few times I've gotten calls asking if charges were indeed mine. Makes me feel good that they're watching my account.

GAMZu

Tue, Sep 02 2008, 9:12 pm

Once I got a charge on my debit card for an odd amount- just over $10. I didn't recognize the biller, and called their business number that was printed on the statement. Obviously, no such number existed.
Then I looked up that company online, and found many reports of wrongly charged cards.
B"H my bank took care of it and reimbursed me.

Another time, more recently, my entire wallet was stolen. The thief used it right away and spent $600 at Marshalls.
Again, the bank cooperated and returned the money temporarily while they investigated. Once they came to a conclusion, the return was permanent.

sarahd

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 7:07 am

My number was stolen once. I got a charge from a video company in California. I contested the charge and a day later the cc company called to tell me a video had been ordered from that company and sent to an address in Jamaica (NY). I told them my number must have been stolen in the CVS pharmacy I frequented right on the border of Jamaica. I believe they tracked down the offender by his address. In any case, the charges were reversed and my cc cancelled.

NativeMom

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 7:11 am

My parents had theirs stolen once and someone charged close to $2500. They eventually resolved the issue...

drumjj

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 7:45 am

I have had it about four times on one credit card I used to use but they just cancelled it every time bh

Tamiri

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 7:47 am

Yes. I have had unauthorized charges both at online stores I have used, and also twice from sites I did not recognize. I seldom use an American CC besides one, as I don't live in the U.S. I am glad the card companies are keeping an eye open for "funny" charges.
We had a card stolen in Israel too and the purchase was flagged by the online merchant, which alerted us to the fact that the credit card (my son's, seldom used) had been used in the first place!
It turns out that a CREEPY kid, son of a backyard neighbor, waited until we were out of the house for Shabbat. He took our "hidden" key, let himself into the house and helped himself to whatever cash he found lying around (not much).
He then went through our drawers and found a credit card of my DS which DS did not use, and had forgotten to cancel. The kid stole the card, copied my son's ID number (you need that here for internet transactions, like a social security number) which was in the same drawer as the card plus... get this... DS had left the PIN number for the card that was stolen in the same drawer so the kid withdrew multiple times from an ATM!!!!
We had NO idea anyone had been in the house (the kid kindly locked the door and replaced the key when he was through robbing us) and it was just through the vigilance of that retailer who does online business (the kid would have been stopped had he tried to use the card at the point of purchase as he does not match the picture on the ID card) that we found out someone was using the card.
We had to work our way back and figure out how it was done. Stupidly, the kid ordered over the internet and requested delivery to his own home. He also gave his cell phone number. That made it mighty easy for us to find him!!!!

mama-star

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 8:23 am

yes my cc was used at a thrift store which I did not go to. they called in a purchase to a thrift store over the phone. Rolling Eyes

so weird.

the cc company deleted the charge.

Strawberry

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 8:37 am

It happened to my parents a few times. They once got a $7000 charge from a printer in a state halfway across the country.

azoy

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 10:58 am

yeeeep, the first time my wallet was stolen from my apt and the second was just the number stolen and used on weird sites like genealogy and family tree for $700+ (plus other purchases). my company refunded me the money.

GetReal

Wed, Sep 03 2008, 12:02 pm

DH looks over our cc charges online often, and he found a charge we didnt make, for like 30 dollars. We assumed it was a mistake, called the cc company and told them. Then a week later there were a few more charges, so we called the cc company again and had the accont number changed. The funny part was that the cc company told us to call the companies that the charges were from. We did, and one of them refunded our money... and the cc company cancelled the charge... so we ended up with a profit! (Of course, we called the cc company and told them, and they worked it out.)