Speaking of Credit Cards

About a month ago I got a call from Master Card at about 8:00 AM.
The lady on the line said that they suspected that someone was attempting to hack into our credit card account.
She told me that there were 3 recent charges to my account; one for a dollar and 2 under a dollar.
She went on to say that this is how credit card thieves "test the waters" before making larger purchases.
I was very suspicious;...... mind you, she never asked for any info at all. She told me to call the number on the back of the credit card if it would make me more comfortable.
I did and then felt better about talking with them.
They convinced me to cancel my credit card immediately and they told me they would issue me a new one.
Took about a week and sure enuf I had my new cards.
About a week later I got a call from Master Card asking if I had made any purchases in a foreign country.
I told her no.....she says, anyone else in your family? I said....well my wife is on a cruise in the Carribean and she will certainly be using our card. She says.....that is where the charges are being made. I thanked her for the "heads up"....and I really appreciated them keeping close tabs on my account.
So.....sometimes those credit card callers can be legit. It still pays to be suspicious though!!

Whenever I travel I call the card company I will be using, and tell them where I"m going, my route and how long the stay is, plus alot of questions they have. better to be save.

Was your wife home by then? or did you hear her words [@*X(%$#?] waft across the waters when her card was rejected.??

Tried to use my CC in a store. Wouldn't work. Came home and called the company. They had detected fraudulent charges on the card and canceled it. Two ne'er-do-wells in Las Vegas had charged $10K on it. LVPD got 'em. Received a new card in a week. Didn't cost me a thing.

Same thing happened to me. I agreed to immedately cancel the card, they sent a new one (and number) which arrived in about a week.
False charges did not show up on my bill.

Got our local credit union Visa bill on saturday. Two charges at Food Lion in VA! Over $200. Haven"t been out of MN since last year, didn"t buy any food via telephone. Better half needs to go to cu tomorrow to get a new card. Couple years ago, driving to Ft. Benning, GA for daughter"s grad from paratrooper training, card was rejected at a gas stop in mid-US, so used another. Called cu and they said they suspected fraud, so declined the card. Since then we call the cu with our planned route, and all is well. Til saturday.

Last road trip I went on I was using my wife's card. Got to a fuel stop and they had troubles with their pumps. The darn thing let me put the card in 3 times but wouldn't go any further with the purchase. Last try it rejected it all together. Paid cash for fuel and was on my way. Later in the day I went to use the card again and it was rejected. My wife called in and they said it had been tried to be used 3 times earlier in the day at the same spot so they put a hold on it. Wife explained what happened and they turned it back on. No problems since. Had another one where we got a couple of charges for I-Tunes which I don't use. Also another one for a kids magazine. We called in and they said the same thing as others, they start small and then if it works go big. I-Tunes is usually the start.

My M/C card from Wells Fargo was used in 3 fraudulent transactions last Friday , they called to confirm it wasn't me , and the card is cancelled and a new one on the way ! Well handled !

Had a call some years back about a company card I had asking if I was trying to send money via Western Union two states away in GA. Told them that since they were talking to me at my house in NC that it obviously wasn't me. Found out later that the person/person's using the card had gotten caught and it turned out to be someone in the home office of the hotel chain we had been staying in while Dad and I were working out of town. Crazy as it sounds the card was used it for things like online schools, etc, etc. that, seems to me, would do nothing but point the authorities in the direction of the person using it. The funny thing about the whole deal was that I got Victoria Secret catalogs delivered to me at work for the next year.

All the reasons below is why I use a credit card when necessary NOT a debit card.

Rick

During a recent trip to Las Vegas, my credit card got flagged and I had to call up Visa to find out what was going on. It turns out that our hotel had placed a one dollar charge on the card. I had pre-paid the hotel bill as part of a package deal, but they still wanted a credit card when we checked in for any additional charges. The one-dollar charge set off an alert and I got to have the embarrassment of a declined credit card.