Over the last 4-5 years, my credit card number has been twice "hacked" somehow. The responsibility for these erroneous charges have, luckily, not fallen on my shoulders. The credit card company was quick to recognize them and, after confirming they weren't my charges, quickly reversed them and canceled the credit card number. Other than a few days without a credit card while a new one was issued, both incidents were relatively hassle free. Since then, however, my spending habits are under much more scrutiny than they used to be. I often get calls or emails "just checking in" to make sure a charge on the card is mine. Up until most recently, the calls were a bit irritating because most of the time they left a message, and I had to take the time to call back and deal with those automated menus. I would try to remind myself that these calls were for my protection and I needed to appreciate the service regardless of the hassle. Over the last few months the company has made it far easier. Now they simply send out an email address noting any questionable charges. It says to contact them if I don't recognize the charges, and if I do, just disregard. It couldn't be simpler.
But this week, these security measures took a seemingly unnecessary turn. I purchased some items online from one of our department stores and ended up returning about half the order back the store. Since we have one nearby, the items were returned to the store rather than sent back in the mail. That same afternoon, after the return was made, one of these check-in emails arrived in my inbox. This time, the email shared there had been a CREDIT to my account, and I was asked to contact them if I didn't recognize it. Now, I'm no credit card thief, but I'm pretty sure a hacker isn't going to put return charges back onto my account. Maybe they've taken their security measures just a bit too far?
three on thursday
9 hours ago
Oooooooh-hohohoh-hoooo. The bank isn't protecting you. The card system is inherently insecure. But the banks make so much off not using and handling actual cash they will underwrite them. But what they are up to here is forming a 'reasonable efforts' defence against any other claims. It might be an idea to have a chat with someone in the know for it might just be a case of changing accounts.
ReplyDeleteYah, I know, I'm not so bright-eyed that I don't know they don't really care about me. But them not wanting to eat it either, keeps me from having to. But you're probably on to something about future claims.
DeleteWhat I have never understood about the whole fraud thing is why they just let it happen. Other than reverse the charges for the "victim" they don't seem to take any other action in stopping the problem. It might be too many Law & Orders on my part, but why not a sting operation. Why not keep the number open and put an alert for when the account is used again? It's probably more hassle than they are willing to take on. And I'm sure, in the end, they don't take the hit either. It's probably passed down to the stores that took the card in the first place, and they just take it as a loss.
It's really good for the stores too that you carry cards rather than cash. One, you spend vastly more, and I mean really vastly more. If you were peeling off green backs at the checkout/till you'd put things off the belt. Then you have the actual handling of the specie costs either. The insurance needed, the lodgements. Ohh the shops want it as easy to use as possible too. And yes they will eat all of the errors, but that isn't even a dent in the profits of otherwise not using the cards.
DeleteNo what I'm saying isn't that you change 'banks' just a new parent account so all the numbers shift. You might mention that to them. Just make certain all your limits and history with you leaving only a shell. But check with someone in the 'know' before you ask them. You must know a tame financial guy/gal. :-)
And as to money going 'in'. That's a money laundering thing.
It is rare that I have actual $$ in my wallet anymore. Most all my spending is virtual. And it very well may be I'm spending more, because of ease...and the miles. I think that's the case for so many people these days. Kids coming into school don't even know what money is. I've spent the last two weeks just introducing the coins and their worth, most couldn't even identify them. That is a shift.
DeleteI pay .35c everytime I use the hole-in-the-wall, and .20c when I pay in a shop. So I get cashback to keep me going. I H8-hate hetyhaty-HATE giving money to the banks. :-)
DeleteI only use the cards to buy what I can deduct from a tax bill.
Oh no! I don't blame you AT ALL for that. Using the ATM from the bank, we (I) only pay a transaction fee if I use a bank other than mine, and even then there are a lot of ATMs that have mutual use policies between banks without a fee. And I don't get charged fees for the CC, unless I don't pay off the balance and there are finance charges or late fees. So it's essentially paying with cash as long as I pay it off every month, which I do. If I were charged per transaction, it would not be used pretty much at all. That's interesting, the difference, I wonder why that is. Is that a bank charge or is larger than that - like a law? It seems like a deterrent for using it. It's the complete opposite here. My card doesn't even charge me when I travel out of the country for conversion fees or anything. It's VERY EASY to use.
DeleteIt's almost one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" type situations. It's nice to have added security, but it can certainly get out of hand. Bottom line... nothing is totally secure, so you have to just decide how much monitoring you're willing to tolerate.
ReplyDeleteI'm smiling at the thought of a thief putting money back Into an account! ;)
It's true. It's expected to a point, but when it gets beyond reasonable expectation that's when it turns into a hassle. I use the card for everything because it earns me miles, so the number is being used. However, I think the biggest culprit is probably restaurants. They still take the card away to run it at the POS. There's bound to be some server or cashier out there who takes advantage of that flaw.
DeleteAnd you know what? For that reason I rarely use a CC in a restaurant. I almost always pay cash unless the POS is within sight of the table. Besides...that way I can often just put down the payment and walk out without having to wait on them to come back, figure my tip, etc.
DeleteSo you'll probably cringe if I tell you I went out to dinner with a large group of people last night and we all just threw our card on the plate and told the server to split it. If she were not honest, she'd have 8 CC #s to steal, and maybe she did. There is so rarely cash in my wallet that, as I mentioned above, the ease of plastic is worth it to me. I've even hooked it up to my phone and at a lot of places I don't even have to take out my wallet. I hold the phone up to the machine and use my thumb print to approve it and DONE. It's awesome. :)
DeleteAbout the only place I use my phone is at Starbucks and that's rare since I don't have one anywhere near me.
DeleteAs for using my thumbprint, that never works on my phone or anywhere else, for that matter. I'm one of those people who has terrible prints! The last time I had to have mine done, the ink and electronic didn't work and they had to do the black powder dusting business. Maybe I should take up a life of crime. ;)
Ha ha! Maybe you should! I like it because it's the closest I'll ever get to my alter ego as a spy. :)
DeleteI'll comment from the point of view of of a banker. I can tell you that untold dollars are spent on security and trying to stay ahead of the sophisticated criminals that spend their time figuring out how to steal card information. My guess is that the credit that showed up is due to some automation glitch. I seriously doubt some thug tried to give money back! Chip technology, which is just becoming more common at US banks, will help a great deal and I would urge you to get a chip imbedded card as soon as it's available if you have not already done so. Also don't hesitate to ask questions of your card provider. If you get a lackey on the phone with whom you're getting nowhere, ask to be transferred to a manager. I assure you they appreciate your efforts to keep your card information secure and to prevent fraud. OK can you tell you hit a nerve?!
ReplyDeleteJust read your post again and realize the credit was from the items returned. The contact you received was undoubtedly because of the appearance of irregular activity. My apologies for reading too fast!
ReplyDeleteNo, not at all.
DeleteAnd as I mentioned, I AM appreciative of the service offered. Plus they have made the service so much easier to deal with as it's not interrupting my time with having to call back. It just made me chuckle that I was "warned" about a return credit. I make returns often and haven't been warned about them before.
My card was recently reissued with a chip. What is interesting about that is that the chip readers are still not set up at a lot of places so you end up using it the same way as the other cards. I think they have to all be chip readers by a certain date though?
I think you are right but don't know when it is. For some unknown (at least to me) reason, we lag behind European countries by about ten years on this.
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