Check your on-line credit card statments regularly

J

JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
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My wife called me a nerd because I check my CC account on-line so frequently. Now, I don't think I check it often enough.

Yesterday, I found several invalid entries. Three were for some sort of Google games. One was a few hundred on Spirit Airlines. One was for a few hundred for something called "SDIGLO LA CARD", which to the best of my research is a "Go San Diego" entertainment card getting you into several San Diego attractions. I live in Florida. One was for almost a hundred dollars at Cinemark.com (Movie tickets?).

I called my credit card company and they closed my account and are overnighting me new cards. I suppose I will be protected from all (or most) liability, but it is still a huge PIA. I now have to notify quite a few organizations that automatically place recurring charges on my card. And I still have the nagging question of how someone got access, although that would not be difficult.
 
That happens to me at least twice a year. I check my statements at least once a week.
 
EdFred said:
I have notices for any charge sent to my phone via text and to me via email.
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I do now. Sort of like buying a security alarm after you get broken into and robbed.

But we put everything on our card and pay it off every month. I expect to starting get dinged many times a day and will probably restrict the alerts at some point. Problem is, about half the bogus charges were less than $10.
 
My card company seems to have a pretty good fraud detection algorithm. Hasn't happened to me for a while, but I've been hit a few times. I'll get a call from the card company asking about charges, sometimes that same day. I'll say something like, "No, I did not charge for airport parking and gas at an airport a thousand miles away about 2 hrs ago." Then I hear the mouse click on the other end of the phone and am told new cards are on the way. I think I got hit 3 times, that I can remember: Once for charges in LA at an Apple store, once for charges in Europe for pet food, and then for airport parking and gas expenses in FL. All three times I got the phone call within hours of the charges.

The CC fraud guys on the phone say the pattern is generally a small charge at first to verify the card number works, then they rack up the high dollar charges before the number is cancelled.
 
You sure do get around @JOhnH ! LOL

My get checked every time I download transactions with Quicken. And I just found out that any thing new on my credit report gets reported to me by Chase Credit Journey.
 
flhrci said:
You sure do get around @JOhnH ! LOL

My get checked every time I download transactions with Quicken. And I just found out that any thing new on my credit report gets reported to me by Chase Credit Journey.
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They used to text me every time I bought fuel (avgas) 500 miles apart with 2 or 3 hours. They finally got tired of that.
 
I check via Quicken all accounts practically daily. Occasionally i get hit with fraud charges. Pretty rare though. More commonly, I just misplace a card and cancel/replace it out of caution(I usually find it after a day or two anyway). My strategy for a while has been to have 1 card that is used for all recurring bill payments. This card never leaves house and is never used for any random purchases.

Many cards now offer virtual account numbers. Many of my bills are now paid like that. Lost/stolen card/number is of little consequences
 
I roll my cards (new account numbers) at least once a year. Very rarely get a fraud charge unless there’s been a recent major hack on one of the well known shopping sites or banks.
 
azblackbird said:
I roll my cards (new account numbers) at least once a year. Very rarely get a fraud charge unless there’s been a recent major hack on one of the well known shopping sites or banks.
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I’ve been using credit cards for nearly 50 years and this is the first time this has happened to me. I guess we have both been lucky rather than smart.
 
Chase has alerts you can set. Mine is set at .99 cents. Anytime and charge hits for a dollar or more, it notifies me via email and text and on the Chase app. It has come in handy quite a bit the past few years.
 
That’s why I still get hard copy statements in the mail. Makes me look at them.
 
JOhnH said:
My wife called me a nerd because I check my CC account on-line so frequently. Now, I don't think I check it often enough.

Yesterday, I found several invalid entries. Three were for some sort of Google games. One was a few hundred on Spirit Airlines. One was for a few hundred for something called "SDIGLO LA CARD", which to the best of my research is a "Go San Diego" entertainment card getting you into several San Diego attractions. I live in Florida. One was for almost a hundred dollars at Cinemark.com (Movie tickets?).

I called my credit card company and they closed my account and are overnighting me new cards. I suppose I will be protected from all (or most) liability, but it is still a huge PIA. I now have to notify quite a few organizations that automatically place recurring charges on my card. And I still have the nagging question of how someone got access, although that would not be difficult.
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Yup. I do it almost daily, just takes a minute. I've caught more than a few things like that while they are still pending transactions. Ain't no nerd about keeping crooks outta yer piggy bank and there's a lot less so called nerdy stuff you have to go through when you catch things early. Your right, she's wrong.
 
Pay-Pal, Amazon, and E-bay are POed at me because I will not give them my new CC numbers.
I canceled my accounts with all 3, yet they try to bill me for stuff that I didn't order.
 
I look at mine at the end of the month before I pay the bill, it's set to notify me if any large or foreign charges go through but I don't worry about it day to day.

In about 18 years of having a credit card I've found fraudulent charges twice that I can actually remember. Once was a place I made a legit purchase at accidentally double billing me, the other the card company called me about before I noticed it.

I also know people who seem to have it happen to them other time. I barely worry about card security, I make online purchases all the time, even have a card on file places and I never get bit. I seriously wonder why some folks are getting fraud all the time and then people like me almost never have it occur.
 
Clip4 said:
Check as often as you wish, but checking your statement monthly and disputing charges has the same result as doing it daily.
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Not really, My Credit union will pay the charges daily.
and only stop payment on the ones pending.
then you must get a new CC with a new number
 
Tom-D said:
Not really, My Credit union will pay the charges daily.
and only stop payment on the ones pending.
then you must get a new CC with a new number
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They should be able to reverse the charges, but a good firewall against that is to use a card not tied to your bank so that you always have a chance to review everything before paying it.
 
Tom, they may pay the charges daily, but if you dispute those charges and they are fraudulent, the issuer of the card has to credit your account with the disputed amount if, after investigation, the charges are shown to have been fraudulent. The issuer has to eat the loss. You have sixty days to dispute fraudulent charges. In any case, federal law limits your liability for unauthorized charges to $50.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0219-disputing-credit-card-charges
 
Tom-D said:
Not really, My Credit union will pay the charges daily.
and only stop payment on the ones pending.
then you must get a new CC with a new number
Click to expand...

I have better things in life to do if life than policing my account everyday and I don’t have to pay these bogus charges even if I report them <6 months after they occurred. You might want to read your credit card agreement.
 
Clip4 said:
I have better things in life to do if life than policing my account everyday
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I wish I did. Sadly....

I really don't give it a second thought. I log on most mornings just for entertainment, to see which stores/restaurants my wife visited the prior day.
 
Clip4 said:
Check as often as you wish, but checking your statement monthly and disputing charges has the same result as doing it daily.
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Yeah, same result eventually. But catching something right away could prevent more bad charges if it was the result of your account being compromised and not just the vendors mistake on that particular charge.
 
Check my credit cards and bank accounts at the least every other day... I had an issue with this in 2003 with identity theft and since then watch this an everything like a hawk... As for those services that do this.... no need for them.. the credit card companies have gotten smart and have learned and know your spending habits... if anything seem a miss to the them, they are on it too. Got a call from American Express a while back asking where I physically was at the time... told them I was in Ventura, CA they asked me if I had been to New Hampshire in the past day or two which I was not... told me to destroy my card, and new one was delivered the next day.

Also, just get your free credit report every year and look it over... And, you can tell the three credit reporting companies that you were a victim of identity theft and they will put what is known as a HAWK alert on your file... This will tell creditors not to issue credit until the speak to you personally and verify your identity.. It works too... when we bought our Toyota using Toyota fiance, I get the call on my cell while I was sitting in the dealership asking for verification..

Now, do you want to hear about what is known as Zombie Debt? Oye!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ventucky Red said:
Check my credit cards and bank accounts at the least every other day... I had an issue with this in 2003 with identity theft and since then watch this an everything like a hawk... As for those services that do this.... no need for them.. the credit card companies have gotten smart and have learned and know your spending habits... if anything seem a miss to the them, they are on it too. Got a call from American Express a while back asking where I physically was at the time... told them I was in Ventura, CA they asked me if I had been to New Hampshire in the past day or two which I was not... told me to destroy my card, and new one was delivered the next day.

Also, just get your free credit report every year and look it over... And, you can tell the three credit reporting companies that you were a victim of identity theft and they will put what is known as a HAWK alert on your file... This will tell creditors not to issue credit until the speak to you personally and verify your identity.. It works too... when we bought our Toyota using Toyota fiance, I get the call on my cell while I was sitting in the dealership asking for verification..

Now, do you want to hear about what is known as Zombie Debt? Oye!!!!!!!!!!!!
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You are in better position to lock your credit reports so no one can open an account in your name.
 
Clip4 said:
You are in better position to lock your credit reports so no one can open an account in your name.
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I have a freeze on access to my credit reports from all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). It's a bit of a hassle if you're trying to buy a house, car, airplane, etc. on credit, but you can lift the freeze for a specified time period for $5 or $10.
 
I got hit with a $14 charge from Magazines-net and was like WTF, over.....

Tried to call and they basically don’t take calls. After the payment posted, the name changed from Magazine-net to Flying.

I was bout to get crazy n stuff....
 
Stan Cooper said:
Tom, they may pay the charges daily, but if you dispute those charges and they are fraudulent, the issuer of the card has to credit your account with the disputed amount if, after investigation, the charges are shown to have been fraudulent. The issuer has to eat the loss. You have sixty days to dispute fraudulent charges. In any case, federal law limits your liability for unauthorized charges to $50.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0219-disputing-credit-card-charges
Click to expand...

I've never been held responsible for any fraudulent charges. And there have been a few over the past 40 years. Now BofA more typically contacts me, says that my card may have been compromised (they won't say where or how) and they send a new one. Really a pain when you have certain bills automatically sent to that card.
 
JOhnH said:
I do now. Sort of like buying a security alarm after you get broken into and robbed.

But we put everything on our card and pay it off every month. I expect to starting get dinged many times a day and will probably restrict the alerts at some point. Problem is, about half the bogus charges were less than $10.
Click to expand...

John, if you have an Apple Wallet this is really pretty simple and convenient. I have my credit cards all set up in it and it just pops up as a smart notification whenever there's a charge. Since I have a smart watch, it pushes to there. If it's something I know, I clear it.

I still check my credit card statements online regularly, usually once a week or more. Same for my bank statements.
 
I check our accounts every day or two. Debit cards are limited to a specific daily total transaction limit. On thing I do to make it easy and fast to scan the accounts is gas purchases always end in the cents being 00, 25, 50 or 75. Restaurants ones with tips are always 00, and no tip fast food is whatever. I can scan 30 or so transactions and spot the oddball one(s) in less than 30 seconds.
 
Gerhardt said:
I wish I did. Sadly....

I really don't give it a second thought. I log on most mornings just for entertainment, to see which stores/restaurants my wife visited the prior day.
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I don't report my credit card as stolen. The thief spends less than my wife! :rofl:
 
Haven’t had any issues with both my credit cards. About 8 months ago l, I had to chop 2 debit cards in 2 months. Someone bought $100 worth of papa Johns the first time and the second time, someone bought $200 worth of Buffalo Wild Wings.
 
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