Sunday morning I get a call on my cell from an unlisted ID. I didn't respond as I know everyone who would call, and I don't like to use up minutes on wrong numbers or sales call (they happen once in awhile). This one left a message, and being it was Sunday morning, I figured maybe it's someone who is trying to get ahold of me who isn't ordinarily on my radar.
It was my credit card company! They were investigating unusual expenditure behavior not consistent with my pattern of purchases. Two recent purchases were for $2479.00 and for $367.00. I freaked out!
I couldn't understand how someone got my credit card as I was sure it was still in my purse. The guy told me that they can duplicate the magnetic strip on the back of the card and return the card to the owner. Then a dummy card is created with the duplicate magnetic strip. This is probably what happened.
My credit card company is so right on with their investigation and security. I love them. They are USAirways Mastercard.
Anyway, the story is not over. I told the guy that I was sure I had my credit card, but I was walking my dog at the time of this call and couldn't confirm it. When I got back from the walk, I checked my wallet and...the card was gone!
Now, mind you, this is where it gets suspicious. All of my checks I get from tutoring, and the cash I had, and theatre tickets were still in my wallet. Just the credit card was taken.
Needless to say, I went through my purse, the car, the house, and my boyfriend's house and car thinking the card dropped out somewhere. But no, the card was gone.
I remember on TV a warning about thieves robbing credit cards out of women's purses when their mind is elsewhere and not paying attention to their belongings. This would be at the movies, while shopping...shopping! That's when it happened! I was milling around in Wal-Mart, left my purse in the cart for just a second to grab an item off a shelf. And as quick as that, the wallet was opened, card removed, wallet replaced, and I didn't notice a thing...'cause my mind was elsewhere.
USAirways Mastercard deleted the unusual expenditures and is sending me a new card. Whew! Now I am anxious about identity theft.
One cannot be too careful these days, and that's a shame.
Karen
7 comments:
Last year, when we were getting ready to leave for the airport for a week in Florida and then a week on a cruise, we got a phone call from American Express about suspicious charges. This was about an hour before we were leaving! We were so fortunate that we found out about it before we left for 2 weeks, because who knows what kind of charges they could have racked up in that time. We canceled that card and Ken activated another one, and we were okay. Ken still had his card, so we're not sure if a clerk duplicated it or what.
A couple of days before, we had gotten a package that turned out to contain 2 Sirius radios. We hadn't ordered them, but figured we'd check into it when we got back. Apparently whoever stole our card number ordered the radios but clicked "ship to billing address."
The moral of this story? Petty thieves like this are not only breaking the law, they're usually idiots, too!
Glad it worked out that your bogus charges were wiped out. It pays to go with a company that has an excellent policy for protection against this kind of thing--it sounds like yours is such a company, and we've also been very happy with American Express.
Beth
Guess I'd better start talking to people from my credit card company when they call at least to see what it's about. I usually just hang up on them as I don't need any other services from them. Trusting people are the ones who get ripped off it seems. When shopping, I TRY to remember to put my small wallet type purse in the bottom of the cart and something over that. Doesn't take me very long to grab something to put in the cart:) Thanks for reminding everyone:)...........alice
I have recently taken out an insurance ,protecting my id ,because this sort of thing is happening more and more ,and how absolutely awful for you ,Iam so sorry ..love Jan xx
My husband had his identity stolen 2x. As a matter of fact we think it is happening again. They don't do it by getting your credit card usually. It is pretty easy to prohibit though. You just have to call the credit check company (don't know the name) and tell them to deny any instant credit. It will take you a day or two to get credit because of it, but they do a thorough check before giving credit to anyone.
~Rosemary
Friends fuss at me for shopping on-line so much but anyone who wants my information can get it whether or not I shop on line. It's all out there anyway. I've been lucky and have had not problems. I'm glad your credit card company caught the problem right away.
Hugs, Joyce
wow, that was amazing!! those thieves know how to work so quickly!!! I'm glad your credit card company was on the ball and took care of everything for you
betty
Thank you for that credit card story, Karen. One can never be too careful at any time, any place. DB
Post a Comment