Credit Card Fraud

Well, that was fun.

I just got off the phone with my Credit Card provider.

My credit card has been canceled.

I didn't know about this when I phoned them ... apparently it was just a matter of fortunate timing that I went online tonight to check my account balance and last statement, and I was nonplussed when I couldn't sign onto my online account.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Earlier tonight I had successfully signed on to the website of the supporting lending institution, but that didn't give me access to my credit card account. Then I attempted to sign onto the URL specifically for credit card information, and it wouldn't accept my logon/password and clicked on "PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING SECURITY QUESTIONS". Which I did, with responses which were appropriate and accurate.

I found myself staring at the Brown Screen of Death:

Unable to identify you in our records
[error message RIO16]

The website would not accept the logonid and password which it had accepted only minutes before.

That left me with no choice but to read the 24-hour help hotline phone number on the back of my credit card.
Note: this number is in teeny tiny font, and if your eyesight is no better than mine I recommend that you get a magnifying glass and read it now, and write it in bigger font size where you won't lose it.

Eventually I was privileged to speak to a Customer Service Representative (CSR), a charming lady from India who speaks very very fast. I'm sure you've spoken to her before, or a close relative of hers, when accessing Customer Service facilities for other on-line services. I know I have, and it has always been difficult to understand them. When I asked her to slow down and enunciate carefully, the conversation was extended several more minutes. But I did understand every word she said.

This is when I learned that my account had been locked. Cancelled. Disconnected. Frozen. Sent to Coventry.

No longer valid.

On the phone, I was required to answer a LOT of "Security Questions", including my current phone number. (They had my OLD phone number, from 3 years ago, which explains why they were unable to contact me before locking the account. Curiously, I had checked my phone number just before they locked me out, and it was correct. Go figure.) They also confirmed my billing address, receipt of hard-copy bills (not happening, will now be corrected), SSN, card number, security code, etc.

The story was that "several accounts have been locked" because they had received charges from payees which were suspected of hacking. Or, to put it more plainly, ID Theft.

Mine was one of them.

The first thing they did was to lock my account.

After they were satisfied that I was who I claimed to be, the musically voiced young lady proceeded to read me the most recent charges:

DBODPOCOLC, July 22, $8.08.

No, I don't recognize that charge.

V KAREFE FON IND, July 22, $1.01
No, that's not familiar either.

MUSIC DOWNLOADS, July 10, $9.95
Okay, yeah. I downloaded an MP3 album from Amazon earlier this month. That one's mine.

Having established that the hatchet-job occurred yesterday (July 22), they asked me to destroy my old credit card and assured me that the bogus charges would be deleted from my bill.

In the meantime, they will be sending me a new credit card, with a new account number, and when I received it I should notify my legitimate online accounts.

Since my card was set to expire almost immediately, I asked about the expiration date. When the 'new old card' expires, they'll send me another new card, with another new account number and a longer expiration date.

That's going to be fun, too. I think I'll just not be buying anything soon if I have to pay by credit card.

There are probably several lessons to be learned from this experience.

• monitor your credit accounts frequently, and carefully
• if you can't access an on-line account on-line, phone your credit card provider immediately
• be assertive when talking to a CSR
• keep track of credit transactions you have made, so if a bogus one appears on your bill you'll know whether it's legitimate
• know how to contact your credit card provider in the not-that-unlikely event that you can't contact them on-line, if that's your usual mode of dialogue
• Don't be, as Elmer Fudd says, "vewwy quiet" ... you are not hunting rabbits, you're hunting wolves and you need help immediately
• Finally, and this is a personal situation, if your online purchase is denied by your credit card provide, this should be a big red warning light. It was for me, and I quit ordering from that 'questionable' vendor. But it still caught me by surprise, because they waited for a month and a week before they sold my credit card.

By the way, it's indicative of something-or-other that the first charge was for $1.01, and the second was for $8.08. The bad guys obviously started small, probably on the premise that if I saw the charges I would ignore them because it wasn't very expensive ... yet.

There's not doubt in my mind that they charges would have been very big, very soon, once they became comfortable with the assurance that I wasn't going to report them to my credit card provider.

I suspect that's what broke their back. They probably hurt a lot of credit card holders very bad, and were reported by their victims. That certainly saved me, because my credit card provider was alert and pro-active. Right now, I don't mind a bit that my credit card account was frozen. I suffered nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Oh, and if YOU get a call from your credit card provider informing you that your card has been locked, and asking you to verify your Security Information ... don't do it. Instead, hang up and then call the number (in teensy tiny print) on back of your credit card. At least you will know who you're talking to.

Check your six, speaking financially.

It's a jungle out there.