Wife's card hacked

[JohnG]

52 minutes ago, Jfitz said:

That's a good question.  As I understood it, the move to chip-verification (versus swiping) was being pushed as the merchants were more likely to be held liable if it was a swipe.  Just the CC company way of forcing the changeover.  Since then though it'd be interesting to know how that typically unfolds even if it was a chip transaction.

Yep. Merchants that still do not use the chip are technically liable for all fraudulent charges. As Mark mentioned, this does not apply to online purchases or other “card not present” purchases. 

The merchants have always carried the bulk of the risk with credit card sales- especially for physical goods. The charge goes through and the person leaves with their items. There’s a delay in when the merchant actually receives the payment, and likely a longer period when the CC company can make adjustments. By the time the merchant finds out that they will not receive the payment, their inventory is long gone. If it is a service or subscription, the merchant can stop providing the service, but they’ve lost whatever has already been provided. 

Unfortunately each step toward reducing fraudulent charges is met with resistance because it causes immediate inconvenience for the users and merchants with unclear benefits. 

[Tpt life]

I don’t CC. I debit-CC, with no credit balance. My credit union locks up the card and calls me four or five times a year. Mac Mini from Apple at about 1K, locked up and phone call. 

[drzaius]

One day I bought a batch of computer parts, probably  a couple thousand or so. Later that same day I bought another batch. Before I even got out of the store Visa was phoning me to see if it was legit. So sometimes they are really on the ball.

Just about every dollar I spend goes on Amex, Visa or Mastercard & all cards get paid off each month.

[Tom King]

I decided to send an email to a detective in the town where the electric bill was paid.  Google found the police department quickly.  There were also two charges to online costume shops.  I told the detective that he was welcome to the information we had about where the purchases were made if he wanted it.   If there had been any crimes since the first week in November where masks were used, this might be a possible lead. 

He emailed back shortly after, and did want the information.

[wdwerker]

Several times I have gotten a call to confirm large online orders and one time a text before they would approve a large purchase in person.    Made me feel better.

[Rapid Roger]

I don't use credit cards much but the one thing that I do use it for is buying my meds.  ($100+) Every time I charge over $100 the credit card company calls my wife and reports the amount    I can't get away with anything ! 

One time years ago my wife went to KC for a meeting on the weekend. Then she came home and left right away for Texas to help our daughter get ready for her wedding . The credit card company called me to see if I had lost a CC. At first I was confused , then they explained that there had been some large purchases in two different areas of the country in just a few days and I put 2 and 2 together. Nope, It is just my wife making like she is rich ! Ha ha.

[DerekMPBS]

A couple of years ago I went to Las Vegas for the national bowling tournament.  I gassed up about 30 miles outside of Vegas on the way there, and later that day I made a purchase at a vendor booth in the hotel.  My debit card was declined.

I called the bank and they explained that the charge they had declined had come in as being from Indianapolis, and since I had used my card early that day in Las Vegas they thought the later charge was a fraud.

It is nice that they monitor that and look for odd patters, if a bit annoying.

[Minnesota Steve]

We've had a lot less problems since the chip was introduced.

Used to be we'd have to get a new card about every six months...   It was annoying.

[Tom King]

I just checked, and it's all back in our account as of today.  

[Chestnut]

2 hours ago, Minnesota Steve said:

We've had a lot less problems since the chip was introduced.

Used to be we'd have to get a new card about every six months...   It was annoying.

Huh didn't really correlate that until reading your post. I've had less fraud as well. I guess i should stop swearing at how slow the chip is under my breath.

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Huh didn't really correlate that until reading your post. I've had less fraud as well. I guess i should stop swearing at how slow the chip is under my breath.

I hadn't noticed the chip being slow. Seems at least as fast as swiping, but tapping is even faster. The US was late, like many years, to adopt the chip. Maybe the system hasn't caught up yet?

[Bankstick]

I don't use a debit card anymore. Someone could wipe out your entire checking account. The wife and I were in California several years ago and charged a lot of things. The CC company called later and asked if we had been in Fresno. Weren't even close to the place! Someone had taken our CC and used it for three $100 ATM withdrawals. The CC rep thanked us and we were issued new cards. They were very vigilant.  I review each CC statement and check off each item. Once in a while, there will be something that the wife clarifies. We charged somethings in GA. The CC statement came up as a campground. Weren't camping! Called the CC company and got a new card- by that time we stopped the CC, the wife remembered the amount was at a state park; got a new card anyway. Our pool supplier has a different name on the CC than what is on the door of their store. Again, wifey-poo knew what it was!

Sign in local grocery- Our credit manager is Helen Wate. If you want credit, go to Helen Wate.

[Chestnut]

34 minutes ago, drzaius said:

I hadn't noticed the chip being slow. Seems at least as fast as swiping, but tapping is even faster. The US was late, like many years, to adopt the chip. Maybe the system hasn't caught up yet?

Depends on the store and the system they use. Some are super fast others i could get the cashiers life story. Heard rumors that stores wanted it to be slow to urge you to buy stuff positioned near the register while you wait for the person in front of you. Not buying that i feel like it's more profitable to move people through faster.

Taping is something that i know nothing about. I'm assuming your not talking about the NFC phone payment thing? I have no interest in tying my financial information to a phone. I think facebook and the sort taught us enough about not trusting any one with important information.

[Mark J]

27 minutes ago, Bankstick said:

I don't use a debit card anymore. Someone could wipe out your entire checking account. 

I have a debit card tied to an isolated checking account in which I keep limited funds.  If the debit card is compromised my loss is limited.

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Taping is something that i know nothing about. I'm assuming your not talking about the NFC phone payment thing?

Tapping is where you just hold your card up to the terminal for a second & then the transaction only takes maybe 5 seconds to complete. Sounds loosey goosey, but it seems to be pretty secure. I haven't gotten into the NFC thing with the phone yet though cause, you know, I'm one of those old guys.

[JohnG]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

Depends on the store and the system they use. Some are super fast others i could get the cashiers life story. Heard rumors that stores wanted it to be slow to urge you to buy stuff positioned near the register while you wait for the person in front of you. Not buying that i feel like it's more profitable to move people through faster.

Taping is something that i know nothing about. I'm assuming your not talking about the NFC phone payment thing? I have no interest in tying my financial information to a phone. I think facebook and the sort taught us enough about not trusting any one with important information.

You're right. It depends on the store's systems (physical terminals, software, and communications infrastructure), and presumably volume of activity at the time (on the store's end and bank side). The whole security benefit of the chip is that it runs additional verification on each transaction. Additional verification takes additional time. If the store's systems are old or poorly set up, it will take much longer than a store that has good systems.

It would be foolish to artificially slow the process down in order to sell a few more candy bars.

Some cards have an RFID chip in them that allows you to use the card without swiping. You just hold it in front of the receiver for a few seconds, similar to how people use Apple Pay or other similar services with their phone. I've used it a few times but usually default to the "normal" way of using a card.

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Bankstick said:

I don't use a debit card anymore.

The only time I use a debit card is my barbershop. They don't do credit cards.

[VizslaDad]

On 12/11/2018 at 7:21 AM, JohnG said:

I'm sure the amount has to be pretty high before the credit card company would even consider taking action. If there was a large enough amount from a single merchant, the CC company would likely go after the merchant for reimbursement, then it would be up to the merchant to go after the individual.

For a few hundred or even a few thousand the bank would likely end up spending far more in researching and taking action than just eating the cost.

I work in the payments and anti-fraud space for a large consumer-oriented company with thousands of locations around the world.

If you are a US citizen and your credit card is issued by a US bank you are protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act. Canadian laws are very similar, but for the sake of not boring you all to tears I will stick to the USA stuff here. The rules are somewhat different between credit and debit cards, but they basically boil down to:

• You won't be held liable for any charges if you report the theft before any fraudulent charges are made on your account. However, you could be liable for up to $50 if the thief uses your stolen credit card before you report the theft.
• If you report the missing debit card within two days, your maximum liability will be $50. However, after two days, you could be liable for up to $500. And if 60 days go by before you report the card missing, you could be on the hook for everything.
• Quotes above from: https://www.thebalance.com/your-liability-for-stolen-credit-card-charges-961073 (it's a nice short article that lays out the rules in pretty jargon-free language)

There are myriad ways your payment information can be stolen. Chip cards are an imperfect solution (though they are more secure than chip-free cards). The long and the short is pay close attention to your bank/credit card accounts, use a different and strong password for every website and app you use (or use a password manager), and cover your hand when entering your PIN anywhere you use a debit card. 

I'm happy to answer fraud and/or payments related questions.

 

[drzaius]

Hey 'Dad, thanks for that info.