Again and again. Tiresome.

[llowry61]

Probably another one of those no-humans-involved functions, computer algorithms identifying anomalies or patterns, everything compared to account history and card-holder profile, automated phone call/text, then the human operator speaks with the card-holder for verification.

Hundreds of millions of card-holders, probably a billion active credit card accounts, scammers operating in organized interstate (and international) transactions, probably using computer programs themselves to send out hundreds or thousands of attempts every day, everything routed through multiple internet portals and anonymizer programs, and new accounts and methods applied daily. Huge operations.

I will be retiring from a major CC company in May after 31 years. There are a number of ways we know when there is suspicious activity. The small charge then large charge is a dead giveaway and indicates a less than sophisticated fraudster. Where it gets interesting is how the security guys figure out who is doing it and how quickly they do so. Usually, they can pin down the location of the breach based on analyzing which cards have the suspicious activity and what they all have in common. I have had it happen to me on multiple occasions and twice with my company issued corporate card! The crooks are good, but this is one area all the CC companies work together to fight. It is all of their best interest to do so. I feel bad for the merchants who are often the ones left holding the bag since we charge-back the purchases.

On another note, as BWZip states, we employ a large number of field investigators and they work with local LE to prosecute whenever possible.

 

[Rustyt1953]

My one and only time...in 1988 I took the family to Cocoa Beach. The cabanas were pre-paid. When I got to the Hertz rental counter they informed me that my Discover card had no remaining balance. I had been hacked.

Fortunately I had a money belt stuffed with hundreds. I burned up some long distance phone charges trying to straighten this out. It didn't get resolved until after we got back home.

It was still a lovely trip but the feeling of being violated gnawed at me.

Now we keep an emergency CC with a $300 notify ceiling that we rarely use and do everything else with a debit cards.

 

[fiasconva]

My wife's card was hacked twice, both times after she used it at a T.J.Max. Card was used within minutes in Florida and the other time in Calif. The CC company did the usual and cancelled the card and sent us new ones. But both times it was right around Christmas so we had to use another company's card until the new ones came in after Christmas. Good thing that wasn't our only card. We've always felt this was an inside job by one of the employees.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Driving home late at night running out of gas, I stopped at a 24 hour gas station of a national brand, I put my premium card in and got my gas, but could not remove the card (this ain't right), several attendants could apparently not remove card either. Pliers screwdriver. no go. They told e that they would fix the reader and mail it to me. Ha Ha! I called the credit card company and cancelled it for a new one while they were working on it, then they said it was now "no good" and with a smirk opened a panel, pressed a button and gave the cancelled card back to me. They are out there.

 

[Doug M.]

My wife's card was used a few years ago at a Walmart about an hour from Atlanta. The address on the card at the time was near Spokane, so it was clearly bogus. We got a call within 20 or so minutes from card security on a Saturday night. Not know the number, my wife ignored it and then got the voicemail. We went to work, and I actually called the local PD in Georgia while she was on the phone with the card folks.

I was pretty impressed with the card security folks; whatever their algorithm, it is pretty sophisticated. We did a statement via email to the local PD. Although we never heard more, that's not a shock. In general, the single offense is hard to prosecute and disproportionately expensive. It is the aggregate frauds that really stack up the penalties; I filed on a pretty sophisticated group at my previous job, and it took over an hour to read the charts to the defendant.

I did have one card that got flagged a couple times. My rate of travel across the US seemed odd to them (900+ mile days) and they flipped out.

 

[outta_ammo]

We do as much as possible—which turns out to be most of it—with Apple Pay to reduce exposure on our actual cards. A couple of taps on my watch, and I'm on my way, and the merchant never touches my cards.

 

[irish132]

Happened to me once with a personal card and twice when I was managing a Government Purchase Card (GPC) in the USAF. The company for the personal card called within minutes of the transaction, left a VM to call them back. I verified the number on their web page and was also unable to log into my online account. Called them and they said they locked everything, the card and online access. New card sent and had great service.

Both times with the GPC I always kept a close eye on my accounts. One I was an Approving Official for one card holder. Checked the account and noticed a charge for the ITunes store. Funny since the card holder was deployed overseas and his card was locked in his desk back home. Had to go through my Contracting office to get the card locked since they were the administrator and the bank wouldn't lock it when I called since I was not the card holder. Eventually got taken care of but there are a lot of checks and balances for a Gov. card.

The second time I was the card holder for the GPC. Noticed a charge for Little Tykes in New York. First call was to the CC company and got my card locked and referred to the fraud department. Next step was going to my Comptroller's office since I know she checked every GPC transaction for weird stuff. Third call was to Contracting so they were aware. Just a guess, but I am assuming there are enhanced penalties for hacking a Government Purchase Card.

I am just glad the card companies seem to be on top of this. Still need to check all open accounts regularly and even lock accounts when you know you will not be using them in the near future.

 

[Golddollar]

A few years ago somebody charged airline tickets in Chile, South America, on my VISA card without having the card present. The charges went through with nobody blinking an eye. I have never left North America in my life. Luckily since I had advanced from total Luddite to semi-Luddite I had developed a habit of checking the card charges every day on the issuer's web site and caught the charges immediately instead of waiting for the statement to come. I called the Customer Service department and told the issuer I was very displeased about its total lack of response to such blatantly bogus charges they let slide through without asking me whether I made the purchase.

Since I advanced to semi-Luddite, I went to the web site for every credit card I had and checked the box to notify me about every charge made without a credit card being presented. I learned my lesson, happily not the hard way.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I've been hacked several times, but the most memorable (because of the inconvenience) was in 2015.

My son and I landed in Munich for a ten-day trip in Germany and Austria. I used my Capital One Visa card at the rental car counter in the Munich Airport, and again at our hotel in Nuremberg. The next morning, I got an email alert from Capital One: seems somebody used my card for airfare to London.

I called them, and they were going to cancel the card immediately, but I didn't want to use my backup card because of the foreign transaction fees. (Capital One doesn't charge those fees.) They agreed to keep the card active until I returned home, but in order to use it, I had to create a new password, and call Capital One before each transaction, using that password, in order for them to approve the transaction.

There's a special place in hell for these scammers...

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

Several years back I used my card 5-10 times per week. Going over my
statement found a charge for $91.00, then pulled the last month's statement and saw another $91.00. A little searching on my part and
located a phone number, called it, and talked to an answering service in
California, nice lady at answering service said that account had moved to
Utah.
My credit card called the Utah number and got company abx or some
such. Woman at abx said they had shipped me products, me on the 3
way call said, "she is a boldfaced liar", at which time my cc lady said
she would handle it.
I emailed the DA in Utah with all the info, 3 weeks later sent an inquiry,\
never heard back. Figured the DA was in on the scam.

 

[S&W Fan]

I just went through the same thing! I get text alerts for any charge over $1-learned from prior hacks. I was at the range on a Sunday when I see an alert come through on my cell.

Also for a cell store in another state for almost $770. The bank declined that one, then one for "white pages" in Washington state for $4.99 and one for just over $62 out of Utah with the company that finances purchases/rents on furniture/appliances.

Called the bank right away and shut the card down and while on the phone is when the lesser charges came through, the bank is disputing
them and has credited me back the amounts.

I hate crooks.