S/O Beggars, Moochers and Scammers

[Luci45]

I can actually beat both of those. My CC number got ripped off by someone in (I think) New Hampshire (or it might have been Vermont...somewhere up there, anyway). My bank didn't catch it, I did - when I (apparently) bought $20 worth of...

...toothpaste.

How do you know what it was spent on? My statement always just gives the date of purchase, date of posting, and store or billing agent. Charitable donations are obvious.

[BabyMama]

I've had my card numbers stolen twice. Neither time had large transactions run up. The first time, they bought, among a couple other small purchases, a subscription to Ebony Magazine.  The second time it was something like three smallish transactions to Walgreens. (It was somewhere around $60-80 total.) My credit card company covered it, but I've always wondered if someone was desperate for medicine and they stole my card to pay for it.

[athersgeo]

I can actually beat both of those. My CC number got ripped off by someone in (I think) New Hampshire (or it might have been Vermont...somewhere up there, anyway). My bank didn't catch it, I did - when I (apparently) bought $20 worth of...

...toothpaste.

How do you know what it was spent on? My statement always just gives the date of purchase, date of posting, and store or billing agent. Charitable donations are obvious.

The merchant was a Dental Practice. I can't imagine there's all that much you can get at a dentist for $20 other than toothpaste, mouthwash and brushes (and if American dentistry IS that cheap, I'm emigrating immediately!)

It was bizarre.

[jane7166]

DH and I have had our CC numbers stolen twice.  Once it was used in Japan while we were at home in the US and once DH used his at a Lowe's and 20 minutes later, it was declined at a Kroger.  Seems it was used at a Walmart 1000 miles away in between those 2 purchases. 

Nothing was more annoying than having DH's corporate Amex denied at a restaurant.  I had a MasterCard so I paid.  We got home and DH called the Amex rep the next day.  Seems that, when DH had called them a few days earlier to alert them that we were making a big purchase on the Amex (around $7,000) the clerk helpfully canceled the card. 

Yes, it was a corporate card but DH was allowed to put personal purchases on the card at that time, as long as they were paid off each month, as we did.  That policy did change because other employees didn't pay off their stuff. 

We wondered what was the point of warning them we were going to use the card if that would be the response. 

[Giggity]

I can actually beat both of those. My CC number got ripped off by someone in (I think) New Hampshire (or it might have been Vermont...somewhere up there, anyway). My bank didn't catch it, I did - when I (apparently) bought $20 worth of...

...toothpaste.

How do you know what it was spent on? My statement always just gives the date of purchase, date of posting, and store or billing agent. Charitable donations are obvious.

The merchant was a Dental Practice. I can't imagine there's all that much you can get at a dentist for $20 other than toothpaste, mouthwash and brushes (and if American dentistry IS that cheap, I'm emigrating immediately!)

It was bizarre.

In America, $20 is the general co-pay for an appointment. That's what the patient pays up front. So your credit card helped someone have nice teeth.

For what that's worth, the jerk. (Mine got stolen last week and used to buy perfume. Not even nice perfume.)

[Shalamar]

I've had issues with my Bank of Montreal Mastercard at least five times over the last three years.  For a couple of those times, my number was stolen and someone tried to buy stuff.  Okay, that happens.  For the other times, though, there's been a "security breach" and "for your safety, we're sending you another card."   That's super annoying because of all the various automatic payments I've got set up with the old, now-useless card number. 

But wait, it gets better.  I got a call from them just before Christmas, once again with the "security breach" "new card" stuff.  I waited for the new card to arrive, and it never did.  I called the bank, and they said "Well, it's only been two weeks.  Give it another week."  I did - in fact, it's been more like a month.  No new card.  (Fortunately, I watch my statement like a hawk, and I haven't seen any unauthorized transactions.)   All I can think is that someone stole the new card, but without the ability to authorize it from my home phone, they've got a piece of plastic that's good for a bookmark and nothing else.

[wheeitsme]

I check my ccard on online regularly, and I encourage others to, as well.

Especially since the $5 for water at a Macy's in Texas, then later that day a slice of pizza in NY city, then later over $200 worth of groceries in the Philippines. 

[jedikaiti]

As my old card was expiring, Discover sent me a new card - same #, new expiration date. I got the new card and activated it. A week or so later, I notice an odd charge on my account - turns out to be a movie theater in Texas (I'm in Colorado, and haven't been to Texas since the 1990s, and never to the town in question). So I call Discover, who suggests I call the theater - I do, leave a message, get a call back a day later - manager is able to pull up the transaction based on my CC number, and found it had been used online to buy a kid's ticket, and another wholly different number had been used to do the same thing within moments of the transaction on my card - and they'd used my old card, with the old expiration date (which I still have in my pocket, actually - need to go use the office shredder on that one).

The theater manager issued a refund, and there's been no other odd activity on my account. A bit odd.

[Luci45]

I've had issues with my Bank of Montreal Mastercard at least five times over the last three years.  For a couple of those times, my number was stolen and someone tried to buy stuff.  Okay, that happens.  For the other times, though, there's been a "security breach" and "for your safety, we're sending you another card."   That's super annoying because of all the various automatic payments I've got set up with the old, now-useless card number. 

But wait, it gets better.  I got a call from them just before Christmas, once again with the "security breach" "new card" stuff.  I waited for the new card to arrive, and it never did.  I called the bank, and they said "Well, it's only been two weeks.  Give it another week."  I did - in fact, it's been more like a month.  No new card.  (Fortunately, I watch my statement like a hawk, and I haven't seen any unauthorized transactions.)   All I can think is that someone stole the new card, but without the ability to authorize it from my home phone, they've got a piece of plastic that's good for a bookmark and nothing else.

Are you planning to change credit cards soon? I keep three - one for most purchases that we get free gasoline with, #2 with the same company as a backup in case some goes wonky with the first one (like lost or stolen or it's stopped for some other reason), and #3 for online purchases only with a different company. It works quite well.

I did drop a card serveral years ago because there were constant issues, such as you describe and not always making any sense to me.

Also, old credit cards a good for scaping dishes  (Of course I know they must be destroyed!)

[Jones]

A little over a year ago I was checking my account and noticed something odd; a set-up charge for a dating service on my credit card number, dated the same day I was checking my account, so only a couple hours old.

I went to a bank with a printout of the transaction and asked them to reverse it, stated it was fraudulent. Several bored female tellers gave me the "Oh, honey," look, and I had to point out that my husband had a different card number from me and I should know if I was re-entering the dating world. It was reversed and a new card issued. Nothing more happened.

Constant vigilance! Not just for wizards.

[Spring Water on Sundays]

Once a guy called me to talk to me about extending the warranty on my Honda.

Me: You have the wrong number, I don't have a Honda.
Him: Oh, what kind of car do you have now? I'll just update your records!
Me: I've never owned a Honda. I'm sorry, you have the wrong number. *click*

Chances are good if he kept calling different phone numbers, he'd get *someone* who had a Honda that was running out of warranty!

[pixel dust]

My husband (who's out of the country on business) keeps getting call to our home number (which we never use) from a mortgage place. We rent. We've always rented. We've never owned a home, ever.

Twice now I've answered and told them we rent and twice they mumbled something about being "taken off a list".

 

[magicdomino]

Also, old credit cards a good for scaping dishes  (Of course I know they must be destroyed!)

Old credit cards are also good for scraping ice off of a windshield.  New credit cards work too, but you may have to retire them to Internet purchases only.  Apparently, scraping ice doesn't do the magnetic strip a lot of good.   

I've had mystery charges on credit cards twice.  One was definitely fraudulent, as someone bought a cell phone in another city.  The other was a company in England.  I do a fair amount of Internet business, and sometimes the name on the bill is different from the company that I ordered from.  The England charge might have been legitimate.  I challenged it with the credit card company, and cancelled the card anyway.  Since no one complained, I guess it was fraudulent after all.

[ica171]

We've had our debit card stolen once and our debit card number stolen once. First time, the actual physical card was stolen. DH had taken the kids trick or treating and drove them to the other end of our neighborhood in the van. The battery was going dead on our remote and when he clicked the button, the door didn't lock. My purse was in the front seat and someone helped themselves to the card. Thankfully they missed the envelopes full of cash.

The second time, we were traveling and stopped to buy some snacks. Card wouldn't go through. YDS is autistic and did not understand that he had to wait for his Lunchable and was having a meltdown. We called the bank and they told us that they'd frozen our account because there had been about $300 of charges at overseas stores. I can't remember exactly what they were for, but it was something like sporting goods, stereo speakers and custom shoes. Thankfully they realized it was fraudulent (although they forgot to reverse the international fees, so DH had to go in and get those done in person, but it was easy) and we had our money back right away.

[NyaChan]

I stopped to get gas in the "bad" part of town  back home and dropped my card without noticing.  I made it home when I received a phone call from a police officer letting me know that a little boy had picked it up, gone into the station and tried to buy candy with it.  The store worker took the card and then questioned the boy, who ran off & then called the cops to turn it in.  The very nice police officer met me by the library to return my credit card & and I was very very grateful that I didn't have to tell my dad that all of our Discover cards needed to be tossed.