What could this mean?

[+ Charlie]

Last week my partner got a call from Discover questioning a charge which looked suspicious, and he confirmed that he hadn't made it. So they cancelled the account and sent him a new card. Yesterday he received a package of DVDs from a small DVD club, thanking him for joining (which he hadn't) and saying that they had been charged to his Discover card ending in number_____. That is not the number on either the old card or the new card. Any suggestions about what is going on?

 

By the way, a couple of months ago he had to get a new Visa card because of a large fraudulent charge made by someone ordering online, that the merchant was suspicious about. There have been no further problems there.

[Diverdan]

Charlie,

I am not sure about this particular situation, but I have had my credit card company call me about what they say appear to be "suspicious charges" and in fact, they were not charges that I had made. In that case they did not cancel my card, but notified the merchant that it was an unauthorized purchase. It seems to me that most of the big card issuers have rather sophisticated ways of looking at the pattern of charges that are made on a particular card.

 

If your partner did not order the DVDs, then he is under no obligation to return them, although he might be wise to do so, and inform them that he did not order them and does not want them.

 

I rarely order anything on line, so have not had that type of problem. I do, however, always call my credit card company in advance of going outside the USA and tell them what countries I am going to visit. That helps insure that I won't have charges rejected.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[bigvalboy]

Personally I would not let this one alone. I would pursue it and find out what is going on. I thief could have stolen your indentity ie: address, names, credit status SS# etc and is using that along with stolen cards. I would return the tapes and find out from that company how and why they got sent to you. I never you use my personal credit when charging on line anymore. I always use a loadable credit card, and load just enough onto the card for the purchase to clear. That way excessive charges will be declined and worst case scenario is that I am out only the amount that I loaded. Good Luck.

[gallahadesquire]

L

Personally I would not let this one alone. I would pursue it and find out what is going on. I thief could have stolen your indentity ie: address, names, credit status SS# etc and is using that along with stolen cards. I would return the tapes and find out from that company how and why they got sent to you. I never you use my personal credit when charging on line anymore. I always use a loadable credit card, and load just enough onto the card for the purchase to clear. That way excessive charges will be declined and worst case scenario is that I am out only the amount that I loaded. Good Luck.

 

What a brilliant idea!

[rvwnsd]

Personally I would not let this one alone. I would pursue it and find out what is going on.

 

Good advice. A fraudster might have established a Discover card account in your partner's name, which would explain why the card number that does not match the old or new one. This would be a good time for your partner to check his credit bureau report. He should also contact Discover's fraud department regarding the Discover card that does not appear to belong to him. You might also inquire if any of his friends sent him a gift. It is possible the merchant made a mistake and failed to include a gift message and suppress the sender's credit card information.

 

I never you use my personal credit when charging on line anymore. I always use a loadable credit card, and load just enough onto the card for the purchase to clear. That way excessive charges will be declined and worst case scenario is that I am out only the amount that I loaded. Good Luck.

 

I think using a pre-loaded card for Internet purchases gives a false sense of security that you will not become a victim of credit card fraud or identity theft. That is not the case. Most examples of credit card fraud result from the hacking of a merchant database (think TJX Companies, the parent of TJMaxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods...all brick-and-mortar merchants without an Internet presence), installation of a "sniffer" on a card swipe that records the mag stripe data (including the 3-digit security code on the back of the card) to facilitate cloning a card, and old-fashioned writing down of a card number/security code by an unscrupulous person who handles your card (waiter, cashier, etc). A better way of mitigating fraud is to scrutinize your monthly statement (or check online if you have gone paperless), periodically check your credit bureau report for unrecognized credit accounts and inquiries, and to reconcile your bank account. You may also subscribe to an identity-monitoring service. They are pricey ($10 - $15/month) but they will alert you to any changes to your CBR and inquiries on your credit, other than the routine credit reviews performed by your existing creditors.

 

As I have stated in the past, I am not a fan of using pre-loaded VISA and MasterCard cards as a stand-in for a credit or debit card. Some, like the Walmart pre-loaded VISA card I received for Christmas, offer protection against fraudulent charges. The same card makes no mention about charging back a transaction when you have a dispute with a merchant, have made a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute, and have received an unsatisfactory response from the merchant. You are also not protected against losing the funds loaded on the card in the event he issuer goes out of business. Granted, if you only load the card with enough funds to make a purchase the potential loss would be minimal.

 

My advice is to maintain a separate credit card for Internet purchases. If that card is compromised, your other card(s) will be untouched. You could also maintain a separate checking account and request a debit card for use when making Internet purchases. You would have the best of both worlds: the ability to control the amount of money in the account (and limit your exposure if your debit card was compromised) and have the security of deposit insurance in case the bank/credit union failed.

[seeker630]

Personally I would not let this one alone. I would pursue it and find out what is going on. I thief could have stolen your indentity ie: address, names, credit status SS# etc and is using that along with stolen cards. I would return the tapes and find out from that company how and why they got sent to you. I never you use my personal credit when charging on line anymore. I always use a loadable credit card, and load just enough onto the card for the purchase to clear. That way excessive charges will be declined and worst case scenario is that I am out only the amount that I loaded. Good Luck.

 

I agree that you should pursue this, but be aware that the DVD company may be unwilling to provide you with much information.

 

I have an alert set on my card to email me anytime it is used for an online or phone transaction (i.e. no swipe), regardless of the amount. (I'd recommend that you investigate such an option.) Earlier this month, I received email notification of a charge for over $900 at an online Lego store. i immediately called my credit card company and reported fraud, and they cancelled the card. When I called the Lego store and reported it, they would not give me any information but said they had to receive any such request from a law enforcement agency on official letterhead. Also, I was notified of another small (< $2) charge to a different company that was probably a 'test run'.

 

Good luck.

[rvwnsd]

... anytime it is used for an online or phone transaction (i.e. no swipe), regardless of the amount. (I'd recommend that you investigate such an option.)...

 

You should set up a similar alert for in-person transactions. If your card has been lost, stolen, or cloned, the thief/fraudster could use the cloned card at a store or gas station and you would not know until you reviewed your statement or received a call from your credit card issuer. By the way, "no swipe" does not equate to "Phone/Internet." You can make an in-person transaction without a card swipe. The sales associate simply keys the number into the register. Mail Order/Telephone and Internet merchants are distinguished from In-person merchants by the merchant ID issued by the card processor, not by the presence or absence of a card swipe. If the associate at a Macy's store keys in your card number the transaction is classified as an in-person transaction.

[+ Charlie]

Thanks for the responses.

 

1. The cards were not stolen, although the card information could have been. The Visa card charge happened to occur at the same time that he was in the air flying to Europe. Someone made an online purchase of something to be delivered, and the merchant called our house because he was suspicious that the name of the person doing the order and the address of the delivery didn't match my partner. I confirmed that the order was a fraud, and the merchant suggested that I call Visa. When I did, I was told that I was not authorized to do anything about the card, but the rep advised me to call my partner in Europe to be sure he had the physical card with him, which I did, and he did. The charge did appear on his next bill after he returned, but when he called Visa, they removed it and gave him a new card. No other attempt was made to charge anything on the first card.

 

2.The Discover card was also always in his possession, and used only for one regular monthly charge--ironically, for an identity theft monitoring service.

 

3. He does keep one card which is used solely for online purchases, but it is not either of these cards.

 

4. The DVDs were charged to him, so they wouldn't have been a gift; they were schlock that neither he nor a friend would ever have ordered anyway. He will contact them tomorrow to let them know that he did not place the order, and that the Discover card with that number is not his.

 

5. I did wonder about the possibility that someone could have opened a Discover account under his name with stolen ID. He will call Discover to investigate that. If that were the case, however, I would expect the DVDs to have been sent to an address connected to the false card rather than to him, unless this is some kind of fishing expedition to get him to reveal his new Discover card number.

 

Being a naturally suspicious person, I always check every purchase on my credit card bills, and correlate them with receipts for purchases. I also never purchase anything with a debit card, and never use a credit card online for anything except travel arrangements (i.e., I don't shop online). I check regularly with credit bureaus to make sure there is nothing unusual on my record, and I check my bank accounts online for activity daily. When phone solicitors ask me to donate to organizations and causes by using my credit card, I always insist that they send me a letter instead, and I send a check--I don't care whether a card transaction is more convenient for them; it also gives me a chance to check my records to see if I have already given them as much as I want to. As a result of all these things I have never had a problem.

[+ Travis69]

I saw some tv special about credit card information theft. Seems there is device that will read all the information on your credit card from a few feet away. Someone could just get close to you, activate their device and all the info from the cards in your wallet are read. Scary!!!!

[orbital sander]

I have my photo put on any of my credit cards that will do so.

 

Additionally, I use American Express most often. I charge thousand of dollars a month online and off. The only time that I had someone get my info and make charges on a card was on my Amex, to the tune of $8,300.00 in one day. I had to make only one phone call, tell them which charges were not mine, and the took them all off. I never had to do anything else. Since I charge so much every month, I just check my activity online every day and make sure everything is legit (plus I have cards for employees).

 

I never do the "Ask for ID" signature, as making a fake ID is as easy, if not easier than cloning the credit card.

 

Travis, it think what you are speaking about is the Key FOB version of credit cards called something like "Fast Pay" that were around a few years ago. These were RF devices that actually provided contactless information to pay stations. Actual cards must be swiped to get the data from the magnetic strip.

[seeker630]

You should set up a similar alert for in-person transactions. If your card has been lost, stolen, or cloned, the thief/fraudster could use the cloned card at a store or gas station and you would not know until you reviewed your statement or received a call from your credit card issuer. By the way, "no swipe" does not equate to "Phone/Internet." You can make an in-person transaction without a card swipe. The sales associate simply keys the number into the register. Mail Order/Telephone and Internet merchants are distinguished from In-person merchants by the merchant ID issued by the card processor, not by the presence or absence of a card swipe. If the associate at a Macy's store keys in your card number the transaction is classified as an in-person transaction.

 

I do have alerts set up for ANY transaction over $50. (Which spares me seeing the many small purchases I make.)

 

Perhaps I used the term 'no swipe' inappropriately - I was referring to cases in which the card is not physically present. The alerts menu wording simply says "charge made online, by phone, or mail".

[justaguy]

Charlie, what has me stumped is that the DVDs were sent to your address. The only rational explanations I can come up with is that the company actually sent them as a way to make money or that whoever stole the card information is stupid. With the first the question would be how they got the number. Has the card ever been used to purchase material from a similar company. I wouldn't put it past them to exchange card information. It seem unlikely, though. Stupid makes more sense to me. Whatever the cause, keep a watchful eye on all credit card statement etc. for the next few months.

[gcursor]

Who are you?

 

Hello Charlie:

I have been battling my own case of identity theft as well which I believe to be under control. However your partner should never take any case of identity theft lightly under any circumstances. Although some of the "elements" of the identity aren't correct now, it's the thought that somebody has that information and is using it that needs to be addressed. Identity thieves are a patient lot. They will strive to gather up information on their prey slowly but surely.

 

In my case, I believe the initial attempt was made through my Windows Live account which I used once years ago but never really did anything with. Although it might not seem like much to your partner now, he should perhaps look into an identity service (such as LIFELOCK) for a period of time and start investigating some of these "incidents" that are happening now before it becomes far too late.

 

Gcursor

 

Last week my partner got a call from Discover questioning a charge which looked suspicious, and he confirmed that he hadn't made it. So they cancelled the account and sent him a new card. Yesterday he received a package of DVDs from a small DVD club, thanking him for joining (which he hadn't) and saying that they had been charged to his Discover card ending in number_____. That is not the number on either the old card or the new card. Any suggestions about what is going on?

 

By the way, a couple of months ago he had to get a new Visa card because of a large fraudulent charge made by someone ordering online, that the merchant was suspicious about. There have been no further problems there.

[+ Travis69]

 

Travis, it think what you are speaking about is the Key FOB version of credit cards called something like "Fast Pay" that were around a few years ago. These were RF devices that actually provided contactless information to pay stations. Actual cards must be swiped to get the data from the magnetic strip.

No, I know what you are talking about and this is different. This was a device the thieves could use, standing only a few feet away from you, to steal the info on your credit cards. I remember they tried it on a few people on the street as part of the news story.

[orbital sander]

No, I know what you are talking about and this is different. This was a device the thieves could use, standing only a few feet away from you, to steal the info on your credit cards. I remember they tried it on a few people on the street as part of the news story.

 

Well, as far as I know, that is impossible. Magnetic strips on credit cards do not send "out" a signal, they MUST be swiped. If there was a local news story about this, I am guessing they got it wrong. Thieves must have a card swiper to read information off a card. Your information can also be ripped off from a verbal order and put on a card manually by someone with the right equipment.

 

Please let me know where you read / heard this, as I am very curious. I have a close associate who is a bank president, and he says it is impossible. Hell, half the time you cannot even swipe my cards and read them as the magnetic strip wears out quickly. I am constantly getting replacements.

 

A link that talks about RFID:

 

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.asp

[ErieBear]

I've got a card that you don't have to swipe. It's called Instead, you just wave it near a reader and it picks it up. Well, about half the time. The other half, the clerk says, "That doesn't work on our reader." Here's a link to it. http://www.paypass.com/

[orbital sander]

I've got a card that you don't have to swipe. It's called Instead, you just wave it near a reader and it picks it up. Well, about half the time. The other half, the clerk says, "That doesn't work on our reader." Here's a link to it. http://www.paypass.com/

 

Yes that is an RFID Device. IT transmits a signal. Regular old credit cards do not. Paypass makes contactless fobs, tags and credit cards, but they contain an RF device. You do not want these unless you can be sure that you can protect your signal. RF devices, such as Paypass fobs and cards can be scanned in the manner described by Travis, but not good old regular credit cards.

[jackboy48]

I would be very tempted to contact one of the credit bureaus and put a credit "freeze" on my accounts. The other two credit bureaus will then follow suit and also "freeze" your accounts. You then have a "pin" number to use, whenever you need to unfreeze your accounts temporarily for a credit check. There are fees each time you do this, and it does require some extra planning, but the costs are relatively minimal if you only need to have an occasional credit check for a car loan or whatever. I'm not sure if this is available in all states, and you may have to prove that you've been defrauded, but in that case the "freeze" is sometimes free. Apparently too many people are using credit "alerts" because they are free, so they're not always taken seriously, but a "freeze" prevents any access of any kind to your accounts and credit history. I have been fortunate so far, and have only had self-inflicted problems with my credit cards. I only use one card regularly, and have a habit of checking the charges fairly often, because I'm a little paranoid since I do quite a bit of internet shopping.

 

I'm wondering if the DVD delivery may have been some sort of malicious prank since those companies are often loose about extending credit, just like magazine subscriptions, pizza deliveries, etc. I've seen that sort of prank done in the movies and on TV, where someone will order all kinds of deliveries to their victim, but have never heard of it actually happening.

[+ Charlie]

Just a quick update. Discovercard's customer fraud rep confirms that there is no other account in my partner's name with the unknown final four digits, which was our first concern. The DVD club service rep says they will cancel the unauthorized shipment and account; they think they may have made a clerical error, and will contact him again within two weeks, when they have figured it out.

[orbital sander]

Just a quick update. Discovercard's customer fraud rep confirms that there is no other account in my partner's name with the unknown final four digits, which was our first concern. The DVD club service rep says they will cancel the unauthorized shipment and account; they think they may have made a clerical error, and will contact him again within two weeks, when they have figured it out.

 

 

Were any of the DVD's of interest to you?

I would make sure that if they wanted them back they paid for the postage, otherwise perhaps you should keep them for your trouble. I think that you can legally keep them if you did not request them, but perhaps you do not even watch movies. If they are Olsen Twins movies perhaps you can donate them to a local church garage sale