Credit Card Fraud

[richard1s]

My wife and I recently sailed on a 7 day cruise departing from Miami. One week after we returned, I was reviewing activity on my card online and found almost $10,000 in fraudulent charges on it. The charges were in the form of wire transfers from a "merchant" in Florida. I am reasonably confident that my card info was stolen from use in the Caribbean. I am still working through the details for credit with the company (MBNA) and do not foresee any problems.

 

I recommend anyone using a card in any foreign country to be careful and to check activity on line for a while after your return. I don't discount the possibility that this could have been just a coincidence, but it can never hurt to take this precaution. Be especially aware of this if the merchant records the full card number on the charge slip, instead of only the last 4 digits. This happened to me once in St. Martin and again in San Juan and it makes me particularly suspicious of those 2 transactions.

[Nessi]

I have had fraudulent charges on my credit cards twice in Mexico. Once, my husband bought me a tee shirt at Margaritaville in Cancun. MBNA called me and asked if we had charged $300 to a strip club in Guadelajara. We still had the card, but someone stole the credit card number. The other time, MBNA called and said that there were like 20 or 30 transactions at a gas station in Tijuana. Who ever stole our number must have been filling up everyone gas tank in TJ that day and keeping the cash. In both incidents, MBNA noticed the suspicious activity and called me (before I even had a clue that something was wrong). They have great fraud protection, so I always travel with an MBNA card.

[AAAMom]

We had a problem with our MBNA LLBean Card. MBNA was great. They realized that the charges on the west coast could not be ours since our card activity showed us at home (East Coast). It was quickly resolved.

 

Just a bit of advice, I have alerts on my credit cards. If you go online to your credit card company you should be able to activate these. Basically, I get a call (via cellphone) if my account or activity goes over a certain limit that I determined. This way you will know if something happens while away.

[grouten]

I just found 4 credit card charges from Epoch.com (from a pornographic website) which I have disputed with my Citicard company after making an initial purchase in the shopping area at the St. Kitts shopping area adjacent to the cruise line port: this was on the Independence of the Seas Jan 4, 2013 cruise….check your credit card statements if you shopped there and Beware!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It has happened to us as well ..

[notentirelynormal]

I have 2 credit cards - one is Barclay's the other is Citi. Every single time I try to use it at the restaurant supply store they deny me (it's quite embarrassing. They tell me it's because I don't normally shop there. Umm, I WOULD if you wouldn't deny me every time. Granted this is really a restaurant supply store - you need to own a restaurant to be a member so it's an odd place for someone to shop for groceries a couple of times a year. They call my cell phone, my home phone, text me and sent me an email.

[meggiedarlin]

After having my main credit card used for fraud (at a suburb's McDonald's) 4 times and having to get 2 new cards, I signed up at v.me

 

You can sign up any and all of your credit cards for email/text alerts. This really helps because my husband and I share the card and in a month's time, you forget where you charged things. I get an instant alert on my phone when our card is used.

[cruzngrl]

I believe this to be an ongoing issue everywhere...the best thing to do is get a prepaid visa card for 500-1000.00 and use only this one when you are travelling. That way you won't get hit hard in your personal bank account if someone accesses it.

[Gunner22aa]

A few years ago a buddies wife went on a girls trip with some of here old unniversity friends. While she was in the aircraft flying home almost $2500 was billed to her card. They got it all sorted out but not without some time and effort. Far less of it happening here in Canada now that every card is chip and pin but some retailers still have the swipe machines and these are the major cause of the problem.

 

I was called about a year ago by my credit card company and told that were were being sent new cards by overnight delivery as there had been a problem at a place where I had used mine within the last 48 hours. They would not tell me where but the only two places either the wife or I had used it were Walmart and a gas station I had never visited before but had to as I was in need of fuel.

[dd2355]

the best thing to do is get a prepaid visa card for 500-1000.00 and use only this one when you are travelling. That way you won't get hit hard in your personal bank account if someone accesses it.

 

Better idea - don't use a debit card and you don't get hit at all in your personal bank account. You simply do NOT have the same protections with debit as you do with credit.

 

Stick to credit cards and watch the statements carefully.

Edited February 27, 2014 by dd2355

[AdvGirl]

Seems to me that Credit Card companies could stop a lot of this by requiring passwords which would require you to be at the terminal to pay - no taking card to back room. A friend at work had $2500 in fraudulent charges - from a visit to Olive Garden. The CC said all you need to do is take a photo of the front and back. Email them to a off shore crook who will send you money if the card works - typically 50 to 100 dollars. The person that steals your info is not the one who abuses the card they are just looking for quick cash in many cases.

 

Never let your card out of your hand. I have a local restaurant that has wireless reader they bring to the table. I like that.

 

Saw a video where some was stealing CC info right from your purse or wallet via RFID reader in a clutch or computer bag. The person the made a CC on the spot using a hotel room key went to mc Donald's and purchased lunch. Scary

 

 

 

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[iancal]

Every time we use our credit card (we live in Canada where chip technology has been the standard for several years) we have to input a pin number.

 

The Canadian Banking Assoc. claims that this has reduced credit card fraud by 40 percent.

 

I am not so sure. We have had our card compromised-chip,pin, and all. My guess is that the people who do this are just a step behind the credit card protection innovations.

 

I think that an ID photograph on the back of the card, similar to our Costco Amex card, might provide another level of security.

Edited February 27, 2014 by iancal

[lw4484]

I believe this to be an ongoing issue everywhere...the best thing to do is get a prepaid visa card for 500-1000.00 and use only this one when you are travelling. That way you won't get hit hard in your personal bank account if someone accesses it.

 

Wow, never thought of that! What a great idea! Will they let you use that as your cc attached to the cabin charges? I'd be afraid they would say no because you might go over... But anyone with a debit could do that too. Anyone know about that? :)

 

 

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[cruzngrl]

I'm not sure on that. We will use our CC for our onboard charges as we have the protection from the credit card company. The PPD visa card would be more for like if we were in a port and wanted to buy something that cost more than the cash we had on hand..then we would use it. If someone tried to get cash off of it or charge on it there wouldn't be as much dollars to lose. I think you can get a card and then add money from your personal bank account if you needed more.