Credit card alert while cruising

[Oceanwench]

Has anyone had a credit card fraud alert while you were cruising?

 

I checked my email while in Grand Turk and had two emails from Am Ex, telling me they had rejected two attempts to use my card to make a $700 purchase.

When I got to San Juan I called Am Ex and had them cancel the card.

 

I then went to the front desk on the ship, because that was the card I used for my account. I had to switch to another card, and they had to get approval for that for the $60/day hold (or whatever it is).

[Cruiser Andi]

I haven't had it happen while cruising but I have had it happen. Amex is very proactive. I live in Oregon and they rejected 2 purchases of about the same amount as yours that someone was trying to make in Florida. Lucky for you that you took another credit card. I generally don't and I would have been in a tough position.

[Oceanwench]

I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't had another card?

 

The woman at the front desk took care of it in a matter of minutes, and I was grateful!

[Randyk47]

I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't had another card?

 

The woman at the front desk took care of it in a matter of minutes, and I was grateful!

 

I think AMEX would have probably figured out a way to cover you. They're pretty good about helping a member.

[OCruisers]

Never have had that happen.

Think :confused: it has something to do with the credit limit on your credit card.

LuLu

[Cruiser Andi]

I think AMEX would have probably figured out a way to cover you. They're pretty good about helping a member.

 

 

I agree. Best customer service out there. They would have done whatever necessary to make sure the legitimate charges were covered.

[Cruising-along]

We've had fraud alerts, but never while cruising thank heavens. Kind of scary since it can be days and days before we can check email while on a cruise. So glad everything was fixed easily and quickly.

[Cruiser Andi]

Never have had that happen.

 

Think :confused: it has something to do with the credit limit on your credit card.

 

LuLu

 

 

Traditional Amex doesn't have a credit limit. They monitor your charges and if anything seems out of the norm they notify you by text or email. When it happened to me they sent a text asking if I was trying to make a purchase in Florida. I replied back NO and they didn't authorize the charge. Their fraud department had me call immediately and cancel my old card.

[xlxo]

Always carry more than one card and ideally with different companies. You'll find not everyone accepts American Excess credit cards.

 

My credit cards gets fraud flagged at the worst inconvenient times and takes a couple of weeks to show up in the mail. While inconvenient, at least I don't have surprise charges I need to pay for.

Edited February 7, 2015 by xlxo

[kazu]

One of the reasons I get internet (aside from live threads) is to check my financial stuff.

 

We tend to do longer cruises and always take a back up card.

 

Credit Card companies are actually quite good and do not hold you liable if you report in a timely manner.

 

I learned the hard way. Many, many years ago, we were discovered our card did not work and all we had was a small amount of $ in our pockets. I spent a day waiting for police, fraud squad and stuff. Never again.

 

By the way, being in the line of work I was I was not about to just let this go as the police wanted to do. It was traced to a hotel and the connecting system to get to Canada.

 

Lessons learned:

 

Rule #1 stay on top

 

Rule #2 take a back up card (and of course your debit or bank card)

 

Rule #3 make the police do the report and check it out. Otherwise, as consumers we all pay because the credit card company does not hold you liable if you do it right, but someone has to pay for that in the long run.

Edited February 7, 2015 by kazu

[freestyling]

I've had this happen with my Barclay - HAL card while on a HAL cruise! They noticed a charge in NYC and since I had used the trip notification they knew I wasn't in NYC. Since that occured I now carry 2 cards and let both companies know my itinerary.

[Mary Ellen]

We've had a fraudulent charge to a CC while on a cruise. It was a card that we'd only used twice on that trip. The first charge was for our London hotel. About three weeks later I used the card at the Hard Rock Cafe in Oslo. The very next day (while we were sailing to Amsterdam) a $900-ish charge from someplace in California was put through. DH noticed this while we were in Amsterdam and contacted the CC company. It was taken care of promptly and efficiently. You've got to stay on top of things.

[Krazy Kruizers]

So far we have never had that happen on a cruise nor on land.

We have separate AMEX cards and separate Visa cards -- thus 4 different cards between us. So we would be good to go.

But I never check any of our accounts while cruising. I don't take a laptop anymore -- too much of a hassle since I have to use a wheelchair to get through the airports. And I have used the ship's computers only a couple of times in recent years.

[Kcruiser2014]

I had AMEX put a fraud alert on my card while on a cruise. I'm a cheapskate and won't pay for Internet on the cruise, so first indication for me was when my S&S card wouldn't work. Went to GS. They said my card was declined. They called AMEX for me and let me talk to them to get it straightened out. Thank goodness it wasn't really fraud. They reactivated the card. In the future, I am bringing a backup card, just in case. But, GS was great, as they also gave me some free internet time to just double check on anything I needed on the card.

[Oceanwench]

Never have had that happen.

Think :confused: it has something to do with the credit limit on your credit card.

LuLu

 

Um, no.

As another poster stated, Am Ex has no credit limit.

And I have no balance on it anyway, I pay it off every month.

 

As I stated in my original post, someone tried to make an online purchase totaling $700 - camping equipment from a company in Utah.

As the Am Ex customer service person explained to me, the company monitors accounts 24/7 and knows spending patterns. So the purchase attempts (there were four) were all declined.

Am Ex fraud department called my house several times and left messages, them sent me emails.

I plan to download their app now, which will alert me instantly.

 

I used to call Am Ex and alert them to the fact I would be out of the country, but the last time I did it, I was assured that was not necessary.

 

I don't check credit card accounts while I am on a cruise, but I do check my email accounts, and that is how I learned of the fraud.

 

I know someone who was the victim of an ID theft while cruising, and it caused her such a nightmare when she got home. It was as if the people behind it knew she would be out of touch and they could do a lot of damage without her knowing.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Oceanwench

[iancal]

We have had cards suspended/locked when theft or compromise was NOT an issue. Suspect that it was due to some AI fraud prevention software that the financial services companies use.

 

We carry multiple access for both credi cards and ATM or on line account access.

 

We have had our cards suspended in backwoods Costa Rica, Florida, and once or twice in Europe. It happens. Last week we lost e access to one of our credit card accounts BUT the card continued to be accepted.

 

We had dinner with a British couple a few days ago. Their ATM card was eaten up by a machine at their last stop in Thailand. it took two days to get it back which put them over the 30 day Thai visa period and subjected both of them to per diem fines. They were just happy to get the card back....eight weeks into a 12 month trip.

Edited February 7, 2015 by iancal

[serendipity1499]

We've only had a fraud alert once while we were home... Someone had charged several hundred dollars at a Restaurant in Brooklyn.. Our bank called & asked if we both had our cards, which we did.. We had never been to Brooklyn & our bank covered the loss..

 

We have two credit cards which we normally use that have a very high credit limit on them.. But for travelling we each have a Capital One credit card with a very low credit limit at our request.. The Capital One cards have our pictures on them...

 

We give HAL our normal credit cards when we check-in but for any on-line purchases & when we are off the ship, we use our Capital One cards.. I carry our two normal cards with us, but put them in our cabin safe.. DH & I then carry our Capital One cards while on the cruise..

 

So far it has worked, but I do try to check our accounts while on board our longer cruises..

[GeriatricNurse]

Has anyone had a credit card fraud alert while you were cruising?

 

I checked my email while in Grand Turk and had two emails from Am Ex, telling me they had rejected two attempts to use my card to make a $700 purchase.

When I got to San Juan I called Am Ex and had them cancel the card.

 

I then went to the front desk on the ship, because that was the card I used for my account. I had to switch to another card, and they had to get approval for that for the $60/day hold (or whatever it is).

 

 

Do you have 'chip enabled' credit cards? :confused: If not, I would highly recommend them as one would need a four digit PIN in order to use them! ;) Chip enabled credit cards are the norm in Canada! :) I've never experienced any issues with mine being fraudently used!

[Randyk47]

Do you have 'chip enabled' credit cards? :confused: If not, I would highly recommend them as one would need a four digit PIN in order to use them! ;) Chip enabled credit cards are the norm in Canada! :) I've never experienced any issues with mine being fraudently used!

 

The chip enabled credit cards in the US are chip and signature not the PIN version available in most other countries. :( Supposedly there are a few credit card companies that will issue them for US residents who travel outside the US frequently but I've never explored that.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Randyk47

[Oceanwench]

My Am Ex number was obviously stolen before I left on my cruise, as the first attempt to use it occurred the day we sailed.

The first full day was a sea day, and I didn't have Internet, so I was unaware.

It was only when I used Wifi at Margaritaville and checked email that I saw the fraud alert.

 

When I visit ports and make purchases, I almost always use cash.

 

Card skimming at gas stations is epidemic in Florida, so I am guessing that is what happened. Time to pay for gas in cash!

[Randyk47]

My Am Ex number was obviously stolen before I left on my cruise, as the first attempt to use it occurred the day we sailed.

The first full day was a sea day, and I didn't have Internet, so I was unaware.

It was only when I used Wifi at Margaritaville and checked email that I saw the fraud alert.

 

When I visit ports and make purchases, I almost always use cash.

 

Card skimming at gas stations is epidemic in Florida, so I am guessing that is what happened. Time to pay for gas in cash!

 

It could have been skimming but it could have been a random number generator. My wife has had that happen twice. The potential thief had no idea what the name was associated with her CC number they just had kept trying random numbers until they found one that was a valid account. The "underworld" actually sells computer programs designed just for the specific purpose to generate random CC numbers and check if it's account but apparently can't always get the name on the account.

[peaches from georgia]

Um, no.

.........As I stated in my original post, someone tried to make an online purchase totaling $700 - camping equipment from a company in Utah.

As the Am Ex customer service person explained to me, the company monitors accounts 24/7 and knows spending patterns. So the purchase attempts (there were four) were all declined.

Am Ex fraud department called my house several times and left messages, them sent me emails.

I plan to download their app now, which will alert me instantly.............

 

I now only use my AMEX card for all online purchases (and I purchase online all the time). I used my AMEX card for a $20 online purchase, from a small unknown vendor in CA, about a year ago for the first time in a long time. I usually purchase only from Amazon, B&N, Macy's and other large vendors, but took a chance this time. The next day my AMEX card # was used online for a large purchase- very expensive cognac from England, completely outside my usual buying habits! I know it had to have been stolen from this CA website, too coincidental. AMEX picked up on it right away and notified me, canceling my card and sending us new cards.

 

I immediately signed up for their notification service for all purchases made online. It's great and I only use AMEX now for all online purchases. I get an email immediately when my card is used for any online purchase- if I made it I don't have to do anything, if I didn't I would just hit the reply button that I didn't make it and the purchase is denied or cancelled. Luckily I have had no further problems, but I love this service protecting their customers.

[iancal]

One of our chip enabled credit cards was compromised three years ago.

 

It still happens, even with the chip enabled cards. But I read that the chip cards have substantially reduced cc fraud. Not certain why some institutions are so many years behind in implementing this technology. It is no longer considered 'new' technology.

Edited February 7, 2015 by iancal

[CowPrincess]

We have had cards suspended/locked when theft or compromise was NOT an issue. Suspect that it was due to some AI fraud prevention software that the financial services companies use.

>SNIP<

 

A friend got a new credit card, and bought tickets to a movie from a machine. Then he went and bought (tried to buy, actually) a pair of expensive running shoes, and the card was declined. That is apparently one pattern that triggers the fraud prevention activity ;) Use a new card for a low-value purchase from a kiosk, then once it is known to work, start buying expensive items.

 

I now use any new credit card at my vet's office first.

[Vict0riann]

Oceanwench, could you please say more about the app you mentioned? It sounds like a very good thing to have. I would like to tell my DH about it!:)