Credit Card Fraud and Charge Disputes

[SS]

Recently I believe I had an dispute over a CC charge. I reported already to CC company. Any other necessary measurement I should take to solve this issue?
Not sure if there is any existing thread...if it's please merge.

[Nasif]

Get your 3 credit reports, see the activity on your cards. If anything suspicious or something that doesn't belong to you notify the credit bureau.

[ialbd]

most of the cc companies have 100% fradulent protection, that is you dont pay if some1 else used it. They cancel the old card and send you a new one. I think this is the standard procedure.

I dont know what Nasif bhai meant. Does fradulent activity affect your credit ratings??

[Nasif]

Originally Posted by ialbd
I dont know what Nasif bhai meant. Does fradulent activity affect your credit ratings??

Yes it does, unless you take measures. If someone opens a credit card using your name and SS#; you are held responsible unless notify them. If you see fraudulent charges, you should check your credit report quickly to see if there are other/new fraudulent accounts open under your name. Identity theft is more prevalent than we want to believe.

You can get free report from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ . The is the US govt. authorized portal site where you can ask for your free credit report from all 3 credit agency (they won't give you your credit score, only the account report).

Credit companies are bound by law to show your report once every year. As there are 3 agencies, you can ask for a new report every 4 months from one of the 3 and stay on top of your credit history throughout the year.

You can also use the paid monitoring service if you want to be alerted automatically. There are several companies. Google it you will find them. I use Experian's FreeCreditReport.com (its only free for first month). Pretty good, and very informative.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by SS
Any other necessary measurement I should take to solve this issue?

Cancel that card number and ask them to send another one.
Credit card tips:
1) have a credit card with a very low credit limit like $750 to $1,500. Make sure the company do not automatically raise the limit. Make it a fix limit. Use this card while doing regular shopping. This way you limit your damage even if something happens.
2) In restaurants do not send your credit card with waiters. You swipe the card or they swipe the card infront of you. Specially in BD.
3) shread your credit card statement regularly. better if you deal with them on line. no paper trail.

[akabir77]

Originally Posted by SS
Recently I believe I had an dispute over a CC charge. I reported already to CC company. Any other necessary measurement I should take to solve this issue?
Not sure if there is any existing thread...if it's please merge.

its not clear from here is it some thing they charge you extra that you r disputing here? or they charged something wrong (like one time on my case walmart charged me 3/4 times for the same stuff as their machine was not working and the stupid clark was swiping the card). if this is the case i believe you have nothing to worry too much about.

But if the charge is totally some thing different like some shop in NY when you live in KC then man you r screwed...

[SS]

Originally Posted by akabir77
its not clear from here is it some thing they charge you extra that you r disputing here? or they charged something wrong (like one time on my case walmart charged me 3/4 times for the same stuff as their machine was not working and the stupid clark was swiping the card). if this is the case i believe you have nothing to worry too much about.

But if the charge is totally some thing different like some shop in NY when you live in KC then man you r screwed...

Yea I know I am screwed, but I notified the CC company. The charge is out of no where and not sure. I am researching more on identity theft. If you guys find anything, please share. Thank you.

[Tokai]

No you are not screwed AT ALL. Most people do not realize that CC are the safest way of transaction, and you are always safe from despute. US Law requires that if you notify the CC company regarding a charge that you did not authorize, CC company has to take it off your balance and statement. ANY charge, without asking question. then ofcourse, they will look into the matter and will try to prove it otherwise (like signature or camera duration the transaction). but the prove of burden is on to them.

Now, this is what you do. Ask them to cancel the card and issue you a different card. So, if someone else get your number you are safe.

Next, get your 3 credit report as Nasif recommanded. One IMPORTANT thing to notice here, they are the same thing from 3 different company and has the same info in different way. And, you can only get them once every year for free. Meaning, get one every 4 months from a different company and you are monitoring every four months without having to wait for a year.

[Kabir]

Nasif bhai,

Do you know if there's any Canadian equivalent to the 3-credit report thing you're talking about?

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Tokai
No you are not screwed AT ALL...

Absolutely correct. Read the following. If any credit card company says anything otherwise quote the message:
“Unauthorized charges are already covered by your current credit-card agreement,” “Remember that if you are offered ‘loss-protection’ insurance for your credit card, you can be sure of one loss: the amount of money you spend for the useless policy.”
Credit-card issuers have procedures in place for disputing charges that haven’t been authorized. According to the Federal Trade Commission, liability for unauthorized charges is generally limited to $50. This is a 2006 information.

Additional information on credit card fraud schemes: Consumers are to avoid doing business with callers or other solicitors who claim any of the following:

·you’re liable for more than $50 in unauthorized charges on your credit-card account;
·they’re from “the security department” and want to activate the protection feature on your credit card; and
·you need credit-card-loss protection because computer hackers can access your credit-card number and charge thousands of dollars to your account.
While it’s true that phishing scams or computer viruses can compromise your personal information and lead to unauthorized charges, those charges are also covered by your standard credit-card agreement. Any solicitor who tells you otherwise is likely trying to scare you into buying unnecessary coverage.

[akabir77]

what i meant by screwed is if you got scammed and they opened diff cc with your name then even though you won't have to pay a penny it will be in your record for long long long time. this has happen to my close friend. Her room mate opened a CC on her name as they shared the house and payed tuition fees for years. but when she moved to another location she started to get all these statements... even though she didn't had to pay a penny and they caught the culprit (it was pretty easy the person paid his/her own tuition fee... ha ha ha dumb a$$$) but to this day she has a very low score because of that incident and CC told her they can't help her with that...

but if its like a mistake charge or some one just your this card number but don't have the other info then you r ok.

PS: shobai dekhi pay kora niya chintito oidikey jay history r barota bajbo oi khobor keo rakehna,

Another PS: when you go to shop @ banglai/paki/indian doken try to give them money as that' the most common place where u r CC number can be hacked (i know some BD store owners made millions from NY for doing that)

[Nasif]

Originally Posted by Kabir
Nasif bhai,

Do you know if there's any Canadian equivalent to the 3-credit report thing you're talking about?

Canada has 3 agency as well. Two of them are same as US, one is different. TransUnion, Equifax (these two are same); and Northern Credit Bureau.

http://canadian-creditreport.com/free.htm

The free one is only available by mail with proper identification. Online one is only available through payment, ~$25.

[SS]

I already reported but I don't think the company or bureau will take necessary measurements to track these culprits. Not even sure if CC transactions can be traced similar way of tracing online transactions using ip address and etc. Can't believe it it happened so quickly!!!

[cricket_dorshok]

Originally Posted by SS
I already reported but I don't think the company or bureau will take necessary measurements to track these culprits. Not even sure if CC transactions can be traced similar way of tracing online transactions using ip address and etc. Can't believe it it happened so quickly!!!

You don't need to worry whether the company will take any measure to track the culprit. You just need to get the money back if you lost any! Last year, someone stole my debit card and emptied my bank account with his/her life time exclusive Christmas shopping. I got to know the incident after one month (coz I left that country already). After getting the information, I just made a call to them, explained the scenario and got back all the money within 24 hours. Only things they asked me to do was to file a GD with local police.

[ialbd]

Originally Posted by cricket_dorshok
You don't need to worry whether the company will take any measure to track the culprit. You just need to get the money back if you lost any! Last year, someone stole my debit card and emptied my bank account with his/her life time exclusive Christmas shopping. I got to know the incident after one month (coz I left that country already). After getting the information, I just made a call to them, explained the scenario and got back all the money within 24 hours. Only things they asked me to do was to file a GD with local police.

I know the debit card system in USA & Canada are different (one can do online purchases using debit card in US), but arent there any PIN associated with the debit cards in US?

so debit card is has all the online purchasing capability of a credit card but the money goes straight out of your bank account? sigh.... eita canaday thakle ar ei ajaira credit card er pichhone douraitam na.......

[akabir77]

Originally Posted by ialbd
I know the debit card system in USA & Canada are different (one can do online purchases using debit card in US), but arent there any PIN associated with the debit cards in US?

so debit card is has all the online purchasing capability of a credit card but the money goes straight out of your bank account? sigh.... eita canaday thakle ar ei ajaira credit card er pichhone douraitam na.......

you can use debt car as credit card then u don't need the pin. I think (i might be wrong) if the money get stolen while using the pin number (hence as debt card) then bank is not responsible for the money....

[Nasif]

Originally Posted by akabir77
you can use debt car as credit card then u don't need the pin. I think (i might be wrong) if the money get stolen while using the pin number (hence as debt card) then bank is not responsible for the money....

Yes, thats correct. Debit card with Visa/Mastercard logo can be used just like a credit card without pin number.

[Kabir]

It's not that you can't do it in Canada, it's just that Canadian banking institutions are in the stone age compared to the rest of the world. Even the banking sites in Brazil are more sophisticated than the ones in Canada!

[Rubu]

One point I want to make: you have only 3 days after the statement for a debit issue to report whereas credit has 30 days (usually). And when using pin, if money is lost, it is your responsibility. So, if someone knows your pin and has your debit card, you are really screwed. since you have to pay to use debit at most places, always use credit whenever possible. not cash, check or debit, but credit. but make sure to pay on time so that you are not in debt. that is the only (and a grim one i must add) down side of credit cards.