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> My sister sent me this becuase she knows I do a lot of credit card transacting.
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> SCENE 1. This is a new one.
> A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the
locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open,
and thought to himself, "Funny, I thought I locked the locker.
> Hmmmmm." He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all
was in order. Everything looked okay - all cards were in place.
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> A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of
$14,000!
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> He called the credit card company and started yellin! g at them,
saying that he did not make the transactions. Customer care personnel
verified that there was no mistake in the system and asked if his card had
been stolen.
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> "No," he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit
card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had been made. An expired
similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet. The thief broke
into his locker at the gym and switched cards.
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> Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the
card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them. How
much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000! Why were there
no calls made to verify the amount swiped? Small amounts rarely trigger
a "! warning bell" with some credit card companies. It just so happens
that all the small amounts added up to big one!
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> SCENE 2. A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his
credit card. The bill for the meal came, he signed it, and the waitress
folded the receipt and passed the credit card along.
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> Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or
pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and
behold, it was the expired card of another person. He called the
waitress and she looked perplexed. She took it back, apologized, and hurried
back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man. All the waitress
did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the
counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and
took out the real card. No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and
came back to the man with an apology.
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> Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet at yours. Check
the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card
is taken away for even a short period of time. Many people just take
back the credit card without even looking at it, "assuming" that it has
to be theirs. FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR
CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!
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> SCENE 3: Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an
order that I had called in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of
course, is linked directly to my checking account.
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> The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then la!
id it on the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty
standard procedure. While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and
started dialing.
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> I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but
nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then I heard a click that sounded like my
phone sounds when I take a picture. He then gave me back my card but
kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to
what was really going on. It then dawned on me: the only thing there was
my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing.
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> He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open. About five
seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been
saved.
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> Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just
took a picture of my credit card. Yes, he played it off well, because
had we not had the same kind of phone, I! probably would never have
known what happened. Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as
I was walking out of the pizza parlor.
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> All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Whenever you are using your credit cards, take caution and don't be
careless. Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you
use your card. Be aware of phones because many have a camera phone these
days.
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> When you are in a restaurant and the waiter/waitress brings your
card and receipt for you to sign, make sure you scratch the number off.
Some restaurants are using only the last four digits, but a lot of them
are still putting the whole thing on there. I have already been a
victim of credit card fraud and, believe me, it is not fun. The truth is
that they can get you even when you are careful, but don't make it easy
for them.
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Follow Ups:
I think the part about having to pay the charges is not correct. If you file an official claim including a signed affidavit, you are not liable for the charges.Credit card companies house all signed recipts electronically for years and those can be compared to your signiture on file. The allowed time for disputing a charge is 60 days after being billed.
Your credit card company is not going to hold you liable for fruadulant charges in this situation. They can determine if it's fraud or not - trust me, 13 years working for a top 5 credit card company!
SCENE 4: You order something from somebody who's somewhere else. LIKE FRANCE! The person taking your credit card number is a crook. LIKE I SAID THEY'RE IN FRANCE! Your credit card numbers get distributed all over the world and a billion, trillion dollars gets charged within minutes and because you didn't call in your paranoid ideas to the CC company you owe it all! OFF TO DEBTERS PRISON FOR YOU!
While the scenarios described are possible ... they "are generally too
implausible to be of much legitimate concern to the average person."
æNormal is just a setting on my dryer.
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..........…….IMHO, anecdotally, I think fraud is a much lesser problem in THE scenerios posted compared to the real world scenarios of data theft via ‘insider’ manipulation of transactions.I don’t even work for a Fortune 500 company, yet!
Smile
Sox
Implausible? These are tame and routine. I work for a fortune 500 finance company. The scams out there range from the insipid and obvious (but nevertheless successful) to the arcane and complicated (but nevertheless successful).My advice? Pay your balance in full monthly. Do not ever let your card out of your sight. Ever. Ever. Especially at restaurants.
PS Know that credit card protections do not apply to debit cards.
PPS Know that the rules (laws) were written by lobbyists to protect corporations not consumers.
I think credit card protection does apply to debit card - hence the Visa or Mastercard logo on the card. I don't know about your bank - but my Debit card is protected just like any of my other Visa's.See here is how it works - just like when writing a check. It is the responisibility of the merchant to verify the card is being used by the rightful owner by checking thier ID. If the merchant does not do that, then the merchant will end up eating the charge. See the credit card company or bank will compare the signiture on the transaction receipt against your signature on file. When they don't match, they can prove fraud and since the merchant did not check the ID, the charge gets billed back to the merchant - they eat it.
Same goes for writing a personal check - the merchant does not check the ID and it's a fraudulant check - the merchant eats it. Someone stealing your credit card is easy to deal with - someone stealing your SS# and identity - that's a whole different ball game!
(I am also in the fortune 200 financial industry - 13 years with one of the top 4 credit card issuers)
I used a debit card with an account with NO overdraft protection. No money, no fraud beyond the account funds. We do not have a real credit card nor need one.The reason I do this is to keep myself out of jail so I do not go back to the scene of the crime & kill the bastard.
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