And just like that, you become a victim of credit card fraud.

[Baitball Blogger]

Kudos to Bank of America for catching it as quickly as they did. They texted me to ask if I had a charge for a 1.00 (declined) at a WaWa that was located near the airport. I said no, and they automatically locked down my card. Today they called to confirm that it was fraud and my new card should be in the mail soon.

At first I thought that someone had electronically lifted my number when I went to Outback last night to celebrate a friend's birthday. But it dawned on me that the fraudster must have had a card with my number on it. So, I asked the BoA representative and they said it might have been the result of a hack that they still don't now of.

So, just spreading the word out.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

1. My theory is;

and it's only a theory, some cons have a random number generator program and then they test it out in small amounts. Had your bank not been on the job, they would keep taking bigger bites. So we can be hacked without ever using our card............

[Baitball Blogger]

2. She said that they do use it in small amounts before they go for the big stuff.

So, you think the number was random and the card probably didn't even have my name on it?

[Neema]

12. Yeah, that's what I've been told in the past. They generate thousands of numbers and test them with

small amounts you won't notice to see if they're working numbers. Then if they are, and the bank doesn't catch it, they go for bigger stuff. The thing is that many companies also put small temporary charges on a card when you order over the phone or online to make sure the card works. So it can go unnoticed. Always check your statement for small charges and make sure you can track where it's from.

[Baitball Blogger]

17. I wish they were organized enough to go back to the WaWa and ask for video clip of the fraudster.

If these people are working in cells, that's one way to stop them.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

13. good question,

hadn't thought that far!

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Had this same hack last week Friday.

Card Services caught it and notified us with in minutes. Here in Vegas,the local P.D. and FBI broke up a ring of 16-18 people make fake ID's ,False Credit Cards,and other Documents. The Story mentioned Random Number Generators and Stolen ID's purchased on the Dark Web.

From what the Tech Guy and Gal at our Credit Union told us was this,they have seen a spike in Debt Card Theft and they believe someone Hacked into the ATM network . And both mentioned the use of Random Number Generators. With us,the Card did not issue any Cash,apparently our pin worked to our favor.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. In the local paper today, exactly that.

The same couple of guys hit every Dollar General store in 4 lil towns, including mine, purchased gift cards for about 9K, with a stolen card. They just went from store to store in each small town, all in one afternoon. Card got maxed out at the last store, so they left.

We are 40 minutes from the freeway, but dozens of back roads will lead to state borders. few cops on them.

[lunasun]

3. BOA -First they bought electronic items in the US , 2 days later fraud caught buying train tickets

in Germany. BOA called they caught it
The US items were bought in another city $50 .

Then you have to wait on the new card ugh

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Gotta give CitiCard some credit.

My card was stolen, I reported it within 20 minutes, they Fed-exed one out the next day.
Within those 20 minutes, the thief had filled a tank of gas and ran up 60 bucks at a store. Lucky it was not more.

I rarely take the cards with me now, mostly use them for online orders.

[yonder]

5. It happened to us, just a few months ago.

And as you said, "just like that". It was two oddball charges across the country from us. One, just a couple of bucks, the other was a couple of nights lodging. We still don't know how it happened figuring it must have been some kind of number swipe.

I was panicked, conflating the bogus charges with a combined ID theft, but the bank reassured us saying probably just a card issue. We've always been careful, now even more so. The bank, by the way, was very helpful and from what I understand, covered the charges by returning them to the vendor. So in this case, the vendor was left holding the bag because of lack of due diligence.

So, just like that. Be careful out there.

[Sherman A1]

6. You have to check your accounts regularly.

A friend checks each morning and I’m thinking that isn’t a bad idea.

[skypilot]

10. I don't check every morning but...

...I do try to check my accounts often, even if I'm not doing any other transaction. I also go to my bank and get a new debit card every six months or so.

[ailsagirl]

7. BofA has called me a half dozen or so times for the same reason

Turns out the charges were mine but I was impressed that they contacted me in the first place. And told them so.

[MontanaMama]

8. I have a Capital One card

and they send an email to confirm each and every purchase. Sometimes I get the email before I even have the receipt from the cashier it's so fast. Capital One called me when someone using my name and SSN attempted to open an account in another state. They shut it down and reported it to the FTC which I did as well. In addition, they don't charge a fee for converting international currency to USD and vice versa when traveling abroad and I get a free credit score every month.

Too bad the IRS doesn't provide that level of service...they've compromised my identity not once but twice. Bastards.

[matt819]

9. I have fraud alerts on my debit cards

I've been going through a card or two every year for the past few years. I can't pin down where the details are stolen, but I'm guessing that it's at independent gas station pumps.

[Initech]

15. Mine was stolen through PayPal.

It took me 2 months to trace where the fraud was coming from, and PayPal sucks to deal with. Ugh.

[Major Nikon]

23. I have two different debit cards that frequently get cut off by the bank

When I'm traveling cross country in my plane I'm buying fuel at one airport and about 4 hours later I'm 600 miles away buying fuel at another airport. The credit card fraud algorithms go ape shit and cut off my card. Even when I tell them I'm traveling ahead of time they still sometimes do this. The fraud detection department told me a lot of fraud happens at gas stations.

[Demovictory9]

11. that happens about once every two years or so for me

[Initech]

14. I recently had credit card fraud on my card totaling $16,000.

That was nearly 2 months ago. And I'm still fighting with PayPal to get those charges wiped from my record and my account restored. That's literally double the limit on my card. Fun times!

[Baitball Blogger]

16. I thought they provided advantages that you don't get through your regular card!

[Initech]

18. After what I went through I think that claim is bullshit.

[fleur-de-lisa]

22. Same thing happened to me a couple years ago.

My bank told me what they think happened:

I used my card at a local establishment, probably a restaurant. The server takes my card out of my view and takes pictures of the front and back. The server later makes a duplicate card with my account number and name.

The thief then uses the fake card to make small transactions to see if they get caught, probably because the penalty for theft goes up according to how much they steal. These transactions were made at several local businesses, all around the area so they couldn't be tied to a particular city or neighborhood. The thief didn't try to use the fake card at an ATM because they would need to know my pin.

I'm still not sure how my bank was onto them so quickly, but I was notified pretty fast and they shut the card down. I was not held responsible for any of the charges.