Ugh! I had to have my MasterCard cancelled...

[CTyankee]

I got a call that my card had been cancelled due to suspected fraudulent activity which was an attempt to pay for a flight on Avianca Airlines. A new card was in the mail to me, they said.

My old card was not taken by whoever did this so I had no idea it was being used. I have it handy on my computer desk, but will hide the new one in a drawer from now on.

Thankfully, the airline had declined the charge.

We have recently been receiving the services of small homemaking/cleaning group who help the elderly.
The last person they sent did not speak English. She was very nice, however.

We got the service recommended to me by a neighbor who praised them highly. I felt much better knowing someone in my neighborhood that I know has trusted them.

This has been difficult emotionally for me to deal with. My handicapped husband and I depend on such services.

[padfun]

1. Just to be sure, who was it that called you?

Did they ask for your old number for verification?

There is a scam where they say they are going to send you a new card and say your old card is now stopped. It isn't really and they spend like crazy for three days while you wait for your card.

If you have online banking for this card, go to it and make sure it is cancelled there. Or you call the bank. and not from the number you got the first message from. And verify that is has been cancelled.

Good luck.

[CrispyQ]

2. And if you have online banking, set up notifications so you're alerted when your card is charged.

I had a compromised card & knew about it before the CC reporting company did thanks to text messages when my card is charged.

[CTyankee]

8. Yes, this was always the procedure. I just had never lost the card.

I ALWAYS contacted my cc company before one of my many trips to Europe, giving them dates/places where I was going.

My new card will now be hidden out of sight on my computer desk.

[Ocelot II]

3. That can happen without the perpetrator ever having physical possession of your card.

It happened to me; my credit union called me because it looked, from the card's activity, like I was simultaneously in Minneapolis and Denver. They charged about $300 worth of merchandise and fast food purchases before the credit union shut them down (and covered the theft). It was explained to me that they can spoof card numbers and manufacture fake cards with some other name on them and run up a bunch of charges before the card gets cancelled.

[progree]

4. I had this happen too - got a call from Mastercard asking if I had stayed in a hotel in

New Hampshire or somesuch, as there was a charge of I forget how much. Nope. So they cancelled and sent me a new card and number (which was a pain in the ass because I spent most of a day updating recurring billers on the new card number. I've since learned to use one card for recurring billing purposes and nothing else, and another for all other uses, what I call my "wild card" )

Anyway, it had nothing to do with anyone seeing my card laying around, other than, well everyone who sees my card or its info whenever I make a purchase -- online, restaurant, store, whatever. IOW my card info was out there because of a data breach or some dishonest restaurant/store/whatever employee. It might not be your cleaning service, that's just one possibility. But yes, good idea to keep it hidden.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. I hide my CC numbers in an Excel spreadsheet.

I change the character color to white to match the background and locate it in a cell where no one would cursor over. So it's always handy to copy and paste when I need the info.

[Abnredleg]

6. We just had our Visa card cancelled

Bank of America declined multiple charges from Uber, flagged them as suspicious and sent me a text alert. I logged into my account, confirmed they were fraudulent, and they canceled the card. Not a major issue because we keep two cards precisely for this reason. It seems to happen every couple of years so I am never particularly surprised when it happens.

I would strongly urge you to do is set up email and text alerts for all credit card and banking transactions.

[FBaggins]

7. Don't assume that the fraudster had to enter your home and see your card in order to pull this off

They may have stolen the information from some other vendor that you deal with or may have posed as a legitimate business to you online or over the phone.

Very often - if the "suspected fraudulent activity" call was not initiated by you (as seems to be the case here) it's due to a number of accounts being exposed and the bank spotting the activity as consistent with other transactions on those accounts.

For instance - the same thing just happened to me. A $40 subscription charge was declined by the bank and then they called me (rather than the other way around) because the charge was consistent with an already-identified theft. It was a brand new card number that had barely been out of my wallet.

The good news is that the banks are getting quite good at catching this behavior. The bad news is that you need to identify any recurring charges that were going to the old card so that you can move them to the new one.

[CentralMass]

9. Please double check that you weren't scammed. Call the number on the back of your card

and verify with them.

[rzemanfl]

10. The card info can be skimmed when you use it. That happened to me.

It occurs most often at gas stations. Unfortunately, this is part of life these days.

[piddyprints]

12. That's happened to us.

Randomly, someone from another state tries to use our Discover Card. But Discover usually catches it and asks if we made the charge.

There's a program called 1Password where you can store credit card info, logins, etc., and only need to remember one password to use it. That way, you don't have to leave your card out or keep passwords on a scrap of paper or unsecured file on your computer. It's used by professionals and is very secure. Of course, if you forget the password, you're screwed.

[CousinIT]

15. I highly recommend 1Password...for managing passwords and

...all sorts of other info like cc numbers and such. This way, you can put your cards away in a safe place.

[rsdsharp]

13. I had the same American Express number for more than 30 years.

I’ve gotten a new number three times in the last three years due to fraud. Thankfully, AMEX has caught it and notified me each time, but it’s still a pain in the ass.

[brush]

14. Put away checks, bank books, credit card bills etc...

any financial info when strangers are allowed into the house, even repair people.