Someone used my credit card!?!? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Poehlman]

Okay... so, perusing my bank account info the other day, I see a charge on my check card account from Target.com for $147.

Neither the Mrs or I bought anything from Target.com. So, I call Target and get to the bottom of it all...

Turns out, someone set up an account with an unknown email address but with my wife's information, including our home address and ordered a sonic-care electric toothbrush and had it shipped to our house!?!?

The funny part is, the package was arriving via UPS the moment the Target guy was telling me to reject it return to sender.

Have any of you seen this? Someone either hacks our account or got our cc info someplace and ordered us a toothbrush!?!?

I'm cancelling the card.. but should I call the cops?

The wierdest thing is the charge showed up on my account the same day my wife bought something at a Target store. Which makes me wonder if Target screwed up somehow and sent me someone elses toothbrush.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

My credit card was stolen, but I didn't call the cops because...

the thief spends less than my wife does.



But seriously, go ahead and call the police and get a copy of the report. If there is a future incident, having documentation of this incident can only help you.

 

[Fredster]

Seems unlikely a card thief would make such a purchase unless they had advanced gum disease or something. Sounds like an accounting glitch of some sort.

 

[Nathan*W]

That, or someone's trying to tell you something...

Maybe you'll get some floss next.

 

[BrianW]

Could someone working at Target -- perhaps involved with or who had access to your purchase transaction -- have tried to steal the information and make an online store purchase?



I once had a thief buy me some deodorant.

And foot powder. Lots of foot powder.

 

[Todd Hochard]

Through September, someone had gotten my AMEX Blue info, and used it to charge $27500 worth of ad services from Yahoo Search Marketing (sponsored search). I managed to get it cleared up in about 10 days.
I never did figure out what website "I" was advertising.

 

[Seth=L]

That sucks.

 

[MarkHastings]

A screw up???? Nah! Impossible

I had a charge show up on a credit card that I hadn't used in over 10 years!!! I get the bill and was like HUH? The credit card company saw that there had been no activity in over ten years and they STILL LET THE CHARGE THROUGH????

The worst part is, I had them cancel the card and they issued a new number - guess what? Next month, on the new card, there was the damn charge again!!!!

 

[Todd Hochard]

The guy at Yahoo Search Marketing was very helpful in clearing it up quickly. Now, why AMEX didn't recognize that 3-4 $500 charges everyday for three weeks was a problem is a question that they still haven't answered. Frickin' Outlook Express recognizes this sort of behavior as virulent, and there's no money at stake there!

No worries, though. All taken care of, no spot on the record.

 

[Seth=L]

Sounds like AMEX was temporarilly enjoying all the money they thought they may be making off of you.

 

[Hank_P]

A guy I work with just had to have his card cancelled/changed. The bank rep told him that when someone "bad" gets someone elses credit card, they will attempt to charge some small things first, to see if the charges go through and the card number is valid. Once that is established, the usually come back with the bigger charges for electronics.

Luckily, he and the bank were aware of the minor charge for about $4. The bank was monitoring his charges and he received a call one day to confirm a $450 purchase of liquor (from six states away). Needless to say, he wasn't charged and the bank immediately issued him a new card.

 

[Malcolm R]

You should have kept it. They're great!

 

[Dave_Brown]

I received a new card a few months ago with a note attached stating something to the effect of "We believe your account information may have been compromised. No activty has yet taken place, but please destroy your current card and replace it with this new one."

Not sure if I was happy about that or not.......

 

[nolesrule]

It happened to me with a business credit card, but I got a call from the CC company before the $11,000 charge was authorized. They denied the charge on my instructions and issued me a new card automatically.

 

[JoeyR]

Pull your credit reports for you and your wife

Go to www.fatwallet.com and go to the finance forum and search for credit card theft, there are quite a few things you will need to do, contacting the police only is not where to stop.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

About a month a go the CC I had been using for decades was compromised with $2000 worth of utility and phone payments charged to it. The card was cancelled immediately and I wasn't liable for the charges, but the worst part is that I had that number memorized and now I have to learn a new one!

 

[Mort Corey]

I had someone make an on line purchase using my ATM card. The only problem was that I've never had an ATM and/or debit card. My EX bank wanted a written statement to that effect to reverse the charge (it showed up on my checking statement). You'd think that since the bank was the one that had to issue any such card that they might have had a clue that I never had one in the first place. Go figure.

Mort

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Thanks for the info guys. I've got the bank sending me a new card.

I'm wishing I wouldv'e left a box on the front porch with a video camera pointed at it through the window just to see if anyone showed up to pick it up. I could've even left a used toothbrush in there for them.

I still can't figure out who would've done it.. the actual purchase took place on 10-25.. but didn't show up on my account until 11-5 (the day the Mrs. went shopping at our local Target).

But don't online retailers require you to enter in the 3 digit code on the back of your card nowadays? So, someone from an online retailer or someone who had handled my wife's card to actually see the numbers must've done it.

I've ruled it down to three possiblities:

1 - Target screwed up and assigned my wife's information to someone elses account somehow. The email address is similar to mine.. in fact, it looks like it would be the next one down from me on an email list.

2 - Some punk got a hold of my info and is ordering me the most rediculous thing they could find just to be a pain in the ass. No offense to sonic-care users, but $147 is a pretty extravagant toothbrush.

3 - Someone close to me is trying to tell me I need better oral hygene.

I wonder if my bank would find that suspicious.... hmmm.

I did get a call once from my bank because I did a couple large withdrawals via ATM right before going on a trip once(forgot to go to the bank the day before). I didn't realize there was a maximum withdrawal amount per transaction... so, I had to do two. Which, in hindsight, probably looked like someone was emptying my account. I thanked them for checking up on me.

 

[MarkHastings]

From what you describe, I'd assume the above was what happened. It definitely sounds more like a technical glitch than some kind of theft.

 

[Peter Burtch]

Nope. Most still don't require the CVV believe it or not.

-P