Comments on: A Great Reminder to Watch Your Credit Card Statements

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:26:23 +0000

Fortunately, I haven’t seen weird charges on my card. But like ChrisFM, I’ve had an experience where the card issuer had to re-issue a card because of some issue that wasn’t my fault.

But we should be checking our statements before we pay them anyway, even if you automatically pay your balance every month. That way you can catch any false charges and get them fixed.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:47:26 +0000

I think that’s reason # 1,202 now, yes? :)

By: Ace

Ace — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:01:56 +0000

Wow, this sure is scary. I’ve never had anything like this to happen to me, but it sure is a nice wake up call. One thing that forces me to constantly check my statements is entering my transactions into my budget. You can chalk this up as one more reason why budgeting is good for you =P

By: James

James — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:56:34 +0000

about 3 months ago i was looking at my cc statement and was like WTF is that i noticed that there was over $600 of stuff i did not recognize at all.

so i called the company and with in 20 minutes they told me they would work with me to remove the charges. it was obvious that the charges were items that i did not buy and were fraudulent. it was quite a relief to have them removed.

someone got a gang of stuff for free.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:23:07 +0000

@Impulse Magazine – You’re very smart – it’s a tiny annoyance for great peace of mind.
@Everyday Tips – WOW $21,000? cRaZy! Another reason why it’s better to get hacked via credit card than debit card that’s for sure….much more protection.
@Young Mogul – Yessir, that’s the way you hold onto your hard earned money!
@James – Yeah, makes sense for smaller purchases & meals (I always try to keep about $60-$100 on my for these little guys), but for all other stuff I’m sticking with the plastic.
@Favor – Yup, exactly.
@JoeTaxpayer – Haha….technology is awesome :) I have that fear of leaving them behind too – although I somehow don’t do it as much as I did during my party days, imagine that.
@Stella – Dang, yeah people are sneaky! It really pisses me off actually that people try finding the “easy” way to get their hands on money – they steal it. God forbid they actually use their intelligence to make money the legit way. I bet a lot of these scammers could really make some big ass money if they really brainstorm enough. Use your powers for good, ya know?
@ChrisFM – Miscommunication can def. suck, no doubt about it. Especially when it comes to money. Which reminds me – I have to alert my bank that I’ll be using my cards overseas! The worst is cutting yourself off from access to your money because you alerted fraud yourself! haha…

By: ChrisFM

ChrisFM — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:47:50 +0000

Though I haven’t had this happen to me, there have been two instances where my credit union had to re-issue their members credit/debit cards.

First time it happened, my card was swallowed up by an ATM machine. Guess what? I missed the memo that they’d sent in the mail. It was cool that they caught the fraud and all, since I wouldve been liable for MUCH more, being a debit card holder.

Needless to say, I don’t use their debit cards anymore, and I check my EO account a couple times a week. ;)

By: Stella

Stella — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:10:42 +0000

Discover Card, in my experience, is pretty diligent about catching odd charging patterns. There have been times when they’ve been too diligent–but after what happened to me a couple of years ago around the holidays, I’m no longer complaining. I get a very serious sounding voice mail message from their security department warning me to call them IMMEDIATELY or my card will be shut off. Aggravated, I call and talk to one of the most lacking in personality fraud department types. After putting me through the identification gauntlet, he asks me if I spent $1,200 at a Wal-mart yesterday.

Holy @#$%! No way, no how! There were a bunch of bogus charges (oddly made in the NJ area when I’m located in CA…) which were put into dispute and eventually wiped off my card. New replacement card was issued, etc. Don’t know how exactly this happened–I was told the charges indicated that an actual card had been swiped and I had my Discover Card in my possession.

Another thing to note is correspondence sent to you by your CC company. I got one alerting me that a replacement card would be issued to me. Called the company, because I hadn’t requested a replacement. They said it was due to a defective strip. OK, whatever… The card never showed up and I called again. Soon after that, weird charges ($200 at NAPA Auto Parts in Victorville?) started showing up on my online statement. Called again to report the fraud. According to my mailbox service, the local mail processing center (USPS) had been experiencing a number of “missing” credit cards.

So yeah–it pays to keep an eye on these things…

By: JoeTaxpayer

JoeTaxpayer — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:51:30 +0000

Since the card never left his possession, he’d not have any liability so long as he reported the fraud shortly after getting the statement.
Not all cards show activity on line in real time. One card we used showed seconds after the transaction, it was funny, I’d sign in, and see a Starbuck charge. I’d text the mrs “Good Coffee?” and she’d say the barista hadn’t served it yet. Now I have a card that doesn’t show the charge I made four days ago. I don’t worry about fraud, just about knowing I’ve not left the card behind.

By: Favor

Favor — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:00:05 +0000

I use cash mostly…unless I’m paying for vacation stuff: airlines, B&B…

By: James

James — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:03:08 +0000

Yo, one way around that is to pay cash.