<p>We just found out that shortly after we used one of our credit cards for our room at a hotel that is a popular stop for college tours in PA, someone used our number to charge $2000 of stereo equipment at a nearby mall. (Don't ask me how they managed this, since we did not lose the card.) I hate to mention any place by name, since there are so many ways people can get this info these days, but I was just curious if anyone else has had unusual credit card activity after an Ivy tour. The security investigator for the credit card company said they would like to find a pattern, and it occurred to me that there is no better source about college visits than CC!</p>
<p>No direct experience, but from news stories I have seen, one MO is to take the card and run it through another machine out of your sight and/or copy the number and use it. Recommendation is to never let the card out of your sight even in restaurants. I haven't done this yet, but the recommendation in restaurants is to make them bring the machine to the table or follow the waiter to the area where s/he runs it through.</p>
<p>No, but this did happen to us after using our credit card at a pay at the pump gas station. The fraud was tracked to the gas station. It's easy to get credit card info from anywhere these days...receptionists at hotels, etc. Real bummer.</p>
<p>Sometimes this fraud is done from inside the bank/CC institution........it is not always from the point of purchase. I have had this happen and it was done inside the system.......stereo and other mdse. All purchased online w/ info.</p>
<p>No, on the contrary, while returning from a visit to our son's college in Virginia I checked my messages and had a message from Citi Visa antii fraud dept. I returned the call and they asked for my info. I said, "wait a sec, how do I know you aren't just trying to steal my info?"... well, anyway, they were checking just because there had been numerous out of state purchases which they reviewed with me..... gas.. yep... Walmart... yep..... dinner... yep.... hotel... yep.. no problem, just checking. </p>
<p>So, too bad your credit card bank was not equally diligent!</p>
<p>Yeah, this happened to me after making a reservation over the phone for Washington DC hotel. The fool even tried to have her internet purchase shipped to her DC address. It was a huge order from Tower Records, and their fraud dept picked it up and called me before they shipped. I was actually pretty impressed by that. </p>
<p>It's a pain to cancel a credit card, though, because you have a few days with no credit card!</p>
<p>PS I don't think this has anything to do with an "Ivy Tour." It could, gasp, happen on a regular ole' state college tour!</p>
<p>We were victims of credit card fraud, but the credit card company contacted us. We have no idea how this person got our credit card, because we never lost the credit card. We think that maybe a local business was careless in how they discarded receipts? Be sure to contact the Secret Service(?) and inform them. We were astonished that even though the credit card company was going to lose several thousand dollars from fraudulent charges, they did nothing to investigate or prosecute, even though we had very clear information on who did it (name and shipping addresses etc!)...The fraud did not cost us anything. Credit card fraud is a federal offense...I contacted the local police, they told me to call the FBI, but there I was told to contact the Secret Service...The Secret Service agent was extremely helpful and surprised that more people did not report credit card fraud. This person was caught, and we never had to be involved other than fill out a couple forms. The Secret Service agent did recommend that we check our credit report, and put a "watch"(?) on it (instructions that they should call us if anyone wanted to open a new account in our name.) Good luck...</p>
<p>We have sometimes been contacted by a credit card company to see if an unusual charge was ligitmate. But once a credit card that we had never used, and in fact had never removed from the paper it was glued to, was charged several thousand dollars for online vacation travel. The fraud department said that sometimes a thief will randomly scroll through numbers until one works, and they don't even actually need your number or your card!</p>
<p>I was visiting a daughter taking a junior-year in South Africa and my VISA provider decided that all the charges from Africa constituted fraud and shut my card down. I couldn't contact them from so far away, but luckily I carried a MC also.</p>
<p>So, it is good to be protected, but it works both ways. I think the next time I would try to provide advance notice to my bank.</p>
<p>Fraud alerts to ALL 3 credit bureaus are a good idea if you are the victim of identity theft. You call each one & tell them to call you at your home phone (which you specify) to confirm that you do wish to open any new line or credit or change your info or address on a credit card, etc.
We have gotten calls from fraud departments of credit card companies when I made several very small purchases on the same day at the same store, all within an hour (they wanted to be sure it wasn't someone "testing the waters" for a bigger purchase with my card). We have also gotten calls when my hubby was travelling & making charges--we reassured them the charges were legit & OK, so they continued to allow them.
Our credit card companies have advised us to let them know if we're planning to make out-of-state charges so we won't experience fraud alerts when on travel, so that is a preventive step you can take so you're not "surprised." As a practical matter, we have hardly ever advised them before travel & not gotten called except that once in nearly 20 years.
Here's a great website with LOTS of good info about preventing ID theft & what to do if your identity is stolen. The tips on the site can save a LOT of heartache & are written by an attorney who was an ID theft victim.
<a href="http://identitytheft.org/%5B/url%5D">http://identitytheft.org/</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>we had the same thing happen to us after a trip to Florida last Spring Break...never lost the card..but they even copied the special 3 digit number on the back.</p>
<p>I had my number info stolen at a car rental place at LAX. The credit card company was lerted when the guy tried to use the card to order $2500 worth of wine from a store in Seattle. The owner found it strange to have that size an order from LA and called it in to the fraud unit. I went and thanked him personally. They did manage to get a small test charge through before going for the big hit.</p>
<p>I had my AMEX card cloned about 18 months ago. The only way I was able to convince them of fraud was to show them that a charge in Ohio could not have occured at the same time as a charge in San Juan, PR, where I actually was. </p>
<p>It took about 3 months of contested bills, a new card number, several spreadsheets and a LOT of phone calls to get the situation sorted out. Then I put up with another 6 months of sporadic charge refusals until I would call to prove I was who I always thought I was. </p>
<p>You can imagine how curioius it must have looked - charge denied. whip out cell phone. call amex. explain. charge now accepted.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I had a similiar experience as McGilldad..we were in Mexico and wanted to have a once in a lifetime swim with the dolpins..well the CC company refused the card as they get a lot of fraud in Mexico. Fortunately I had another card.</p>
<p>Then I had my wallet stolen in New Orleans but fortunately the fool who took it did not know how to use it or they could have cleaned out my money market account which was attached so it could be used as a Credit Card. When I found out I had the card changed so it can ONLY be used as a money market. Fortunately one of our credit card companies overnighted us new ones or we would have been in bad shape as we had to cancel our cards. Also a restaurant treated us to the dinner of our lifes when they heard what happened making the cash I had missing not so painful...However it wasnt fun trying to fly home without ID..I had to use the police report of the theft. </p>
<p>One thing they told me NEVER carry your SS number in your wallet cus then they can open new accounts. Fortunately I did not have it with me.</p>
<p>DH and I run a retail biz with a lot of internet charges--and have learned to watch carefully for signs of potential fraud (overnight shipping is a big one, esp. if it's to a different address). It's quite true that the CC companies don't care about the charges because they charge them back to the retailer unless the retailer can provide a physical copy of the signature. If you want to see a prosecution result, call the fraud unit in the city where the missing goods were supposed to be sent. Often the police are looking for more evidence against someone they already know is committing fraud. (I've actually successfully gotten restitution in one case, much to everyone's surprise.)</p>
<p>On the other side of this, we've had a credit card number stolen at least three times, and every time it's been caught by BofA, much to their credit. </p>
<p>When we've gone to Africa, we have notified the bank in advance and have not had any problem using our card. However, last summer when DH was in S Dakota, I got a call about that!</p>
<p>Last December, I charged a fairly large grocery bill on a card I seldom used. The automatic approval system flagged the purchase as unusual for my account and denied the charge. It took twenty minutes for the store manager to get the purchase approved! But, having had a couple accounts stolen in the past, I'm grateful the credit card company was vigilant. One of those accounts was stolen from my husband when he made a telephone call in an airport. Another was stolen from me at a gas station.</p>
<p>BTW, my bank call me once about a check signed while holding my son in one arm when he was an infant. My signature looked peculiar, so the bank wanted confirmation the check was valid.</p>
<p>But you can certainly have charges in Iceland and Texas on the same day/same time if family members share the same credit card. M/C used to call us about this, but now we let them know when someone is travelling.</p>
<p>I was defrauded while out of the country. It was with a mastercard debit card, and they drained my checking account. a couple of things I now do:</p>
<ol>
<li>If I receive a message from the credit card company about a potential fraud, I call the number on my credit card, not the number that is left on the voice mail.</li>
<li>I notify my credit card companies when I'm traveling</li>
<li>I don't have a debit card on any account.</li>
<li>I don't have credit cards that I don't use.</li>
</ol>