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Blocking an account because of suspected fraudulent charge

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leaf33
Valued Member

Blocking an account because of suspected fraudulent charge

On Friday, my credit card was declined when I attempted a charge. I called the credit card issuer and when I dialed the 800 number I was provided a recording from the fraud protection group listing the last three charges. The recording requested that I press 1) if all these charges were mine 2) if none of the charges were mine or 3) if some of these charges were mine. I selected 3) and spoke to a fraud protection representative who closed this account because one of the pending charges was not mine and then issued me a new account number.

 

I was just reading in a Liz Pullman Weston article, 8 secret scores that lenders keep, that how they handle this type of situation is one of the things that is kept in one of these secret scores. So if there is a suspected fraudulent charge on the account, I guess it matters "Whether your card issuer calls you about a suspicious transaction, blocks it or shuts down your account."

 

Is this typical to block and account and then just wait until the card holder contacts them? If they do not contact you proactively does it indicate that you are not a valuable customer or is this standard?

 

Thank you for your responses. 

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Blocking an account because of suspected fraudulent charge


@leaf33 wrote:
Is this typical to block and account and then just wait until the card holder contacts them? If they do not contact you proactively does it indicate that you are not a valuable customer or is this standard?

Yes, that's pretty typical. They might call you, but usually do so on your home phone, if you have one, so you might miss the call. On the other hand, if you call them after an unsuccessful attempt to charge something, they know that you at least still have the card and haven't lost it (and would be eventually responsible to repay the sum).

 

I'm okay with that. At least they notice the fraud before you do, and dealing with this is usually completely painless for you. I once noticed a fraudulent charge weeks after it happened, and that took a bit more effort from my side. The bank was also noticeably slower with replacing my closed card in that case. It took a week, whereas in the case where they noticed the fraud themselves, they overnighted the replacement.

 

I guess my "fraud" score doesn't look too good. I had to get a new card because of fraud three times in the last two years with that issuer.

Message 2 of 3
leaf33
Valued Member

Re: Blocking an account because of suspected fraudulent charge

Thank you for the information, made me feel better.I was concerned that it would somehow show up on my credit report and lower my score. Maybe I am getting paranoid about my credit score.Smiley Happy

 

I did get my replacement card today (Thurs) by regular mail and all is well.

Message 3 of 3
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