CREDIT CARD FRAUD - NEED HELP FAST

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone.  I haven't been on this site for a very long time.  I've been trying to pay down my credit cards so I stopped using them.   My problem, I stopped using them and someone fraudulently starting iusing one n Thailand.

This really started the new year off right for me.  On Saturday, January 3, 2009 I got a phone call early in the morning from Capital One Credit Card concerning credit card fraud.  She started to explain everying and also tried to verify that I tried to take cash advances on 1/3/09 and 1/4/09 at Krung Thai Bank in Thailand. 

There were approximately 15 attempts to withdraw cash at atms in Thailand (at KrungThai Bank) and Bangkok Bank which were declined, but there were 4 cash advances that were approved earlier in the day,   Whoever it was even gave a donation to the United Way in San Jose, California for 46 cents, but someone at Capital One thinks that might have been a way to test to see of the card would work.

I am really concerned because I DIDN'T LOSE MY CARD.  MY CARD WASN'T STOLEN.  How did someone get my pin and go to Thailand to use it.  Thank God, the credit limit on this card wasn't very high.  When I spoke to Capital and asked what would have happened if my limit was higher, she told me that the charges would have gone through.

I really got upset with Capital, because after the first 2 charges posted, it put me over my limit.  Why did they approve the other 2 cash advances?

How do I know if this is just an instance of credit card fraud or is it identity theft?  About 3 months ago, I received a phone call from Chase Credit Card that there was possible fraud on my card, but no charges were made.  They closed that account and issued me a new card.  About a month ago my niece (last name is different) who lives with me had a problem with her debit card.  HSBC called her about possible fraud on her debit card.  They were trying to verify that she had made the purchase, but didn't have enough cash to cover it..It was fraud.  She didn't make the purchase.  The only real problem, my niece didn't lose her card and it wasn't stolen. 

Now this happens to me.  Someone suggested that I file a police report, but would the police bother with a credit card fraud problem that only totals $300 -- since all the other charges were declined.

Any advice would help.  Thank you.

Any advice on what I should do would help. 

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are going to need to file the police report, because Cap 1 is going to want it. They should have already closed your account and if they haven't, call them back to make them do it. The fraud dept will send paperwork for you to fill out and send back. The police report helps. If this is an isolated incident with this one card, I wouldn't panick. If you have a credit monitoring service, use it and make sure there are no changes not made by you. If it makes you feel better, you can put a fraud alert on all of your credit reports, but that doesn't always stop people from being able to apply for credit.

You need to monitor your accounts, especially if you are not using them. By the time the bill comes in, a theif could have really done some damage. I check my accounts daily to make sure nothing is charged that I didn't make.

I would get Cap 1 to also remove the fees as they were due to fraud.

Sorry and good luck!

[Chopbrocoli]

Need, sorry to hear that you've been a victim of ID theft. Regardless the amount, your local police detective will do an investigation. To be honest, I doubt they will be able to catch the Perp in Thailand due to jurisdiction. If the perp is in the US, then different story!

You will want to:

1. File police report with your local PD 

2. File complaint with FTC Online at:  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/filing-a-report.html

3. Place a Fraud Alert on your credit files by calling Transunion (They will automatically place the alerts on EQ and EX as well for you) at: 2-800-680-7289

4. Monitor your credit reports

[Mark_in_Pasadena]

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@Chopbrocoli wrote:

Need, sorry to hear that you've been a victim of ID theft. Regardless the amount, your local police detective will do an investigation. To be honest, I doubt they will be able to catch the Perp in Thailand due to jurisdiction. If the perp is in the US, then different story!

You will want to:

1. File police report with your local PD 

2. File complaint with FTC Online at:  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/filing-a-report.html

3. Place a Fraud Alert on your credit files by calling Transunion (They will automatically place the alerts on EQ and EX as well for you) at: 2-800-680-7289

4. Monitor your credit reports

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I would also add:

5. Freeze your credit reports with all 3 CRAs.  With the police report this will be free, otherwise it will cost you $10 per CRA.  They'll give you a password that you can use to unfreeze it when YOU want to apply for credit, but the possible identity thiefs won't.

6. Opt-out of all pre-approved credit offers. 

[smallfry]

Sorry OP. I had a card cloned last year. They made a 10 Dollar purchase online from an outfit in the UK. I check ALL my accounts at least twice each day. Good luck. 

[haulingthescoreup]

Back in November, I apparently moved to San Jose, CA (2500 miles away, lol) and started buying electronics on EBay and having them sent to Vietnam. And I used my AmEx Gold card to do so.

I caught the first one, AmEx caught the next several, and PayPal finally got it together and caught the remainder.

I had used the card (in real life) to reserve a block of rooms for DD#2's college mock trial team, and I tried to hang on to it, in case they somehow needed it to check in. The AmEx CSR went over the pros and cons, and we decided to give it a whack, hoping that EBay and PayPal would do their part. When it was obvious that it wouldn't stop, AmEx canceled the card and overnighted a new one. All charges were refunded. (And only one card shows on my reports, hurray.)

I haven't had any problems since. I suspect that someone at the hotel chain's call center used my info to start taking over the MP3 market.

I didn't freeze anything, but that was back when TrueCredit was doing its promised job, so I just kept and eye on my reports. Everything's been fine.

[smallfry]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Back in November, I apparently moved to San Jose, CA (2500 miles away, lol) and started buying electronics on EBay and having them sent to Vietnam. And I used my AmEx Gold card to do so.

I caught the first one, AmEx caught the next several, and PayPal finally got it together and caught the remainder.

I had used the card (in real life) to reserve a block of rooms for DD#2's college mock trial team, and I tried to hang on to it, in case they somehow needed it to check in. The AmEx CSR went over the pros and cons, and we decided to give it a whack, hoping that EBay and PayPal would do their part. When it was obvious that it wouldn't stop, AmEx canceled the card and overnighted a new one. All charges were refunded. (And only one card shows on my reports, hurray.)

I haven't had any problems since. I suspect that someone at the hotel chain's call center used my info to start taking over the MP3 market.

I didn't freeze anything, but that was back when TrueCredit was doing its promised job, so I just kept and eye on my reports. Everything's been fine.

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I am pretty sure they cloned mine in a restaurant. How did they get yours?

[haulingthescoreup]

I'm guessing that it was someone at the hotel chain's call center. The secretary/ treasurer of the team made the reservations, so whoever she talked to had all the info. The bogus charges started about 5 days after the reservations were made.

They didn't even need a physical card to shop online. As long as they have the account number and expiration date, and I suppose maybe the security code or whatever you call it, they're good to go.

[smallfry]

That's all they need. 

[mamalawery]

i actually worked in the frd dept at my current employer which is a major bank. unfortunately, this happens all the time. it's just frd. the cc comp won't know who, what, when, where, or why. they will send the forms for you to fill out. they have porb already closed down the frd card and new one instantly shows in their system. all chrgs would be cred back to the acct, but you must send the forms back in for the cred to stick. you can do a police report, but unless you know who actually did it probably won't do much.

sorry it's such a shock for you. i guess unless you've actually seen this happen every 20 min, you would be shocked. you have 100% frd protection thru visa/mastercard so the chrgs will be credited back.

Message Edited by mamalawery on 01-07-2009 09:27 PM