@Anonymous wrote:Fraudsters often use automated terminals to test whether a card works or not. A common occurence is for a thief to steal a brand new card, then test it at a gas pump to see if it works. When you got your new replacement card, and then immediately went to use it to get gas, it triggered a fraud review.
I think there's definitely something to this! 
The only time in recent history I've had a security freeze on one of my cards was last year during the holidays. To bypass the crowds I chose to go shopping late one night (in itself not unusual for me) and I made a stop at the Post Office to mail a package, using the automated kiosk. I then went to Wal-Mart and spent $70 then on to Kroger where I attempted to pay for $200 in groceries... but the card was frozen.
It would make sense that a thief would try the card first at an automated location, then make progessively larger transactions in person after that. My own situation was a minor annoyance, but easily remedied. My 'take-away' from the experience was that I'm now mindful when I do shopping off-hours as to how the transactions might look to the bank's computer.