Do you ever get nervous about the amount of available credit you have?

[crosbyk1]

I just experienced credit card fraud for the first time ever. This really got me thinking about the amount of credit I have and what havoc someone could have done. Thankfully chase took care of everything. Should I think about closing cards? Maybe just ones I do not use. Thanks 

[haulingthescoreup]

I guess I would say that it's up to each of us to find our tolerance level for risk. I get a little cranky that I have to lose something I've worked for (available credit in this case) in hopes that someone else might leave me alone.

Since our CC agreements do provide for protection against fraudulent use, I suppose in your situation I would just check my accounts daily. It doesn't take more than 5 minutes, less than that really, and can be done while slurping down my morning coffee. If something did come up, I could notify the CCC's immediately.

If it's causing you sleepless nights, then certainly it might make you feel better to close some accounts and reduce your risk.

Part of this depends on how the fraud happened --whether it was someone you know and trust, or a hotel reservation clerk at a call center, or a stolen physical card, etc.

[crosbyk1]

I just hope that all CC are as good as chase. The thing is I have no clue how the fraud happened. Someone used my card to buy airline tickets.

[Anonymous]

It's not completely unheard of that fraud protection does not work properly, but it's very rare. I mean, I can also worry that I get struck by lightning. I'm actually not sure which of the two scenarios is more likely.

[Anonymous]

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@crosbyk1 wrote:

I just hope that all CC are as good as chase. The thing is I have no clue how the fraud happened. Someone used my card to buy airline tickets.

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I hope it was not supposed to be a surprise by your spouse . Airline tickets are a weird fraud buy, as you can easily find the person with the ticket when they use it.

[OnTheRebound]

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@crosbyk1 wrote:

I just experienced credit card fraud for the first time ever. This really got me thinking about the amount of credit I have and what havoc someone could have done. Thankfully chase took care of everything. Should I think about closing cards? Maybe just ones I do not use. Thanks 

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A couple of years ago Chase froze my wife's account due to the suspicion of fraud. Someone tried to pay their $13 Comcast bill ($13 Comcast bill? Our Comcast bill is $212/month) in another state. Chase handled it very efficiently.

I wouldn't worry about closing credit cards for fear of fraud, unless you just wanted to. I would venture to say every CC on the market has fraud protection. I would be more concerned about Identity theft.

[crosbyk1]

Ok. I just have to keep an eye on all my credit cards.

[Anonymous]

It happened to me with Amex. They called me as soon as a strange charge came in. I told them I didn't make the purchase. They cancelled the card, credited the charge, an sent me a new card. It could not have been more painless. My only cards (other than debit) are Amex and chase so I guess I'm just not that worried.

Edit: and one other thing: I had set up some subscription services to autobill to my Amex. I completely forgot about them and didn't switch them over to the new card number. Amex allowed the charges anyway. I'm not sure how they determine what to allow on a cancelled card but I'm glad they did.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It happened to me with Amex. They called me as soon as a strange charge came in. I told them I didn't make the purchase. They cancelled the card, credited the charge, an sent me a new card. It could not have been less painless. My only cards (other than debit) are Amex and chase so I guess I'm just not that worried.

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Will new account hit credit report and hurt average age of accounts in this case?

[Anonymous]

No, the account didn't close. They just issued a new card with a new number. Zero effect on credit.