Chase credit card company called me and said there was an authorization for $1.00 from "Chevy Chase Bank" on my Chase Visa, and wanted to know if I recognized the charge. I did not, as I don't use the card often (only where Discover and AX isn't accepted). The rep told me that that is often a sign of someone trying card numbers in order to find a valid card number for future fradulent charges. They closed the account and will be sending me a new card. My question is how does this affect my credit score, now that one account is closed less than a year after it was opened, and a new account is opened?
I asked the rep, but these people aren't trained in Fico scoring, so of course he said "it won't affect your credit". I assume that's just a canned response.
I work in the electronic payment processing industry, and I know that merchants will often authorize (but not settle - so the card is never charged) a card for $1.00 just to verify they are able to process credit cards again (often during troubleshooting). I can't imagine every one of those cards is flagged?