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Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

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pt2005
Regular Contributor

Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

Just want to share with you all my situation. 

 

I was approved for Discover More last week. The card supposed to come on the 22th but I did not see it yet. Thought it was a couple of days late. But on 24th I received text and email alerts from Discover Fraud Prevention. Called them and they said 3 charges occurred on the 24th. The first one got through ($100.xx), the 2nd one denied ($200.xx) and the third approved ($400.xx). The location where the charges happened is about 15 miles from my home.

 

I told them I have not received the card. There is no way the card is activated.

They said they will close the current account, open the new ones, move the fraud charges to the new ones, and give me credits for those charges since I did not authorize them. Well, nice, thanks Discover!. But my question for you is, how could it be possible that whatever happened happened? I never saw the card and never activated it. I'm the only one has the key to my mailbox, and my spouse is away for a few weeks. Basically, I'm living alone now. If it were the mail people, then how did they know the answers to those questions used for activation. I'm totalling confused. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FICO Scores 8: EX 731, EQ 731, TU 725

Credit Cards: Chase Freedom 9.5K | AMEX TrueEarnings 4.5K | Cap1 Venture Visa 3.5K | Cap1 QS MC 3.5K | Discover IT 1K | Cap1 Spark Cash 15K | AMEX SimplyCash 9K

Store: PayPal SmartConnect 10K | JCP 5.2K | Banana 3.3K | Walmart 4.5K | Kohls 1.5K | TargetRED 200
Message 1 of 20
19 REPLIES 19
TheConductor
Established Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

I've never activated a Discover myself, so I don't know what they ask at activation.

 

I do know that for some cards, all you do is punch in the card number. Not very secure when you can activate a card simply by having the physical card in hand. But some lenders do it anyway. Smiley Frustrated

Starting: EQ 622 (myFICO 7/7/12), EX 696 (TU FAKO 8/14/12), TU 621 (CK TransRisk 7/24/12), Total CL $1k on 2 TLs
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Message 2 of 20
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card


@pt2005 wrote:

Just want to share with you all my situation. 

 

I was approved for Discover More last week. The card supposed to come on the 22th but I did not see it yet. Thought it was a couple of days late. But on 24th I received text and email alerts from Discover Fraud Prevention. Called them and they said 3 charges occurred on the 24th. The first one got through ($100.xx), the 2nd one denied ($200.xx) and the third approved ($400.xx). The location where the charges happened is about 15 miles from my home.

 

I told them I have not received the card. There is no way the card is activated.

They said they will close the current account, open the new ones, move the fraud charges to the new ones, and give me credits for those charges since I did not authorize them. Well, nice, thanks Discover!. But my question for you is, how could it be possible that whatever happened happened? I never saw the card and never activated it. I'm the only one has the key to my mailbox, and my spouse is away for a few weeks. Basically, I'm living alone now. If it were the mail people, then how did they know the answers to those questions used for activation. I'm totalling confused. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Activation of a new card is not hard, and it wouldn't be hard to look at an envelope and determine that a card was in the mail.  Your mail goes through many different sorting stations... hate to say but there must have been a dishonest person somewhere in transit, not necessarily your local mail carrier.

Discover FYI has a very good fraud department.  They detect unusual charges and will call and text and leave messages every day until they get ahold of you.

 

I am always happy to get a call from the fraud dept because that means they are looking out for me and my card security.  I think its happened maybe four or five times when my spend goes a little high, plus the charges are several hundreds of miles, maybe even across the country from my home address.

 

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 3 of 20
jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

To activate my more i had to talk to an actual person.
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Message 4 of 20
john398
Senior Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card


@webhopper wrote:

@pt2005 wrote:

Just want to share with you all my situation. 

 

I was approved for Discover More last week. The card supposed to come on the 22th but I did not see it yet. Thought it was a couple of days late. But on 24th I received text and email alerts from Discover Fraud Prevention. Called them and they said 3 charges occurred on the 24th. The first one got through ($100.xx), the 2nd one denied ($200.xx) and the third approved ($400.xx). The location where the charges happened is about 15 miles from my home.

 

I told them I have not received the card. There is no way the card is activated.

They said they will close the current account, open the new ones, move the fraud charges to the new ones, and give me credits for those charges since I did not authorize them. Well, nice, thanks Discover!. But my question for you is, how could it be possible that whatever happened happened? I never saw the card and never activated it. I'm the only one has the key to my mailbox, and my spouse is away for a few weeks. Basically, I'm living alone now. If it were the mail people, then how did they know the answers to those questions used for activation. I'm totalling confused. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Activation of a new card is not hard, and it wouldn't be hard to look at an envelope and determine that a card was in the mail.  Your mail goes through many different sorting stations... hate to say but there must have been a dishonest person somewhere in transit, not necessarily your local mail carrier.

Discover FYI has a very good fraud department.  They detect unusual charges and will call and text and leave messages every day until they get ahold of you.

 

I am always happy to get a call from the fraud dept because that means they are looking out for me and my card security.  I think its happened maybe four or five times when my spend goes a little high, plus the charges are several hundreds of miles, maybe even across the country from my home address.

 


But more than likely close to his house since thats where they used the card

Message 5 of 20
SwampSystems
Frequent Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card


@webhopper wrote:

@pt2005 wrote:

Just want to share with you all my situation. 

 

I was approved for Discover More last week. The card supposed to come on the 22th but I did not see it yet. Thought it was a couple of days late. But on 24th I received text and email alerts from Discover Fraud Prevention. Called them and they said 3 charges occurred on the 24th. The first one got through ($100.xx), the 2nd one denied ($200.xx) and the third approved ($400.xx). The location where the charges happened is about 15 miles from my home.

 

I told them I have not received the card. There is no way the card is activated.

They said they will close the current account, open the new ones, move the fraud charges to the new ones, and give me credits for those charges since I did not authorize them. Well, nice, thanks Discover!. But my question for you is, how could it be possible that whatever happened happened? I never saw the card and never activated it. I'm the only one has the key to my mailbox, and my spouse is away for a few weeks. Basically, I'm living alone now. If it were the mail people, then how did they know the answers to those questions used for activation. I'm totalling confused. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Activation of a new card is not hard, and it wouldn't be hard to look at an envelope and determine that a card was in the mail.  Your mail goes through many different sorting stations... hate to say but there must have been a dishonest person somewhere in transit, not necessarily your local mail carrier.

Discover FYI has a very good fraud department.  They detect unusual charges and will call and text and leave messages every day until they get ahold of you.

 

I am always happy to get a call from the fraud dept because that means they are looking out for me and my card security.  I think its happened maybe four or five times when my spend goes a little high, plus the charges are several hundreds of miles, maybe even across the country from my home address.

 


I live in an apartment complex with over 100 units. We each have our own locked mailboxes, but every now and then I end up with an adjacent unit's mail in my box. When it happens, I have always done the right thing and brought my neighbors their mail. However, I have never had one of them bring me my mail; I always found that suspicious because I get mail almost every single day, and it would be very unlikely that I would accidently get my neighbor's mail on the same day I happened to not get any mail.

 

In other words, it's possible one of your neighbors got your card by accident and decided to take advantage. A lot of times they only ask very basic information for card activation (like your billing zip code) that your neighbors will definitely know.

Message 6 of 20
pt2005
Regular Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card


I live in an apartment complex with over 100 units. We each have our own locked mailboxes, but every now and then I end up with an adjacent unit's mail in my box. When it happens, I have always done the right thing and brought my neighbors their mail. However, I have never had one of them bring me my mail; I always found that suspicious because I get mail almost every single day, and it would be very unlikely that I would accidently get my neighbor's mail on the same day I happened to not get any mail.

 

In other words, it's possible one of your neighbors got your card by accident and decided to take advantage. A lot of times they only ask very basic information for card activation (like your billing zip code) that your neighbors will definitely know.


Yes. I live in an apartment too. I guess Discover must have asked about zipcode or the 16-digit or something easy.

I have spoken with Discover CSR a few times and everytime I called they asked me very tough security questions before processing my request. Still don't understand why activation could be that easy. Anyway, I'm waiting for my replacement card. Should receive it today. Will update you guys about the real activation process. Thanks

FICO Scores 8: EX 731, EQ 731, TU 725

Credit Cards: Chase Freedom 9.5K | AMEX TrueEarnings 4.5K | Cap1 Venture Visa 3.5K | Cap1 QS MC 3.5K | Discover IT 1K | Cap1 Spark Cash 15K | AMEX SimplyCash 9K

Store: PayPal SmartConnect 10K | JCP 5.2K | Banana 3.3K | Walmart 4.5K | Kohls 1.5K | TargetRED 200
Message 7 of 20
maiden_girl
Valued Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

Discover is usually on top of fraud activity. Not hard to activate a card either once you get your hands on it.

As of 2017, rebuilding...
Message 8 of 20
nicholasyud
Valued Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

They usually ask for your last digit number or the whole social number.

Your Zipcode.

And maybe had to spoke to some CSR to get through the process but not usually. Since they refund the money and you had no problem with the new card then the only things is your mail box......Maybe some1 else had it ???? Seem like a fraud there......change the new key lock just incase.....

Starting Score: 560
Current Score: ?
Goal Score: 800
Message 9 of 20
pt2005
Regular Contributor

Re: Received fraud alert from Discover BEFORE receiving the card

I got my card today (OMG) and activated it. Here is process:

 

1. Enter last 4 of the account

2. Enter last 4 of your SSN

3. Enter zipcode

4. Transfer to CSR to complete the activation

 

I'm not sure if this is the normal procedure, or Discover may have elevated security due to the fraudulent charges on the closed account.

 

As far as the fraudulent charges, I learned from Discover that whoever activated the card called in with "my phone number" (???) They created a PIN and used it to widthdraw cash. I asked them "my phone number"?, and they confirmed YES.

 

So it looks like the bad guy(s) must have used a phone system to fake my phone. But how did they know about the last 4 SSN?; that still remains unknown to me.

 

 

FICO Scores 8: EX 731, EQ 731, TU 725

Credit Cards: Chase Freedom 9.5K | AMEX TrueEarnings 4.5K | Cap1 Venture Visa 3.5K | Cap1 QS MC 3.5K | Discover IT 1K | Cap1 Spark Cash 15K | AMEX SimplyCash 9K

Store: PayPal SmartConnect 10K | JCP 5.2K | Banana 3.3K | Walmart 4.5K | Kohls 1.5K | TargetRED 200
Message 10 of 20
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