Why Kroger?

[p-]

Yesterday I noticed a fraudulent transaction on my Chase from 6-23 for 59 bucks at a Kroger in Tennessee.  I disputed, and then today Chase declined another fraudulent charge at a Kroger in VA.  It was a "card present' transaction so someone has a clone of my card.  Lovely.  July is the gas and amusement parks bonus category, and we're driving to Disneyland...

On the upside, Chase was all over it.  They cancelled the cards, and are overnighting new ones to arrive at my office tomorrow.

So... Why Kroger?  Weird.  Of all the things to use a stolen 10k credit card for, you bought 60 bucks worth of groceries?

[cqdealer711]

this is scary.  How do people get this information?

find out which kroger, i live in tn, ill go find them for ya  

[09Lexie]

Glad they caught it! Sometimes they put a reader over a terminal and voila!

[p-]

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09Lexie wrote:...Sometimes they put a reader over a terminal and voila!

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Yeah, I'm a pretty tech-savvy guy.  I think I'd see it.  I wonder if someone scanned it while they had it in hand at a restaurant or something...

[cottoncrown]

Likely they were using it through a self check out. Probably buying items with a high resale value like alcohol or tobacco. They go to large chains so that the transaction doesn't seem strange and won't get declined. I mean they aren't going to walk into Gucci and buy a handbag with it. I work at a grocery store and sleezebags come through all the time doing stuff like that. They might have even tried to buy gifts cards with it.

[StartingOver10]

IMO I think they do a small charge first to see if it will go through and if it does, then they go for the big charges....

Maybe someone in law enforcement or other experience can jump in with their specific knowledge regarding cc number theft. Seems like a sophisticated operation that they would clone your card.

i just had a similar experience last month with a Barclay's card and I got a phone call instantly when the charge came through from the fraud dept. They cancelled that account instanntly and sent a replacement card overnight too. Glad to see these card companies are right on it.

[09Lexie]

Which is why I hate it when my cc's are out of my eyesight. My DH thinks I'm paranoid

[cottoncrown]

The one that freaks me out is discover because at self check out you can get "cash-over" with just a signature and no cashier. So if I lost my card someone could go buy a chocolate bar and get back up to $120 at the u-scan robot.

[Anonymous]

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@09Lexie wrote:
Which is why I hate it when my cc's are out of my eyesight. My DH thinks I'm paranoid

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Not paranoid at all. I have BillGuard which allows me to look through all of my transactions on all of my cards on one app. And all of the cards that aren't in my wallet are locked in a safe.

[flan]

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@cottoncrown wrote:
Likely they were using it through a self check out. Probably buying items with a high resale value like alcohol or tobacco. They go to large chains so that the transaction doesn't seem strange and won't get declined. I mean they aren't going to walk into Gucci and buy a handbag with it. I work at a grocery store and sleezebags come through all the time doing stuff like that. They might have even tried to buy gifts cards with it.

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And if the card is declined, no one thinks much of it, because it's a big busy store, and people always have problems with a card...