@Jeffhacker wrote:
I've learned something recently. Was out of the country over Thanksgiving, and on 11/20, received an alert (from my myFico account) that a new account was showing in my name: Macy's American Express, and there was a $5,000 limit. Only issue is that I don't have a Macy's American Express account. I do have a regular Macy's account, which I rarely use, but the limit is $1,200. I immediately called Macy's Fraud alert (from Tel Aviv, Israel, no less) on my cell phone and filed a report. Anyway, the next day, I received another alert, showing $4,624 charged on the new account. Obviously, I filed a protest/dispute. I received a bill for the $4,624 in charges showing all made on the same day, 11/11/2017, in four stores in the New York City area. Another red flag: I live in Dallas, Texas, and was not in the New York area. Macy's proceeds to tell me that they sent a "text message to a verified number" authorizing the use of a newly opened card (opened a store in Brooklyn, NY), and that they were closing the fraud claim.
Short story long, I sent them proof in the form of (a) charges on another credit card made on the day in question showing I was in Dallas, Texas, on the day they claim to have sent the text message, (b) a Detailed billing statement showing that I did not receive any texts the day in questions, and, they still did not close the fraud case. Earlier this week, I received a letter from security at my cell phone carrier advising that my cell phone SIM card was hacked, and somebody was able to input it into a device not recognized as mine. I sent that up to Macy's as well. I haven't heard anything back from them yet, but the disputed account was off of my Transunion file as of yesterday afternoon; it is still showing on Experian and Equifax. Hopefully it will be gone from there too. I was told by my cell phone carrier that if you leave your cell phone on Bluetooth, it can be hacked. There are people who use an app to apparently search for cell phones; if they "hit" what appears to be an EIE number, they can clone and access your personal information from that. I now use RFID blockers on my cell phone and wallet, but am also being more careful to turn off the Bluetooth when I'm at airports, etc. (they have to be within about 10 feet for the hacking technology to work).
This has been a really scarey couple of weeks; I am glad you were able to get your matter resolved quickly. BTW, when the fraudulent account was opened, I took a 9 point hit on my TU score; when they cleared it, I only got 6 points back. Not sure how that works, but . . . .
Since you already have a Macy's account, it sounds like this was an inside job, perpetrated by a Macy's employee that you encountered at some point in store. The phone hacking is incredible, though. It's almost straight out of a spy thriller. It seems like they are pros, and had everything planned.
Fortunately it should be easy enough for Macy's to track down the fraudulent shopper, since they were dumb enough to use the card in a retail store; and their ugly mug is probably all over the cameras. That said, I'd be surprised if the actual criminal mastermind behind this was the person actually doing the in-store shopping. Seems like much too involved of a con for them to be that daft at the end.
It's crazy that they had Macy's thoroughly convinced, too. The red flags of maxing out a retail card that just so happened to be opened whilst out of state have got to be through the roof. Macy's should have asked much better security questions on that supposed phone call verification. The fraudster couldn't possibly have known everything about you. Or, did they?
If it's not an inside job, than it's definitely someone you know very well... like a jilted ex spouse; an estranged sibling; possibly even a former business partner; or just someone that has been real close, in the past... with an axe to grind.
But, since it was all opened in store, it sounds more like the Wells Fargo scam of opening accounts in other people's names - without their permission. It's the type of fraud that one couldn't possibly have known about, due to not being present. In this case, however, it was taken to the next step of maxing out a brand new card on the same day it was opened, out of state... which should have made it abundantly clear to Macy's that it was blatant fraud.
Glad it was caught
