Credit card deception

[cdemundo]

On 6/17/2024 at 7:16 AM, ibjoe said:

I have one CC on a USA bank I use for all my international travel as it offers significant perks, like no foreign transaction fees, etc. It's been defrauded three times. I have my bank's app which I set to immediately notify me of any charge on that card. The first time hundreds of dollars for various things overnight (my phone on do not disturb, so I didn't get the notices). I called the bank immediately, they canceled the card, credited my account for the fraud charges, and sent me a new card. Which took a long time for me to get because my friend had to forward it to me in Thailand. The second time was surprising because I had only bought a few reputable travel things online, but was quickly alerted by my bank app, and again the bank quickly credited my account and sent me a new card. Then I learned that I can lock my card with the app. Now I keep that card locked all the time, and only open it to make a purchase after which I immediately lock it again. The third time I got some notifications from the app of small (less than a dollar) unauthorized transactions, which I realize are "test" transactions that scammers do to verify it before hitting it big time. They didn't go through because my card was locked. I told the bank, they immediately sent me a replacement card. Now I realize my card WILL be scammed occasionally, and my defense is to keep it locked. It's a slight inconvenience every time at Lotus, 7-11, online travel companies, etc. to unlock it during each use, but is a small price to pay to avoid getting scammed, again.

Great idea.

I feel like saying "doh" since I never thought of it.

The big pain of getting defrauded for me has been going to all the auto payments I have set up and changing them while I wait for the new card.

Thanks for this idea, I'm gonna use it.