What Was That Charge?? How to Correct It and Stop Identity Theft.
Check your bank and credit card accounts daily! Report any charges that you do not recognize immediately - you may be a victim of
identity theft, and you can hopefully reverse the fraudulent charge.
I found a charge of $703 made in my account on a Sunday (I wanted to make sure a check had cleared - but saw a low balance that
could not be right) and I did not make the charge - it processed on Friday. I called my bank immediately and my card was canceled
right away, and they told me that the charge was made in a store in Texas - I was in Colorado the entire time, and had all receipts
for the charges that I did make.
I called the business in Texas (they had a website that I found on an Internet search). The purchase was made over the Internet on
Thursday, and the part was picked up at the store the next day, Friday. I asked what matching information they had - the thieves used
my credit card number, my address, my phone number, my name - but not the 3 digit number on the back of the card. The store owner asked
me if I was white or black, which I thought odd, but said white. He said the people who picked up the part were black. A good clue!
I called the bank with the information and they began an investigation. The bank provisionally credited me back the $703 within
days. Having made the purchase as a Visa credit card, I was covered by the fraud protection. I made a police report as well, and the
officer said there is a sophisticated device that is handheld - it scans a credit card and takes all information on it. Then the thief
only need to pull up phone and address information - easy to do if you are in the phone book, or have information available on the
Internet. The only protection you have is to monitor your accounts diligently and run all your transactions as credit (not debit - the
credit card fraud protection is not available unless run as credit).
Keep track of who gets hold of your card, and if possible do not lose sight of your card when you use it - don't let anyone take it
away or under a desk area to process it - have it processed in front of you. And as soon as you find a discrepancy on your account,
report it to the bank or credit card company immediately - and cancel that card. Give all information you can, and also report it to
your local police. Also - be careful of where you publish your personal information - it's probably a bad idea to publish your address
in the phone book.
See what Identity Guard can help you with, in protecting your information.
