*credit Card

*credit Card

SCENE 1 A friend went to the local gym and placed
his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came
out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, "Funny, I thought I locked
the locker. Hmmmmm"


He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.
Everything looked okay - all cards were in place.
A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of
$14,000! He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying
that he did not make the transactions. Customer care personnel verified
that there was no mistake in the system and asked if his card had been stolen.

"No," he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card,
and yep you guessed it a switch had been made. An expired similar credit
card from the same bank was in the wallet. The thief broke into his locker at
the gym and switched cards. Verdict: The credit card issuer said since
he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount
owed to them. How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000!
Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped? Small amounts
rarely trigger a "warning bell" with some credit card companies. It just so
happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!

SCENE 2 A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card.
The bill for the meal came, he signed it, and the waitress folded the
receipt and passed the credit card along. Usually, he would just take it
and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a
look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another
person. He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. She took it back
apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man.

All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong
expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately
looked down and took out the real card. No exchange of words - nothing!
She took it and came back to the man with an apology. Verdict: Make sure the
credit cards in your wallet at yours. Check the name on the card every
time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short
period of time. Many people just take back the credit card without even
looking at it, thinking that it has to be theirs.

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING
YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME
IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!

SCENE 3 Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant
to pick up an order that I had called in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card
which, of course, is linked directly to my checking account. The young
man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it flat on the
counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.
While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing. I noticed
the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the
ordinary. Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I
take a picture. He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as
if he was still pressing buttons. Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he
is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on. It then dawned
on me: the only thing there was as my credit card, so now I'm paying close
attention to what he is doing. He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open.
About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has
been saved. Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact
that this boy just took a picture of my credit card. Yes, he played it off
well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably wouldnever
have known what happened. Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card
as I was walking out of the pizza parlor. All I am saying is, be aware of
your surroundings at all times.

Whenever you are using your credit cards, take caution and don't be careless.
Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your
card. Be aware of phones because many have a camera phone these days. When
you are in a restaurant and the waiter/waitress brings your card and
receipt for you to sign, make sure you scratch the number off. Some restaurants
are using only the last four digits, but a lot of them are still putting the whole thing
on there. I have already been a victim of credit card fraud and, believe me, it is not fun.
The truth is that they can get you even when you are careful, but don't make it easy for them.

FORWARD THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN THINK
OF. LET'S GET THE WORD OUT!

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/cardscams.asp

The item quoted above is another example of a "crime warning" message that is difficult to classify as either true or false. The scenarios it describes are possible, and someone, somewhere, might very well have been victimized by them, but on the other hand the message provides no details of time, place, or person, to use in verifying these tales, and the scenarios proffered are generally too implausible to be of much legitimate concern to the average person.

The first two entries describe scammers who supposedly switch expired credit cards for valid credit cards, thereby enabling them to run up thousands of dollars in charges before the victims realize their cards are missing. This isn't a scheme likely to be successful in most cases, for a number of reasons:
Not all credit cards look alike. Common credit cards such as VISA and MasterCard vary quite widely in appearance, featuring different logos (based upon the issuing financial institutions), different colors of plastic, and even different (customer-selected) background designs. For this scenario to work, the putative thieves would have to carry around a plethora of different styles of cards and hope to hit a long shot by coincidentally matching one of their cards to a victim's particular card.

The deception will be obvious the next time the victim uses (or, presumably, even looks at) his card, which doesn't give the scammers much time to try to run up a huge charge on the stolen card via many small purchases. Contrary to the claim made above, most credit card issuers will flag as suspect thousands of dollars' worth of charges made on a credit card within a short period of time, even if none of those charges is for a large amount.

No explanation is offered for how these scammers supposedly come by their handy supply of expired credit cards. Most customers discard their expired cards by throwing them into the trash, usually after having cut them in two (or otherwise mutilated them).

Frankly, if you're habitually leaving your wallet unattended in an easily-opened locker, you've got a lot more to be concerned about than potential visits from card-swapping scammers.
The third scenario covers a situation we've already written an article about, that of identity thieves supposedly snapping pictures of credit cards with cell phone cameras. This scheme too is possible but implausible, since:
It's still quite difficult (given the quality of cell phone cameras, the reflectiveness of plastic credit cards, and the usual lack of contrast between the colors of a card's imprinted numbers and its background) to quickly snap off a clear photo of a credit card.

Taking a picture of the front of a credit card won't capture the CVC2 or CVV2 security code required for most CNP (i.e., "card not present") purchases. (American Express, however, is an exception to this; its security code is printed on the cardface.)

Retail clerks and others who typically handle customers' credit cards in the course of business transactions have many, many ways of recording card numbers that are better and easier (and less obtrusive) than literally pointing a camera at a card and taking a picture of it.
The admonition to "take caution and don't be careless" with your credit cards is generally sound, but then again, it's also rather obvious advice that applies to just about every aspect of life.

damn...that sucks...i don't have any credit cards yet...but i do have my Wachovia bank card...though i rarely use it cuz theres like $20 in it...but still...this is a lesson to be learned i guess...lol...WATCH YOUR DAMN CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS!!!

decent warning

nice research vamp

Switching credit card is old. But taking picture of a credit aint that new either. I figured this method out a long time ago. Though I've never done it.

I have credit cards. But I never use it when Im out. I only use them for online shopping.

After reading that. I finally know why people scratch out their credit card number and leave the last 4 digits there. I see my customers do that all the time (Im a waiter), didnt know why they do that. I think Credit Card fraud been gone pretty crazy lately, my boss told me to see my customers' ID when I received Credit Card (cuz you know most restaurants dont check your credit card). Anyways, I check it just in case.

Those are some pretty good imformation, I will pay more attention in the future when I use my card.

Dood that sucks.... that is why I don't have a credit card or put my money in the bank... I don't even trust my own family with my own money shit lol

So you dont leave your money at home, you dont deposit your money into your bank account. You carry all your money on you?? I may have to come up here and rob you some time. j/k

Yea its also good to put See ID and then Sign the back of your card. I had some steal my card and then use it do buy something and the clerk caught it and luckly there was a cop nearby who arrested them and then contacted my bank that then contacted me.

Luckly now my bank will call me if more than like 100 bucks is spent in one day and if more than a grand is spent in a week.

That's what I've done with my card too. If they check for my signature, they're gonna have to look at my driver's license. The only time this works is if they actually bother to check your signature...

I activated a bank warning once. Made several purchases within a few minutes of each other at gas stations in Blythe, CA while on my way to Ontario. On the second purchase it asked for my zip code. A half hour later my mom called me to ask what was going on.

thanks for the info. my parents just go into credit card fraud a couple months back. turns out someone tried to buy a bunch of furniture in france and it was caught. still dont know how they got the CC info.

my bank caught it once. I purtached something here in town wile somebody else was purtaching something else in like flordia or something like that. and about 15 minutes later my bank called me. sweet they got a free whatever and I didnt have to pay for it.