Interesting account activity

[Jimbuna]

Last year I had someone charge an Apple laptop to my Visa in Iceland.....full refund and a new card issued.

[porphy]

So, how do the banks know that I don't just send my card with someone else for some quick shopping or cash machine withdrawals out of country? Seems like they just pay you the lost money without any fuss. Had a friend that was skimmed, and the bank just did a refund on his account. I guess it's mostly peanuts to them compared to people loosing faith in credit cards.

sorry goldenrivet, I just had to go from Jonkoping to Gothenburg that day...

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by porphy

So, how do the banks know that I don't just send my card with someone else for some quick shopping or cash machine withdrawals out of country? Seems like they just pay you the lost money without any fuss. Had a friend that was skimmed, and the bank just did a refund on his account. I guess it's mostly peanuts to them compared to people loosing faith in credit cards.

sorry goldenrivet, I just had to go from Jonkoping to Gothenburg that day...

With my card issuer they now have a system where you ring a number and advise them the dates and location you will be if it's out of your normal work/travel area. This worked fine for me when I visited Texas last year.

Earlier this year my wife travelled to Ireland and forgot to ring the number in advance...she had one hell of a job using her card.

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

With my card issuer they now have a system where you ring a number and advise them the dates and location you will be if it's out of your normal work/travel area.

this is a great idea and i wish more would do it (perhaps i just dont know about such a number)

i also thought it would be a good idea to authorize only specific lists of businesses able to charge your card.

for example:

you have a list of 10 places like so:

1. Outback Steak Houses
2. WalMarts
3. Taco Bells
4. Ace Hardware Stores
5. Lowe's Stores
6. Home Depot Stores
7. Olive Garden Restaurants
8. Dentist (a specific one)
9. Doctor (a specific one)
10. Gas Stations (specific brands)

this way when someone shows up using your card at some Swedish Bus Line you have never heard of - and is most certainly not on your list... the card automatically declines. if you had to add a business to the list it would authorize it if you dialed a phone number or went to a web site and added the busienss.

also thought that perhaps any ATM transactions outside of specified postal codes would automatically decline unless you call the number on the card and verify identity and add that postal code.

[Task Force]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Last year I had someone charge an Apple laptop to my Visa in Iceland.....full refund and a new card issued.

whoever that was had a poor taste in laptops...:rotfl:

[ETR3(SS)]

My favorite review of Apple products.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse....gi?u=macs_cant

[Task Force]

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

My favorite review of Apple products.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse....gi?u=macs_cant

lol.... yea macs are dumb... they are no fun and have 5 games... plus to even use the sucker effecienly you have to instal windows... and I cant just go out and buy a GPU, or a processor... I have to buy a brand new mac...:rotfl:

Apparently someone in florida tried to steel my fathers identity once, it was caught earlier but we joked a lot about "Are you really you or are you the one who stole the identity!" :rotfl:

[Blacklight]

For a while, I had this grocery store constantly calling me to discuss an account. When I got back to them, they said that my "wife" had written a bunch of checks there that had bounced and they were looking to collect. Well, as it turned out, I wasn't married to anyone nammed Juanita and as a matter of fact, I wasn't married at all !!! The woman used my last name, address and phone number on the checks. Luckily it wasn't linked to any of MY accounts. I assume she just pulled a random name and address out of the phone book to register the checking account. How she got this past the bank that gave her the checks, I'll never know.