Chosen by Asker

The reward for reporting fraud on your own account is not having to pay the bill. If you don't report fraud, then you are responsible to pay the bill.

by mukwonago53149

6 months ago

Asker's Rating: 

No reward other than the satisfaction that the thief gets caught and sent to prison. Now you've found out how easy it is to get your card # stolen. The banks have no interest in protecting your money. What they do is back charge the business who accepted the card - they failed to identify the customer.

by Dan B- 6 months ago

I'm just curious - how do you know it was the guy at McDonald's? Wouldn't he have had your card for only a couple of seconds, as he scanned it? You said you had the card the next day, at the gas station. So apparently he didn't take the card itself - he would have had to have gotten the account information... and normally you'd notice him gone that long, long enough to write the account info down. Another thing you've got to consider is this - if your account was used in walmart and these other places, I assume they were done in the store, not online - which means, if he didn't swipe your actual card, he'd have to have time to make a fake card, with your information on it - not normally something that can be done overnight. Unfortunately, I see this happen every day (credit card industry for 15+ years). What most likely has happened is your card was "skimmed" - you used your card at a public ATM or other type of scanner - even those new vending machines with the credit card swiper. The thief puts an extra part on the scanner, and as you swipe your card through the machine, it records the info on your card. After many, many people have done this, the theif then removes his "skimmier" device, takes it home, and uses that info to make a card identical to yours... and anyone else that had used that machine, too. Skimmer devices usually are made to blend in with most card readers, but if you ever visit an ATM you go to often, and it looks different... or if you're at an older ATM but there seems to be a newer-looking part on it... or if the machine you're using has a movable part, or a part that just doesn't seem like it is attatched firmly to the machine... don't use the machine. In fact, most machines have toll free or local numbers on them to call, if you have any issues - I would suggest to call the # and let the maintenance man know that you think there might be something out of the ordinary on his machine, so he can come check it out right away. Unfortunately, your card might have been comprimised months ago, because these theives wait until they have a ton of cards, sell them on the black market, and then they aren't used until they wind up in the hands of their end users... which normally aren't even the theives themselves.... not to say that buying someone's credit card isn't illegal, of course! They're usually sold locally, so that credit card companies don't notice sudden charges in other states along with your normal local ones, because credit card companies are quick these days to shut your card down if they see anything like that. As for putting the theif in jail, I hope that they are able to catch them - most of these fraud cases never come up with a suspect. Your thief most likely monitored your balance for a while, to check what kind of money you had, when you got paid, etc, and then when he/she thought it was most convenient, that's when they go all out and tear up your account. As for the reward of reporting it as fraudulent, you get your money back - most of the time. When it comes to your actual bank account, you've got less protection than if it had been an actual credit card that had been used, and your bank might not remove all of the charges, unfortunately - you'll have to talk to them. A police report should be filed, as well. The vendors - Publix, Walmart, etc, will have to prove it was you, and not someone else, that made the charges, before they get taken off - and that can take a month or two. I can say that this kind of case is common these days, although I don't think I saw anything like it until a year and a half ago - plenty of cases where the charges were online, where all the person needs is your card number, the expiration date, and sometimes the CVV code on the back (last 3 digits on the signature line). If these charges of yours had been online, it would be as simple as calling those online vendors and cancelling the orders - because you caught them within a day of the orders being placed, it would have normally been possible. But to actually go into a store and buy something, you have to have the card itself. And yeah, they're right, if they do catch the person responsible, McD's guy or not, you probably won't even know they caught him. You won't be suing him for hardship, or even for late fees incurred due to not having your paycheck to pay your bills. It sucks, but that's about all you're going to get. The bank and the authorities will take care of the legalities, and won't include you in on anything, because you won't be needed. The best you'll get is some article in the newspaper about how some fraud ring was exposed and put behind bars - and wonder if they were the ones that did that to you.

by Carlii- 6 months ago

there are any rewards for you as a consumer for catching fraud but if a merchant catches it they will be rewarded. merchants get paid for turning in stolen credit cards to visa and mastercard.

by geminia1232- 6 months ago