3 ms·

Playing devil's advocate here, why do I care (as a consumer) if my credit card number is stolen? I'm not responsible for illegitimate charges as long as I repor

by scurvy 11y ago

Playing devil's advocate here, why do I care (as a consumer) if my credit card number is stolen? I'm not responsible for illegitimate charges as long as I report them within a reasonable time. That's generally accepted to be up to 40 days considering paper billing cycles. Why do people sign up for text alerts and notifications on smartphone apps for certain purchase amounts? You're just doing the credit card company's job for them. At that point, what's the point? You're probably getting a new card number in a few days anyway. Not trying to be flippant, I'm genuinely curious why people obsess over some of this as a consequence-free user.

nlawalker 11y ago
>> You're just doing the credit card company's job for them. In what way? You stated in your first paragraph that it's your responsibility to report fraud. Regardless, it's not about being responsible for the charges, it's about not having to read a full credit card statement every month, looking for potentially fraudulent charges in a list of transactions made days or weeks prior. With a notification, I'm not looking at my credit card bill trying to figure out what the $45 charge to "AAZZYBD Ind. Co. Ltd." was (could be an Olive Garden, could be a gas station, could be a deep web retail site).
- scurvy 11y ago
  I've found that they will detect the fraud before I do. Like they always have. It's your responsibility to report fraud, but they're the big loser so they have more incentive to find the bad purchases ASAP. Going through notifications after each purchase, or looking at a monthly bill, you're doing the same thing but in different time periods. We're all on the brink of app notification overload, I don't need one for each purchase I or my wife makes.
raverbashing 11y ago
Really? Because your card gets cancelled and you have to wait for a new one to come in the mail Oh but you're not home and are travelling instead. Good luck paying for your hotel then
- aianus 11y ago
  So conversely if I'm already traveling I should ignore any fraudulent charges until I finish my trip so they don't cancel my card. What a well thought-out system!
- scurvy 11y ago
  This happened to me once. AMEX and I worked things out. They overnighted a card to me and gave me a number to call if I really had to make a purchase. They were going to generate a one time use card number and the merchant could punch it in. I never did need it though. I just waited for the replacement to arrive the following morning.
pm24601 11y ago
Or just do what I have started doing: use cash a lot more. This way I have to only worry about the ATM having a skimmer attached to it. Not every random semi-seedy place that I buy food or gas from. Sure I know cash can be a pain. But CC fraud and skimmers are making using a CC a pain as well.
- walshemj 11y ago
  That's what I do I only use atm's inside bank branches where possible.
- scurvy 11y ago
  But what about the fraud makes using credit cards a 'pain?' It's a pain free system for consumers.
  - pm24601 11y ago
    Not true. The rules aren't as generous as you think. Banks in the US have been covering more than they are legally required. But what about outside the US? Also this requires someone to religiously check the credit card statements, there is a time limit in which to report fraudulent transactions. (FYI: this is why I still get paper statements -- to remind myself to check)

by scurvy 11y ago

nlawalker 11y ago

>> You're just doing the credit card company's job for them. In what way? You stated in your first paragraph that it's your responsibility to report fraud. Regardless, it's not about being responsible for the charges, it's about not having to read a full credit card statement every month, looking for potentially fraudulent charges in a list of transactions made days or weeks prior. With a notification, I'm not looking at my credit card bill trying to figure out what the $45 charge to "AAZZYBD Ind. Co. Ltd." was (could be an Olive Garden, could be a gas station, could be a deep web retail site).

scurvy 11y ago
I've found that they will detect the fraud before I do. Like they always have. It's your responsibility to report fraud, but they're the big loser so they have more incentive to find the bad purchases ASAP. Going through notifications after each purchase, or looking at a monthly bill, you're doing the same thing but in different time periods. We're all on the brink of app notification overload, I don't need one for each purchase I or my wife makes.

raverbashing 11y ago

Really? Because your card gets cancelled and you have to wait for a new one to come in the mail Oh but you're not home and are travelling instead. Good luck paying for your hotel then

aianus 11y ago
So conversely if I'm already traveling I should ignore any fraudulent charges until I finish my trip so they don't cancel my card. What a well thought-out system!
scurvy 11y ago
This happened to me once. AMEX and I worked things out. They overnighted a card to me and gave me a number to call if I really had to make a purchase. They were going to generate a one time use card number and the merchant could punch it in. I never did need it though. I just waited for the replacement to arrive the following morning.

pm24601 11y ago

Or just do what I have started doing: use cash a lot more. This way I have to only worry about the ATM having a skimmer attached to it. Not every random semi-seedy place that I buy food or gas from. Sure I know cash can be a pain. But CC fraud and skimmers are making using a CC a pain as well.

walshemj 11y ago
That's what I do I only use atm's inside bank branches where possible.
scurvy 11y ago
But what about the fraud makes using credit cards a 'pain?' It's a pain free system for consumers.
- pm24601 11y ago
  Not true. The rules aren't as generous as you think. Banks in the US have been covering more than they are legally required. But what about outside the US? Also this requires someone to religiously check the credit card statements, there is a time limit in which to report fraudulent transactions. (FYI: this is why I still get paper statements -- to remind myself to check)