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I know anecdotal evidence and all that, but I've never received a genuine report from a bank saying that a card has been stolen, but I've gotten a lot of annoyi

I know anecdotal evidence and all that, but I've never received a genuine report from a bank saying that a card has been stolen, but I've gotten a lot of annoying false positives saying my card has been declined because I've traveled more than a 2 hour drive away from home and had the nerve to use it.

Normal_gaussian 10y ago
That is consistent with a good detector for a rare event - the false positives will outnumber the true positives. This is known as the false positive paradox [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_positive_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_positive_paradox
tjohns 10y ago
Over the years, I've definitely gotten a fair share of calls from my bank asking about genuinely fraudulent charges, and calls notifying me that my card number was reported by law enforcement as compromised and they're replacing it proactively. So yes, it does happen. (Of course, in the second case, they never tell you how they came to that conclusion, just that "something" was found.) Once I even had a card start reporting fraudulent transactions before I even had a chance to activate it, which was bizarre. It's also worth noting that different banks use different fraud detection algorithms, with different levels of sensitivity. Some card companies will call you at the drop of a pin, others are much more relaxed.
jacalata 10y ago
I have received genuine reports for two cards - one I'd lost the actual card without realising it and someone was using it in Alaska, the other I don't know how it was compromised but someone bought $400 of shoes in Florida. (I live in Seattle).
thaumasiotes 10y ago
I've traveled much farther from home than that, and my card has only ever been declined once, the very first time -- and I was in China then. I had to call them and they reenabled the card. I've received one report of misuse of my card from the bank, and I was impressed. I had been in Georgia (the US state), stayed in a motel and bought gas for a rental car. All of that happened with no problems. A while later, someone used my information to make a purchase at a convenience store in Georgia (where I no longer was). That got flagged and the bank called me about it. So in my experience, the bank is amazingly effective at determining which uses of your card are likely to be you and which aren't.
kitd 10y ago
In contrast, the only time in 30 years of having a current account that an attempt was made to use my card fraudulently, it was picked up by the bank and they contacted me.

Normal_gaussian 10y ago

That is consistent with a good detector for a rare event - the false positives will outnumber the true positives. This is known as the false positive paradox [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_positive_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_positive_paradox

tjohns 10y ago

Over the years, I've definitely gotten a fair share of calls from my bank asking about genuinely fraudulent charges, and calls notifying me that my card number was reported by law enforcement as compromised and they're replacing it proactively. So yes, it does happen. (Of course, in the second case, they never tell you how they came to that conclusion, just that "something" was found.) Once I even had a card start reporting fraudulent transactions before I even had a chance to activate it, which was bizarre. It's also worth noting that different banks use different fraud detection algorithms, with different levels of sensitivity. Some card companies will call you at the drop of a pin, others are much more relaxed.

jacalata 10y ago

I have received genuine reports for two cards - one I'd lost the actual card without realising it and someone was using it in Alaska, the other I don't know how it was compromised but someone bought $400 of shoes in Florida. (I live in Seattle).

thaumasiotes 10y ago

I've traveled much farther from home than that, and my card has only ever been declined once, the very first time -- and I was in China then. I had to call them and they reenabled the card. I've received one report of misuse of my card from the bank, and I was impressed. I had been in Georgia (the US state), stayed in a motel and bought gas for a rental car. All of that happened with no problems. A while later, someone used my information to make a purchase at a convenience store in Georgia (where I no longer was). That got flagged and the bank called me about it. So in my experience, the bank is amazingly effective at determining which uses of your card are likely to be you and which aren't.

kitd 10y ago

In contrast, the only time in 30 years of having a current account that an attempt was made to use my card fraudulently, it was picked up by the bank and they contacted me.