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I got hit by credit card fraud related to this story. I either got skimmed at a gas pump or at a restaurant. What I saw were 4 Western Union transactions on m

I got hit by credit card fraud related to this story. I either got skimmed at a gas pump or at a restaurant. What I saw were 4 Western Union transactions on my card, each for $255 USD. Two per day with this string - "WU*XXXYYYZZZZ" - where XXXYYYZZZZ is a phone number. My issuer shut down the card and issued me another one. I was not responsible for the charges. Also, the issuer said the reason they did not send me a fraud message was because the charges were occurring around the holidays where large charges are commonplace.

viraptor 10y ago
Makes me wish that banks provided some easy self-protection checkboxes. Much like you can disable international calls and premium services with most mobile providers, I'd like to say "mark western union as fraud, unless I confirm it on the phone first".
- kalleboo 10y ago
  One of my debit cards lets you disable and enable specific continents, card not present, and non-3DSecure transactions on their internet banking.
  - rconti 10y ago
    If only I could disable ONLY 3DSecure transactions.
- modeless 10y ago
  I wish they provided the opposite. They are constantly deactivating my card or changing my card number when I've never had a single actual fraudulent transaction on my account. In the event that my card is stolen, I'm not liable, they are. By deactivating my card they're not protecting me, they're protecting themselves, by inconveniencing me.
  - shawn-furyan 10y ago
    So... you want no fraud liability, but don't want to be inconvenienced either?... You could always look for a less zealous credit card provider, but generally speaking, the entity that takes the liability should be able to set the bar for risk. Otherwise you get subsidized risk taking, which has a way of getting out of hand. You may well find that credit card companies who are not very zealous about security are merely more successful at weaseling out of the liability that their customers assume they are taking. At the end of the day, fraud creates costs, and you can be sure that SOMEONE is paying those costs. If your credit card company doesn't seem very zealous about preventing fraud, then it's more likely that you are the one who will ultimately pay when the bill comes due.
    - hobarrera 10y ago
      There are smarter ways of adding security - like letting me know via my phone and allowing me to cancel "suspicious" operations using it. Disabling my card constantly doesn't help me at all, it's just a PITA. Imagine if any other service provider (webmail?) disabled your account frequently to "avoid fraud".
      - shawn-furyan 10y ago
        > There are smarter ways of adding security So you assume. Have you ever investigated credit card fraud? Perhaps there are edge cases that are more difficult than you imagine. > Imagine if any other service provider (webmail?) disabled your account frequently to "avoid fraud". Webmail is absolutely lousy with fraud. Webmail companies explicitly disclaim all liability... so... you kinda bolstered my point there. That is, you helped add the significant texture that companies that disclaim all fraud liability can be pretty lousy at preventing fraud. To reiterate: The entity that accepts liability should be the entity that draws the line on what risks are acceptable. Credit card companies are pretty unique in the types and magnitude of risk that they accept and manage. They already do quite a high wire act balancing fraud prevention against user convenience. And despite some things that seem inconvenient on the surface, they are typically still the most convenient way available, by a wide margin, to conduct most payment transactions.
- cortesoft 10y ago
  Chase lets you setup transaction alerts, where they send you a text if a transaction of more than $X occurs. I just have it set to $0, so I get a text for every single charge on my credit card. It has helped me spot fraud last month, and it also acts as a quick check to make sure the amount charged was correct (very helpful in restaurants or the like).
- bbarn 10y ago
  I get a text for every transaction on both my debit card, and my main daily use credit card. Twice now things have popped up and I've been able to resolve them before the next billing cycle. Most banks, and most card companies offer this - for free. If yours doesn't, you might want to shop around for one that does.
driverdan 10y ago
It most likely wasn't skimmed. 13+ years ago I did some WU carding and it was really hard. I'm sure their security has gotten even better. They only accepted credit cards online and by phone. They required a ton of information in order to process it, often verifying items from your credit report. To pull it off you had to have a lot of info about the cardholder.

viraptor 10y ago

Makes me wish that banks provided some easy self-protection checkboxes. Much like you can disable international calls and premium services with most mobile providers, I'd like to say "mark western union as fraud, unless I confirm it on the phone first".

kalleboo 10y ago
One of my debit cards lets you disable and enable specific continents, card not present, and non-3DSecure transactions on their internet banking.
- rconti 10y ago
  If only I could disable ONLY 3DSecure transactions.
modeless 10y ago
I wish they provided the opposite. They are constantly deactivating my card or changing my card number when I've never had a single actual fraudulent transaction on my account. In the event that my card is stolen, I'm not liable, they are. By deactivating my card they're not protecting me, they're protecting themselves, by inconveniencing me.
- shawn-furyan 10y ago
  So... you want no fraud liability, but don't want to be inconvenienced either?... You could always look for a less zealous credit card provider, but generally speaking, the entity that takes the liability should be able to set the bar for risk. Otherwise you get subsidized risk taking, which has a way of getting out of hand. You may well find that credit card companies who are not very zealous about security are merely more successful at weaseling out of the liability that their customers assume they are taking. At the end of the day, fraud creates costs, and you can be sure that SOMEONE is paying those costs. If your credit card company doesn't seem very zealous about preventing fraud, then it's more likely that you are the one who will ultimately pay when the bill comes due.
  - hobarrera 10y ago
    There are smarter ways of adding security - like letting me know via my phone and allowing me to cancel "suspicious" operations using it. Disabling my card constantly doesn't help me at all, it's just a PITA. Imagine if any other service provider (webmail?) disabled your account frequently to "avoid fraud".
    - shawn-furyan 10y ago
      > There are smarter ways of adding security So you assume. Have you ever investigated credit card fraud? Perhaps there are edge cases that are more difficult than you imagine. > Imagine if any other service provider (webmail?) disabled your account frequently to "avoid fraud". Webmail is absolutely lousy with fraud. Webmail companies explicitly disclaim all liability... so... you kinda bolstered my point there. That is, you helped add the significant texture that companies that disclaim all fraud liability can be pretty lousy at preventing fraud. To reiterate: The entity that accepts liability should be the entity that draws the line on what risks are acceptable. Credit card companies are pretty unique in the types and magnitude of risk that they accept and manage. They already do quite a high wire act balancing fraud prevention against user convenience. And despite some things that seem inconvenient on the surface, they are typically still the most convenient way available, by a wide margin, to conduct most payment transactions.
cortesoft 10y ago
Chase lets you setup transaction alerts, where they send you a text if a transaction of more than $X occurs. I just have it set to $0, so I get a text for every single charge on my credit card. It has helped me spot fraud last month, and it also acts as a quick check to make sure the amount charged was correct (very helpful in restaurants or the like).
bbarn 10y ago
I get a text for every transaction on both my debit card, and my main daily use credit card. Twice now things have popped up and I've been able to resolve them before the next billing cycle. Most banks, and most card companies offer this - for free. If yours doesn't, you might want to shop around for one that does.

driverdan 10y ago

It most likely wasn't skimmed. 13+ years ago I did some WU carding and it was really hard. I'm sure their security has gotten even better. They only accepted credit cards online and by phone. They required a ton of information in order to process it, often verifying items from your credit report. To pull it off you had to have a lot of info about the cardholder.