Credit card fraud!

[LowerGround]

I have been hit for the first time by someone using my credit card number without my consent.

I have to say, my credit union is A+ on top of things! They called me IMMEDIATELY after someone charged 4 fraudulent items to my account.

Whoever it was, these were the charges made:

TLG*COMPLETHME CT
TLG*AUTOVANTGE CT
TLG*GREAT FUN CT
BLOCKBUSTER ONLINE TX

All the charges will be reversed, and the card is now defunct. Does anyone recognize those places???

The last 4 places I used my card were with a well-known reptile seller (who I doubt would do such a thing) and 3 merchants on amazon.com for reptile book purchases. I have already contacted amazon.com regarding this matter.

So PLEASE, everyone, be careful! Keep an eye on your bank account! I have had fraud protection on my accounts for 4 years now, and I love it!

[JonT]

I hear you! I am currenting waiting for dispute papers regarding a new phone account that was set up using my credit... apparently all they needed were my name and SS number... somehow rang up a phone bill to the tune of $1438 within a month... shame on SNET for allowing this....
Good luck!
Jon

[Hawkeman]

A friend of mine and I felt the sting of the other side of this. We ran a successful online paintball business that eventually fell to ID theft/card fraud. The legal and CC service fees ate away at profit.

Lesson learned, next time invest in fraud insurance. Hey Jon, a co-worker of mine had that happen to them and the offender ended up serving 3 years of the 5 year sentence. Stay on that and, when the time comes, PROSECUTE!!!

Tom

[LowerGround]

I found out all the charges were made to online sites. We figure the $1 charges were to "test" the card and see if it was working. I honestly don't know how far the person/people would have gone.

Others might not be lucky like I am, and might not have fraud protection on their accounts. :(

Sorry that happened to you both, I hope everything gets straightened out.

[JonT]

thanks Tom! I will definately take it as far as I can...I am more pissed right now at the phone provider since they allowed this to happen...my credit notification service alerted me of it. Time will tell I guess....
sorry to hear about your paint ball business... crazy what this world is coming to...

[liljerzeedevil]

It doesnt hurt to sign up on the National Do Not Call registry. It helps with telemarketers and their scams. But make sure its the real deal. Theres a scam about the donotcall registry also.

[LowerGround]

yup, already done that. I actually found out more information. Turns out this isn't the first time this has happened to someone: http://matt.baya.net/journal/index.php?p=135

[Eliot]

Whether you have been a victim of Identity theft or not you can call the three major credit reporting companies, Trans Union, Equifax, etc and ask them to put a fraud alert on your credit. Every time you or someone else tries to open a new account on your credit they have a ton of questions for you. Mothers maiden name, who you pay your car or mortgage payment to, etc, etc. It's by far the best protection against identity theft and someone randomly using your credit card numbers that you can have.