[kyleb350]

A couple coworkers of mine had their company credit cards blocked last week after fraudulent charges appeared originating from Brazil. The only placed they used the cards in common was Target.

[MidwestGolfBum]

Originally Posted by P1et

Yes, it was sent to my house and I received it. I sent the products back to where they came from (a skincare company) and asked who ordered it. The lady on the phone even gave me the IP address of who ordered it, and it tracked back to a place in Houston, TX. But we all know how much the IP address really says, which is usually a dead end if they are professionals.

I don't know if I would call somebody who sent things to you using your card a professional. Maybe they just really wanted to you try their skin care products.

[P1]

Originally Posted by MidwestGolfBum

I don't know if I would call somebody who sent things to you using your card a professional. Maybe they just really wanted to you try their skin care products.

True. It was just an odd package to receive. When I opened it up at first I thought they were car detailing supplies, but nope. Called the company since there was a packing slip on the box. It was definitely ordered using my credit card, they confirmed that. All sorted out now though. Sent the stuff back, got my money back from the bank and requested a new credit card. The world is safe again!

[iBoost]

Happened to me a while back. Some dipshit some how used my credit card to make a purchase at a Verizon store for over $700 then the following day tried to go and make another purchase at the same place for $300 but the cc company didn't authorize that one. The credit card company called me to let me know what happened and to let me know a new card was on the way. Thank you fraud department!

I try to use PayPal all the time when shopping online now.

[RR-NYC]

Originally Posted by MidwestGolfBum

This only fixes some of the problem. The way that my cards have been stolen every time has been from an online vendor. This may be from no fault of their own (besides a lapse in security measures) or because there was a pissed off employee.

While I agree it doesn't fix all the problems, it fixes the majority of problems.

There is no difference between your situation, where you provided all your card info online/or via phone, and my situation where the card was skimmed while processing a payment. Someone took the information and used it to make a fraudulent charge.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by P1et

Yes, it was sent to my house and I received it. I sent the products back to where they came from (a skincare company) and asked who ordered it. The lady on the phone even gave me the IP address of who ordered it, and it tracked back to a place in Houston, TX. But we all know how much the IP address really says, which is usually a dead end if they are professionals.

I run a few ecommerce sites and we have run into this before a couple times. From what we have been able to put together they usually do a couple of things.

1. Stake out the house and hope UPS leaves the package outside and they swoop in and take it. I have seen them do this with recently vacated houses also.

2. They have an inside man.

3. Once they get confirmation of the delivery they switch the delivery so they pick it up at the UPS location. Again they would either need an inside man or a fake ID I guess.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by jwzimm

This is why I never use my debit card for purchases. It is a direct link to my bank account. While there is still zero liability on me for fraud I am still out the cash until they credit my account potentially screwing up a payment on something else. I use a cash back credit card that I pay off every single month. I have yet to ever pay interest on it and reap the rewards for it as well.

I'm thinking of going this route. My wife has a Discover card that we pay every month and she gets the cash back but the card is not accepted everywhere. Anyone have suggestions on cash back card that is universally accepted?

[jwzimm]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

I'm thinking of going this route. My wife has a Discover card that we pay every month and she gets the cash back but the card is not accepted everywhere. Anyone have suggestions on cash back card that is universally accepted?

I use a Capital One Quicksilver card for all my general purchases. That gives 1.5% cash back on every purchase with no cap. I also have a Costco Amex that I use for gas as that gets me 3% cash back on that.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

I'm thinking of going this route. My wife has a Discover card that we pay every month and she gets the cash back but the card is not accepted everywhere. Anyone have suggestions on cash back card that is universally accepted?

BoA cash rewards (visa) gives 3% cash back on gas, 2% on groceries, and 1% on everything else. You get a 10% bonus if you deposit your cash back rewards into a BoA account, so it's really 3.3%, 2.2%, and 1.1%, respectively.

There's no annual fee.

You'll also potentially get additional rewards by "selecting" various coupon offers. Selections are free of charge and there's no reason not to select.

For example, a typical offer might say "Dine at TGIF by 6/2014 for 10% off" or something, so you can get additional rewards that way.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

BoA cash rewards (visa) gives 3% cash back on gas, 2% on groceries, and 1% on everything else. You get a 10% bonus if you deposit your cash back rewards into a BoA account, so it's really 3.3%, 2.2%, and 1.1%, respectively.

There's no annual fee.

You'll also potentially get additional rewards by "selecting" various coupon offers. Selections are free of charge and there's no reason not to select.

For example, a typical offer might say "Dine at TGIF by 6/2014 for 10% off" or something, so you can get additional rewards that way.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

BoA cash rewards (visa) gives 3% cash back on gas, 2% on groceries, and 1% on everything else. You get a 10% bonus if you deposit your cash back rewards into a BoA account, so it's really 3.3%, 2.2%, and 1.1%, respectively.

There's no annual fee.

You'll also potentially get additional rewards by "selecting" various coupon offers. Selections are free of charge and there's no reason not to select.

For example, a typical offer might say "Dine at TGIF by 6/2014 for 10% off" or something, so you can get additional rewards that way.

how does their fraud protection work? cant find it on website and the pakistani im on the phone with has me on hold for 5 minutes now...

[jwzimm]

All the major card issuers (Visa, MC, Amex, Disco) have zero liability. Meaning, so long as you promptly report the fraud, you are not on the hook for the charges.

[Templar]

I have a MC from USAA with cash rewards and a Discover with their Cash Back thing. I use them often enough on a rotating basis and pay them off to avoid finance charges, but continue to get the cash back. Relatively nice. I took the Discover since I only had one card and wanted to boost my credit score a little. This way, I have two that can be used pretty much anywhere. Signing up for the stuff with Discover isn't so much of a hassle to me as people make it out to be. It's all on their phone app anyway, it takes 2 seconds. 5% cash back from restaurants now. I've made a decent amount of money back off of it. Yes, there is a cap though, but I usually don't spend THAT much to hit the cap.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

how does their fraud protection work? cant find it on website and the pakistani im on the phone with has me on hold for 5 minutes now...

Oh this is all I was hinting at:

Originally Posted by jwzimm

All the major card issuers (Visa, MC, Amex, Disco) have zero liability. Meaning, so long as you promptly report the fraud, you are not on the hook for the charges.

The fraud protection is similar among all 3 major issuers as jwzimm said. BoA gets a slight nod from me because they've followed through with that zero liability promise in practice time and time again.

[Diesel X5]

I made a purchase at a small computer store on my credit card for $38.00 and found out when I got my bill the store clerk also made a purchase on my credit card for $475.00 I hope he lost his Job. I got a credit back on my card.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by Templar

I have a MC from USAA with cash rewards and a Discover with their Cash Back thing. I use them often enough on a rotating basis and pay them off to avoid finance charges, but continue to get the cash back. Relatively nice. I took the Discover since I only had one card and wanted to boost my credit score a little. This way, I have two that can be used pretty much anywhere. Signing up for the stuff with Discover isn't so much of a hassle to me as people make it out to be. It's all on their phone app anyway, it takes 2 seconds. 5% cash back from restaurants now. I've made a decent amount of money back off of it. Yes, there is a cap though, but I usually don't spend THAT much to hit the cap.

Yeah this is like my dream. The vast, vast majority of my spending is for restaurants, and I'm only getting 1% cash back with BoA.

For me, it's still early enough to where I wouldn't mind taking a hit on my credit score to open up some new credit. The only problem with the 5% restaurant cash back cards is the "5% cash back" category usually rotates every quarter. It's probably too late for me to jump on that now, although it could be useful for next year (and beyond).

Now what does the term "restaurant" actually entail? I know some credit cards make a distinction between "restaurants" and "fast food," for example. Is the category "restaurants" as broad as one would expect?

As far as I know, there isn't a single card that offers 5% or even 2-4% cash back on "restaurants" year round.

Quicksilver probably comes the closest, as it offers 1.5% cash back for everything.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

Yeah this is like my dream. The vast, vast majority of my spending is for restaurants, and I'm only getting 1% cash back with BoA.

For me, it's still early enough to where I wouldn't mind taking a hit on my credit score to open up some new credit. The only problem with the 5% restaurant cash back cards is the "5% cash back" category usually rotates every quarter. It's probably too late for me to jump on that now, although it could be useful for next year (and beyond).

Now what does the term "restaurant" actually entail? I know some credit cards make a distinction between "restaurants" and "fast food," for example. Is the category "restaurants" as broad as one would expect?

As far as I know, there isn't a single card that offers 5% or even 2-4% cash back on "restaurants" year round.

Quicksilver probably comes the closest, as it offers 1.5% cash back for everything.

You're right, it rotates quarterly. When I said now, I meant this quarter. It ends this month. It would be lovely if it was all year round.

I only know that it works for regular restaurants. I usually pay cash on the one or two occassions a month that I grab fast food though, so I'm not 100% sure. Maybe I will grab some later just to test it out

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

As far as I know, there isn't a single card that offers 5% or even 2-4% cash back on "restaurants" year round.

My Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 2% back on restaurants and travel purchases year round. Every other purchase is 1%.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

My Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 2% back on restaurants and travel purchases year round. Every other purchase is 1%.

Oh interesting. I wasn't aware of this card!

Now, on their website it says you get 2 points for every dollar spent on restaurants. Are points directly redeemable as cash or statement credits (1 point = 1 cent)?

[MidwestGolfBum]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

Oh interesting. I wasn't aware of this card!

Now, on their website it says you get 2 points for every dollar spent on restaurants. Are points directly redeemable as cash or statement credits (1 point = 1 cent)?

That's correct, except for 1 point = $1

With the preferred card, you can also transfer points on a 1:1 basis from another reward program when you sign up.

[Kwando]

I had one of my cards hacked and someone bought $2300 worth of stuff..didn't even raise a red flag with Mastercard. I just got a hefty bill at the end of the month with pages upon pages of tiny transactions between $20 and $30 dollars.

Weird thing is this was my backup credit card I never used and kept at home and it only had a $1500 limit. MC said the car was present in many of the transactions so my card must have been duplicated. Who ever went on a spending spree with my card also treated themselves to $300 to Canada's Wonderland and $600 at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament..

[bumere90]

I have AMEX and almost every 6 moths, AMEX representatives call me to inform that someone tried to charge my card $2,500
I tell them that I did not authorize this charge, and they replace my card immediately.
I also noticed that my credit card would get hacked after I visit Miami, FL or Los Angeles, CA lol