It was 5 a.m. and I could not go back to sleep. Friday morning and I am awake. I looked to the right and I see my wife sleeping like an angel. What do we do now that we cannot sleep. Yes, you know what you do. You get your cell phone and start either reading all the stupid posts from Facebook or catching up on emails. I decided to catch up on emails a bit. While I was reading a few emails, I get a notification that I got a new email from American Express. What do I see. A notification email that a charge went through without my credit card present. No big deal. I have my credits cards setup up so that every time there is a charge without my credit card present I get a notification. You can set these up to get them via text messages or emails. I got my Amex card setup via emails. All was fine right? Wrong.
I have only one credit card assigned for online purchases. My American Express card is not the credit card I have assigned for online purchase. That credit card is only for when I go to a store and I have to take my wallet out. You know, gas station, restaurants and when I go to the see the Ravens in Baltimore play.
I contacted Amazon via text messages to find out what was the purchase for. They could not find the charge and then the rep asked me to add my American Express card to the Amazon system so she could find the charge. You know my answer. No. Of course, I was not going to add that card. That was the only way I can prove and know that I never authorized that charge. Well, the rep said, the only way was to wait until the charge goes through since it was in pending charges. They needed to see some codes to find the item that was purchased.
Here is a screenshot of the fraud charge on Amazon:
Locked the Credit Card
You are able to lock a credit card nowadays so no other charges are approved until you unlock it. That is exactly what I did. I also called American Express. They told me the same thing. I had to wait until the charge was posted on my account to see what was going on.
The next day the charge was posted.
I called Amazon and they told me that it was a charge for some kitchen item. What? I explained to them that I do not use that credit card for online purchases. Then they told me that it was placed from another Amazon account. It was a mess. Amazon was no help.
I ended up calling American Express. They are excellent at customer service. Plus I have the concierge level service which pretty much gives me a direct number for “special” treatment. It is nice. You pay for it in its annual membership fee but them it’s worth it. I love great service and I am willing to pay for it. I don’t go cheap on these things. Anyway, back to the charge. They sent me a new credit card the next day Fedex and it had a self-stamped envelope to mail the old one back.
They asked a few silly questions before they took the charge away. Dispute questions, like did I benefited directly or indirectly from that charge? Or if I gave permission to use the credit card for that charge. Stupid questions, but since I am in the financial industry I know they are standard questions because there is a lot of fraud out there.
After all this mess everything was resolved. I am still waiting for Amazon to contact me about the charges. To this date, no call or email. Amazon is good at selling things and customer service for returns but for questionable charges, it sucks.
Here are a few suggestions I have for you that will help you minimize things like these or charges that are not yours.
Check your monthly statement
Most people, I say, 80% of the population do not read their credit card or bank statement at the end of the month. It is important that you check your monthly statement and compare all the charges so that you find questionable charges. These people who make purchases or steal credit card numbers know that you will not check your statement. So they make charges on thousands of credit cards with low charges. Like the one they placed on my credit cards. $20 or less so that you are not able to detect them.
Use a phone financial app
Now you can find all kinds of applications that are great and free in the app store. Pick any of them. Then record all charges on your credit card. Even if you spend $3.20 put on the app. That way at the end of the month you can compare that report of activities with the end of the month credit card statement. It is that simple. It is a matter of keeping track of what you spend. Plus, on an added bonus, these apps help you with reports to see if you are wasting to much money on things that are useless.
Activate alerts
Almost all credit cards and banks now allow you to receive either a text message or email alert for almost any activity in your credit card. You can active the alerts to trigger when:
- Charges over $100 are posted on your credit card.
- Charges without your credit card present (i.e., online purchases)
- When your balance reaches $2,000
- When your payment is due
- If you are late on your payment
All of these alerts are very helpful not only to detect questionable activity but to help you not skip payments or go over your credit card limit. Hence, helping you improve or maintain a high credit score.
One credit card for online purchase only
Use only one credit card for online purchases. And only for that. This way you know if other credit cards have charges for online purchases then there is something wrong. I only use one credit card for everything online. I don’t even carry it with me in my wallet since it is only used for that purpose. I recommend you do the same.
I know all credit cards have protection against unauthorized charges and you can dispute them. But I rather minimize the risk of going through that process because it is a pain in the behind. Just for $23.91 I had to go through several steps and calls and text messages and emails. I don’t have time for that. I rather spend that time making money in the stock market or my businesses or writing more blog post for Economy Chief.
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God bless!
The Economy Chief
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