Question
Like others, I've gotten calls from credit card issuers about purchases that didn't fit my usual pattern. ($4,000+ at a Kinko's in London comes to mind.)
This morning I got a different one from Citibank. An automated voice, after an intro, asked if I was [name], press 1 if yes, 2 if no. It then asked for my ZIP code and if I knew where my Visa was at that time.
Then a person came on. She asked me to confirm my last three transactions, which were all quite ordinary:
- A pound of coffee at my local Starbucks;
- An AA ticket BOS-ORD (so this post really has an FT connection!);
- My Verizon wireless phone bill.
When I pointed out that none of these is unusual or likely to trigger a fraud detector, she said it was a random regular check.
If it was a bogus call, it was an odd one. They never asked for my account number or any other information that would help steal my identity. And, since two of the three transactions were online, it's not likely that a mischief-maker would have known of them.
So: has anyone else gotten one of these calls?
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We've gotten four calls in the past month. The first two were from a person and left on our phone machine. The second two were automated calls. In each case, it said we needed to call as there might have been fraud useage with our credit card. We called the first two times; the agent had no idea why we called.
We've given up and are continuing to use the card without incident. We've checked our billings and only found items we purchased.
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We've gotten four calls in the past month. The first two were from a person and left on our phone machine. The second two were automated calls. In each case, it said we needed to call as there might have been fraud useage with our credit card. We called the first two times; the agent had no idea why we called.
I got one the other day that seemed remarkably pointless to me -- the message left on the answering set amounted to "if there has been fraudulent use of your card, please call". Catch 22, anyone?
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I got one last week...message left on voice mail at home. They said there were four possibly fraudulent charges. Actually, one could have been fraudulent based on my spending pattern, but it was an actual charge I made. However, the automated message said there were two of the same charge on the same day for the same amount. When I got a person on the phone finally, they told me they only saw one charge in that amount. I called the company I ordered from and they said they only charged me once. It must be a software problem.
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These idiotic fraud alerts by Citibank have been driving me crazy!!
About two weeks ago I was about to get another business card, and I still might. We have a AA Citibank Business card with a 20k limit and I guess we could ask for more, but I just pay it multiple times during the month as I don't want to get too in debt at one time, but we use more than the 20k almost every month for the past two years. Starting in April they startied putting fraud holds on the card and not allowing the charges to go through. Then they would call our office number and leave a voice mail.
What charges set these off?
Office Depot where we order from every week for office supplies. (It is a business card)
Our phone bill from the small town phone co-op. (charged once every month)
And a charge from bid4assets.com where we sell at auction and they appear about 30 times in every statement for the past year.
At the same time they were worried about these we were on a business trip in Colorado where we had never been and making charges. These didn't set off the card.
This happened 3 seperate times over the past two months. We had to call in to Citibank to turn the card back on. Everytime it was Office Depot that they said was the problem.
I told them that we plan on making purchases from Office Depot as it is a freaking Busines Card.
So anyway, I am not too happy with them just shutting off the card because we order envelopes from Office Depot.
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I got a call last week from Citi too -- automated message left in my voicemail....asked for me to call the CS #.
When I called CS, they wanted to verify some recent transactions (haven't posted yet)....mostly small change recurring billing items. But after confirming, they said have a nice day...
I will admit, the call did have me alarmed, because it didn't tell me which citicard...but after checking the online and seeing my available balance, I felt calmer.... ^
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Well after posting my diatribe last night, Citibank followed up with another fraud alert today.
I am buying a new pc for one of our workers so:
I had ordered a used desktop from IBM for $650.00
Ordered a copy of accounting sowtware for $200.00 from a storefront on Yahoo Shopping
Plus I had used USPS online to mail postcards as part of a marketing campaign.
So, we were flagged yet again. I am seriously thinking of applying for the GM business card. I think we could work toward a car.
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I got a phone message to call Citibank about "possible fraud" a couple months ago. When I called they pointed out that I had made several (not a lot, but a few) small payments to the same payee of "some sort, probably online" over a couple days. I had to (TRY TO) explain the concept of PayPal and eBay (duh!) to them (how every 5 CD or books or whatever I might be interested in on eBay are each likely to be from a different seller, and so have to be paid in separate transactions, even though I bought them all "on" the same website and paid them all through the same website).
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I've never had one of the citibank suspect fraud calls here with my aussie citibank card... however you should consdier yourself lucky to actually get a call....
My bank of america platinum visa, if i use it out of the country (out of usa)...buying say.. groccieries here in australia.. my card gets automatically suspended, the charge does NOT go through, and NO call from BOA.
Takes 15-20min to get through to them each time to actually speak to someone... and they say there is nothing they can do to disable it from my account... go figure.
I think its wonderful to receive a call if something unusual is up, especially if your travelling.
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I've gotten a few calls from Citibank Canada... Only once did they actually put the account on hold though. One time was April, I got home for the semester break, and used the card extensively... a few days later I get a phonecall to verify that its me using it. On the statement, I found out that they started checking within a day of me getting back as there were 10+charges that were "Transferred from Consolidated Account"
The one time that there was a block on it however, there were $1,000+ worth of fraudulent charges in 3 different states, 2 of which I havent even been to. They took care of it, had me sign the letter, and done.
The one thing to always watch for of course is "we need to verify the information to prove its you"... My standard reply: "Ok, you tel me what you have, I'll tell you if its right or not". That or call back on the # on the back of the card and get their extension #.
Gagan
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The one thing to always watch for of course is "we need to verify the information to prove its you"... My standard reply: "Ok, you tel me what you have, I'll tell you if its right or not". That or call back on the # on the back of the card and get their extension #.
Gagan
Absolutely!
Phishing is not done solely on the Internet, you know.
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It is very strange to me how they decide whether a charge is suspicious or not. I have been ripped 3 times in the last 6 years on my Visa card. Each time I caught verifying on line statements - called, cancelled and replaced cards. Then in last 6 months have recived phone calls from Bank of America requesting verification of suspicious charges. Always people calling - sometimes leave message.
Very difficult to gauge what draws the calls - but I guess it is an expensive problem and they are developing their screens and pattern detection software. They obviously have a way to go - more and more I am asked to show id when using my visa or amex card.
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Been getting fraud alert calls once in a while as well, finally talked to someone at the company that explained it to me ---If there is a very small purchase (gas, cup of coffee,) followed by a very large purchase, a flag is triggered. Seems theives use this method to make sure the card is still active.
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Makes a lot of sense, but probably doesn't explain my call. The pound of coffee at Starbucks was followed by a $167 Web special from AA, which hardly qualifies as "large" - especially considering that my $2,000+ laptop a couple of weeks earlier didn't raise an eyebrow. Then the mobile phone bill was, if it was typical, around $45.
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This is not unusual. There was a period last year when I charged a considerable amount over several months. I received several calls and also saw alert messages when I logged into my account online. On two occasions, Citi actually suspended my account until I called them to verify all was ok. Citi didn't even bother to contact me prior to suspending the account. I had a few choice words for the account rep as I didn't appreciate being embarrassed at a store by a clerk saying "your card is bad!" I was transferred to a "security agent" who didn't seem to care that I was upset and told me Citi had every right to do what they did. I asked to speak to a supervisor to express my feelings. The supervisor put me on hold, the security agent returned to the line and apologized. The calls and online alerts stopped after that conversation.
Citi has TV commercials on that talks about their security process. Perhaps the calls recently are to demonstrate their "proactive" approach.
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This morning I got a different one from Citibank. An automated voice, after an intro, asked if I was [name], press 1 if yes, 2 if no. It then asked for my ZIP code and if I knew where my Visa was at that time.
Then a person came on. She asked me to confirm my last three transactions, which were all quite ordinary:
So: has anyone else gotten one of these calls?
I got a similar call yesterday (7/12/04.) I ultimately called Citibank AAdvantage CS, and they told which were the "suspected" charges: (1)a bus ticket, puchased in person for $28, (2)an AA ticket purchased in person at LGA for < $250, (3) an on-line (Orbitz) AA ticket purchase < $225. My guess is that these were all travel related and over a 3 day period. I confirmed that these were MY purchases.
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It is very strange to me how they decide whether a charge is suspicious or not. I have been ripped 3 times in the last 6 years on my Visa card. Each time I caught verifying on line statements - called, cancelled and replaced cards. Then in last 6 months have recived phone calls from Bank of America requesting verification of suspicious charges. Always people calling - sometimes leave message.
Very difficult to gauge what draws the calls - but I guess it is an expensive problem and they are developing their screens and pattern detection software. They obviously have a way to go - more and more I am asked to show id when using my visa or amex card.
Both my BOA Alaska Airlines and US Airways Visa Signature card numbers were compromised. I noticed a charge online too, but I have to give credit to BOA for preventing additional charges totaling over 10K to both accounts from posting
Although, I have no idea how the numbers were compromised, I appreciate BOA's fraud detection system (telephone call, letter to me, and prevented 9 out of 10 charges from ever posting to the account). Great job BOA!!!
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OK. Thanks.
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Smart move. ANother thing you could do is say "Whats the extension I can reach you at if I call the number on the back of the card?" or have THEM verify the info. "Ok, what are the charges you're talking about?"
That usually works for me with Citibank. Plus it seems that its the same person from there that called me back a few times anyways so we actually end up having a little conversation in the middle of that as well.
Citibank Canada is great for fraud prevention. Nice to hear of BofA as well as I just got a USAir Sig Visa.