I am very careful about my identity, as anyone who knows me can attest. I am equally careful with my credit cards and financial information. I have only one credit card that I use regularly and I deliberately keep a low credit limit on that card. I am good at keeping an eye on my monthly statements.
Usually. Not this year.
I decided to get a head start on my taxes the other day and downloaded my year-end summary for my favorite credit card. It's a handy thing, this statement — because I pay for almost everything with this card, I can print the statement and itemize my annual purchases and business deductions almost entirely and exclusively from this one document. Nice.
Imagine my surprise when, listed under Travel Expenses, I saw a charge for $425.80 paid to Turkish Airlines back in late August. Someone used my card to buy a ticket from London to Istanbul to Cypress [sic &mdash see comments]. I think I would have remembered taking this trip. I admit they got a good price for the ticket and am thankful they didn't fly first class, but it was a surprise nonetheless. I'd like to think it was at least someone who really needed to go to Cypress [sic] and couldn't afford to go any other way than through stealing someone else's credit card number. If it turned out to be some well-off selfish cyber-prick, I would be mighty pissed.
The ticket was purchased through a travel agent in San Diego, CA, so I looked them up and gave them a call. The fraud department was very quick to apologize and has already refunded the $25.01 agency fee. The young man I spoke with was not pleased and told me that this should never have happened to begin with, that someone dropped the ball on checking the purchaser's information. Since they have the ticket number, they can track down the traveler, though I doubt that will do anyone any good. They've made a note on that account and on my credit card record so this will not happen again.
Of course it won't, because my next call was to the issuing bank. My card was canceled, a new number issued and I should have the new card at the end of the week. I'll have some paperwork to fill out, but I'll be credited for the charges. That was the only fraudulent charge, the entire rest of the year was all mine.
It was an enlightening experience. As careful as I am, and I border on paranoid, it didn't matter in the end — my card number is out there floating around for someone else to try to use. Good luck to them now. And you can bet I'll keep a hawkeye on my monthly statements from now on.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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Ouch. If it can happen to you,... Holy cow.
ReplyDeleteAmazing that you took only one hit, and got it resolved with the help of good people. I have worried in a nonchalant sort of way about my exposure too. What a lesson. By the way, if you're heading to Cyprus, the island in the Mediterranean, you may very well find cypress trees growing there. *
* Your prose is consistently direct, stylish and error-free. I had to report my flabbergastery.
What do you buy that's deductible at TJMaxx?
ReplyDeleteDamn, Cyprus, what a maroon! I do like Cypress trees, though…
ReplyDeleteNothing deductible from TJMaxx, but they are the ones who lost their computer files, so I'm blaming them. I use this same credit card for everything from buying groceries to paying for webhosting, so that year-end statement is a godsend for sorting out what is and isn't a business expense.
It really was a surprise that it was just the one charge (and the two additional peripheral fees, but they were only $25 each). I think the thing that saved me is that I keep a relatively low available credit line on this particular card. I have cards that I could use for a downpayment on a house, or to buy a very nice car, but I never use them because the interest rates are ridiculous. This card has a reasonable interest rate and gives me points for purchases. I keep telling them not to ever increase my credit limit, though they ask if I want them to do that about twice a year.