I have a question, and I can't get any info from the bank. Awhile ago when my credit cards were stolen, and they ran up a couple thousand on various cards (citi, and bank debit card), I tried to call the merchant that the charge was run up at and they couldnt help me. The bank gave me the money back, but I was curious? Will the perp ever be caught? How do they investigate the fraudulent charges? Do they pull security tape (even though it was 45 days before the charges were really noticed) do the stores have picture of who stole the cards and made the purchases, and who really loses in the end, the bank or the merchant. Those are just some questions that have been on my mind during the process, I'd love to know who did this, thats why I was inquiring as to the tape. Can anyone ans my ?'s AW
Oh, and one more thing, I do alot of selling online,and was thinking of getting a merchant account, which is another reason I want to know whom is protected, if I were to accept payment off a stolen card, would I ever have any protection?
In general, if the actual card was presented to the merchant, the CC company will cover it. If only the credit card number was given to the merchant (via internet or phone or whatever) then the CC company will not.
had a card stolen, reported it right away. The perp tried to use it within 40 minutes of stealing it. He tried to use it at a store here called Best Buy and they got him on video--he'd been stealing lots of wallets from the the locker room of the gym I workout at. I don't know if he was actually prosecuted. I've heard it both ways--that is not worth the banks time/money to prosecute smaller thefts, but sometimes they do. Hope that helps.
We had an employee steal two American Express cards that came in the mail on a Friday (they were to replace cards that were expiring). He/she took only two of the twelve that came in that day. $18,000 was run up on one over the weeknd before AMEX called the cardholder and found it had been stolen. They looked at some tapes of store survellience, but could not identify anyone so nothing happened. I think it was a quick look to see if they could recognize anyone. When they couldn't, it was dropped. I know the employee whose card was stolen had no liablity. Don't know if the stores or AMEX took the hit. The second card was never used.
During the time I worked for a DA in California I saw several cases of stolen credit cards prosecuted. Criminally it is fraud, but unfortunately like most financial crimes the court doesn't look at it that seriously. In general they were ordered to make "restitution" (okay, these are criminals does the court really expect the victim to see a dime) and sentenced to probation. Most of them repeat offenders. The credit card companies generally charge back to the merchant - leaving them out in the cold. I believe it that they expect the merchant to obtain positive identification when someone uses a card.
"The financial institution that issues a credit card assumes liability in about 75 percent of all fraudulent transactions, according to John Shaughnessy, senior vice president for risk management at Visa. But in "card-not-present" transactions--when transactions happen by mail, telephone or Internet and no signatures are obtained--merchants assume liability for roughly 90 percent of fraudulent transactions. " http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1583717.html In addition to losing the merchandise, the merchant will also owe a fee to cover processing costs for each chargeback.
