Well, I just got my Credit card # ripped off...

[liluqt]

Wow, that sucks. This is why I no longer use my check card for any purchases unless the place doesn't accept AMEX. And even then I routinely check all of my savings/checking and credit card statements to make sure there are no glaring errors.

It happens to tons of people everyday and there's only so much you can do to avoid the situation. In this day and age, it's almost impossible not to make purchases online.

 

[Svnla]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
You don't need a credit card........So if someone tells you that you *NEED* a credit card, I say bullshit. ........

Ok, so how do you suppose a person build up a good credit score for the future...for things like house/job/insurance/etc?

Plus CC (if you use them correctly) can give you many protections and benefits such as limit liablity, cash back, rewards, etc.

If you are not responsible/mature enough to handle CC, just say so instead of giving out bad/misleading advices...

Go here and educate yourself about CC http://articles.moneycentral.m.../YourCreditRating.aspx

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
You don't need a credit card.

Just open another checking account at your bank. It's free.

I have one account that receives my paycheck direct deposits which I use for all my monthly recurring bills (through free online bill pay).

I have a second account that I attach to a debit/check card and I use for day-to-day purchases (like Amazon, Newegg, gas, food, etc.). Even if this card was compromised, it never has more than a few hundred dollars in it at once. I have free instant online transfers between accounts.

I bank with Bank Of America, and they restore any fraudulently used funds within 1 business day, and this includes DEBIT/CHECK cards.

So if someone tells you that you *NEED* a credit card, I say bullshit. You just need to be smarter about how you handle your money. Definitely don't keep your mortgage money in the same account that you use to make online purchases.

The laws protecting credit card users are much stricter. The time periods you have to report fraud is longer and when it happens it's not your money in limbo.

Not everybody has trouble managing their credit card. I've gotten hundreds in cash back on my card and have maybe paid $20 in interest (car repair I chose to pay off over 2 months)

 

[LTC8K6]

Never use a Visa or MC check card.

Use other people's money, and pay them back.

 

[Via]

I just had attempted fraudulent CC useage.

I got a call from my CC companies fraud department questioning some attempted charges.

On June 1 "they" charged a dollar. When that went through "they" attempted a $600 purchase June 2nd.

Since I didn't have nearly that much availabe on the card it was declined; it's a low limit card I use for on-line transacions.

Later that day they tried a $200 dollar purchase. By that time my CC company flagged "them".

It makes you feel pretty fucking helpless.

Doubly frustrating - it took my an hour on the phone with the CC company to get them to change my CC# and send me a new card. They initially wanted to send me forms to fill out and kept transfering me around.

Unfucking believable.

 

[alkemyst]

my boss just had this happen this morning. One airline ticket went through there were a total of 10 that were attempted.

Batteries.com did send him a letter recently about them getting compromised.

The tickets were purchased in India.

 

[ViviTheMage]

This is why I check my cards almost every day!

 

[zoiks]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Say goodbye to your credit score. You are now a bigger risk than someone with bad credit. 🙁

Not really. Most cards are protected for fraudulent purchases.

 

[TwiceOver]

Originally posted by: zoiks

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Say goodbye to your credit score. You are now a bigger risk than someone with bad credit. 🙁

Not really. Most cards are protected for fraudulent purchases.

This includes Visa/MC check cards.

A lot of people are saying to use a real CC because it affords better protection. I'm not quite sure where these people bank, but at Wells Fargo I'm not liable for any unauthorized transaction on my account whether it be Check, Check Card, or Debit.

A real CC does allow you to dispute an intentional charge and might give you some sort of perks, but other than that I don't really see the use of spending on them all month just to turn around and pay it back from your bank account.

Guess it's just me.

Ohhh... And I highly doubt those sites were compromised. The scammer probably just randomly used card numbers until they hit a good one. It happens.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Bank of America has something called ShopSafe where you can log into your account, generate a one-time use number to make your purchase with, and submit that to the vendor. Also, if you make frequent purchases from a certain vendor, you can allow them to store the number for future use. If anyone else tries to use that number, it will fail.
I would imagine every bank has something similar. If for some reason a credit card is not an option, this is far better than using your debit card number on the internet.

 

[mrblotto]

Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

if you are concerned about having your card stolen on the internet, you really need to be using single use generated numbers.

also, debit cards are for chumps

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: TwiceOver

Originally posted by: zoiks

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Say goodbye to your credit score. You are now a bigger risk than someone with bad credit. 🙁

Not really. Most cards are protected for fraudulent purchases.

This includes Visa/MC check cards.

A lot of people are saying to use a real CC because it affords better protection. I'm not quite sure where these people bank, but at Wells Fargo I'm not liable for any unauthorized transaction on my account whether it be Check, Check Card, or Debit.

A real CC does allow you to dispute an intentional charge and might give you some sort of perks, but other than that I don't really see the use of spending on them all month just to turn around and pay it back from your bank account.

Guess it's just me.

Ohhh... And I highly doubt those sites were compromised. The scammer probably just randomly used card numbers until they hit a good one. It happens.

You may not be liable just like with a credit card but you are in a better situation with a credit card. The OP currently has no money until the dispute is settled. We just had a thread a little while ago when the poster went on vacation with his girlfriend right after he got cleaned out by fraudulent charges on his bank card. Since he did not plan to compensate for this or have a credit card he had to cut his vacation short because he did not have any funds.

You may have similar protections with a bank card, but a credit card provides a very necessary buffer between your bank account and your charges. Sure, you could something exceedingly complicated like jpeyton does, or you could just get a credit card and use a little more self control than a three year old has.

Originally posted by: mrblotto
Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

You don't pay any interest if you pay off the card. My card auto-debits my checking account. I don't have to worry about missing a payment and I get rewards on it that I wouldn't get with a bank card.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: mrblotto
Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

If you pay off your balance every month, then there is no interest.

I am really surprised by how many people on AT use debit/check cards instead of credit cards. If you have the money to pay for the item and thus pay off the balance each month, there is no downside I can see and at least the minimal upside of getting to keep your money longer and more legal protections (though some banks provide a lot of protection, those are company policies and not legal requirements for them to follow - there is a subtle, but material difference). Also, with a real credit card, there is no chance of your bank account being cleared out.

MotionMan

 

[LTC8K6]

With a check card, your own money is involved. Your own accounts are tied up. Your own accounts are compromised. The bank may disagree about what happened.

Seems like a simple concept to me. Can't see why anyone risks their own money.

Use a credit card and pay it off every month.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: mrblotto
Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

If you pay off your balance every month, then there is no interest.

I just re-read this and I have a question for mrblotto and other debit/check card users:

Before now, did you know that you do not have to pay interest on credit card purchases unless you fail to pay off the balance on or before the bill due date?

MotionMan

 

[SunnyD]

Fix your title. It's not a credit card, it's a debit card.

 

[mrblotto]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: mrblotto
Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

If you pay off your balance every month, then there is no interest.

I just re-read this and I have a question for mrblotto and other debit/check card users:

Before now, did you know that you do not have to pay interest on credit card purchases unless you fail to pay off the balance on or before the bill due date?

MotionMan

Yes, I know this. I just believe in using my own money is all. To me, CC's are just a trip down a potentially slippery slope. A journey that I'm not willing to take. Again, this is just my belief.

 

[TwiceOver]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire

Originally posted by: TwiceOver

Originally posted by: zoiks

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Say goodbye to your credit score. You are now a bigger risk than someone with bad credit. 🙁

Not really. Most cards are protected for fraudulent purchases.

This includes Visa/MC check cards.

A lot of people are saying to use a real CC because it affords better protection. I'm not quite sure where these people bank, but at Wells Fargo I'm not liable for any unauthorized transaction on my account whether it be Check, Check Card, or Debit.

A real CC does allow you to dispute an intentional charge and might give you some sort of perks, but other than that I don't really see the use of spending on them all month just to turn around and pay it back from your bank account.

Guess it's just me.

Ohhh... And I highly doubt those sites were compromised. The scammer probably just randomly used card numbers until they hit a good one. It happens.

You may not be liable just like with a credit card but you are in a better situation with a credit card. The OP currently has no money until the dispute is settled. We just had a thread a little while ago when the poster went on vacation with his girlfriend right after he got cleaned out by fraudulent charges on his bank card. Since he did not plan to compensate for this or have a credit card he had to cut his vacation short because he did not have any funds.

You may have similar protections with a bank card, but a credit card provides a very necessary buffer between your bank account and your charges. Sure, you could something exceedingly complicated like jpeyton does, or you could just get a credit card and use a little more self control than a three year old has.

Hrm. Must be a bank thing. I had a fraudulent charge on my bank card and was refunded the full amount within 24hrs of me calling.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: mrblotto

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: mrblotto
Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

If you pay off your balance every month, then there is no interest.

I just re-read this and I have a question for mrblotto and other debit/check card users:

Before now, did you know that you do not have to pay interest on credit card purchases unless you fail to pay off the balance on or before the bill due date?

MotionMan

Yes, I know this. I just believe in using my own money is all. To me, CC's are just a trip down a potentially slippery slope. A journey that I'm not willing to take. Again, this is just my belief.

For people who cannot handle their finances correctly, I agree. For the rest of us, I disagree.

MotionMan

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Say goodbye to your credit score. You are now a bigger risk than someone with bad credit. 🙁

oh thats just bullshit. OP dont listen to this.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: mrblotto
Just checked with my bank as well, and there's a 'Zero Liability Policy' with my check/debit card.

I'd rather use my money rather than borrow someone elses and pay it back with interest. If I dont have the money, I dont make the purchase. That's just me tho.

but what you dont think about is that if your debit card is used by the wrong people and your account is cleaned out you are out that money for several weeks while they investigate. so tell me how are you going to live with all your money gone until the investigation is over?

yes this happened to me, i lost my debit card and it wasnt a day and the fuckers were out on a spending spree around town. I do have a substantial savings so it was more of a annoyance to me than it would have been to somebody living paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
How is that stolen identity? Thats just a stolen credit card.

Stolen identity is when someone uses your identity to open new accounts or buy things like cars and such.

You just had your CC # stolen...it happens. Someone who processed your card at Newegg or Amazon took your number and gave it to someone. That, or your number was taken when you input it into the site via keylogger or packet sniffing.

or he could just have some bad spyware/key logger

 

[spidey07]

Just a word of warning - this is why you DO NOT use public wifi hotspots for anything having to do with money. You have to assume that anything you do can be read and recorded.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Just a word of warning - this is why you DO NOT use public wifi hotspots for anything having to do with money. You have to assume that anything you do can be read and recorded.

you do not want to do it over wifi period.