credit card unauth'd use -- HELP!! :(

crosvs · #1 02-06-2007, 03:18 AM

Hey everyone-

I need your help/advice/guidance. My family and I have been with Bank of America for years and I just wondered whether you could give me any pointers on how to deal with what I suppose is called credit card fraud.

In August I went to Europe, if any of you remember -- to Prague and Vienna. I just noticed that since October, there have been 49 unauthorized credit card transactions -- most of them to the same payee -- totalling $935.99. Some of them certainly seem to be international transactions.

Anyway, I downloaded all the transaction data from BofA's website and dumped the data into Microsoft Excel, filtering out the unauthorized transactions.

Any next steps I should know before contacting BofA tomorrow morning? (The security branch is not open 24 hours unfortunately. Go figure?)

Thank you so much for your help in this matter.

P.S. Before anyone asks why didn't I spot this sooner, my answer is simple: although noticing a few of the transactions, I negligently (a) didn't investigate further and/or (b) thought they were related to online bill pays or other miscellaneous expenses I had incurred. The thing is, the mathematical average of all expenses was only $19 or so, with a maximum of only $40. Being relatively small amounts, it didn't really hit me until today that there was something VERY wrong. And then I connected the dots when I realized they only began to appear after my trip to Prague and Vienna.

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xnsf · #2 02-06-2007, 03:20 AM

would you have happened to purchase the credit protection?

crosvs · #3 02-06-2007, 03:26 AM

i think so ......... i honestly don't remember

xnsf · #4 02-06-2007, 03:28 AM

it's the charge of 85 cents per every $100...or something like that

Quicksilver · #5 02-06-2007, 03:34 AM

i Thought that unauthorized charges not made by you were covered by B of A
except for $50,00. This is too late for this but i save all my receipts from all
transactions for the entire month and each one has to match up to the credit
card bill. It might ne a good time to get in the habit of doing this from now on.

In the interm I would call the credit card company and explain the problem
and see if they will help you out of this. Get all your records together and make
sure you take the name of all the people to talk to about this. Date, times,
everything. Wish you the best

crosvs · #6 02-06-2007, 03:49 AM

thank you ...... i'll see what i can do

xnsf · #7 02-06-2007, 04:00 AM

when talking to these representatives, always insist that you are right no matter what they do to make you take the responsibility.

PersonaNonGrata · #8 02-06-2007, 04:08 AM

I don't foresee any problem. You will be asked to sign an affadavit stating that the charges aren't yours and you might have to get it notorized but that's probably it. They will close that account and issue you a new account number.

Be polite and concise in your explanation. (State the issue and the pertinent facts to support your conclusion. Sound familiar?) If necessary, offer to provide proof that the charges were made after you left the country. I doubt this will be necessary.

Good luck!

Quicksilver · #9 02-06-2007, 04:12 AM

You could do that but the kinder approach usually gets people to understand your needs and give you the help you need. Being a long time customer helps as well. It does appear this got by you so you bear some of the responsibility but you need not mention that except in the tone of your voice when you say I don't know how this happend. But please don't lie about it. That will only compound the problem. Just don't volunteer any information and ask what they can do to help you desolve the charges.

Remember "Under federal law, the maximum amount for which a consumer can be held liable for charges they didn't authorize is $50," Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection .

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/09/ccppress.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnsf

when talking to these representatives, always insist that you are right no matter what they do to make you take the responsibility.

crosvs · #10 02-06-2007, 03:16 PM

well, everyone, thank you for all your help: it has been resolved!!

they've terminated my account; opened up a new account; and i'll be credited all the lost money, something in the range of $1000

that was remarkably painless to resolve actually!!

thanks again for your help!!

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