That Phone Call - Fraud Protection

Not sure what to make of this one. I think it may be a case of mistaken identity.

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Caller: Hi, my name is Laura. I'm calling from the Bank of America Fraud Protection department. Don't worry, there is nothing wrong with any of your accounts.

Ducheznee: Hi Laura. I'm not worried.

Laura: Is this Mr. [my name]?

Ducheznee: This is he.

Laura: I'm calling to discuss one of our security products that I think you will find quite interesting. Is this a good time?

Ducheznee: Yes, it is. What would you like to talk about?

Laura: [Laura proceeds to describe the same "protect your accounts" monthly service fee program that is advertised in every credit card statement and every bank statement that passes through the US Postal Service.]  So you receive all of that plus free credit report monitoring all for $7.95 a month.

Ducheznee: That program sounds fairly common. I've seen advertisement for something very similar from my credit card company and from my bank. Assuming I were interested, how would I proceed from this point.

Laura: Oh, we'll just deduct the cost of the program from your checking account each month.

Ducheznee: Really? And how do you intend to do that?

Laura: It will be an electronic transaction.

Ducheznee: I'm sorry. I mean, how do you intend to gain access to my accounts?

Laura: Oh, we already have a record of all of your accounts.

Ducheznee: You do? You have access to all of my accounts at [XYZ] Bank?

Laura: No, just your Bank of America accounts.

Ducheznee: I don't have any accounts with Bank of America.

Laura: That's odd. But you are Mr. [me] at [my phone number]?

Ducheznee: That's me. I haven't had an account at Bank of America for at least 15 years.

Laura: So your phone number is [my phone number]?

Ducheznee: That is the number you just dialed to reach me.

Laura: And you are Mr. [my name]?

Ducheznee: Yes, I am. Is it possible that you may be looking for another Mr. [my name] and somehow, some computer has linked in my phone number?

Laura: And you're positive you don't have any accounts with Bank of America? Maybe a mortgage?

Ducheznee: I used to have a checking and savings account at Bank of America, but closed them when your company tried to strong arm the Boy Scouts of America and force them to have gay scoutmasters as role models for young boys learning to become men.

Laura: I'm sorry. I'm not sure why your name and phone number are in our database if you don't have any accounts with us. I apologize for the interruption.

Ducheznee: No problem at all. Have a good day.

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Everyone is entitled to receive one free copy of their credit report annually from each of the three credit reporting agencies. There are many web sites out that use similar language in an attempt to trick you into using their paid service. Don't be fooled. The Federal Trade Commission endorses only www.annualcreditreport.com. There is no cost for this. If you're asked to pay anything, you're on the wrong web site.

There is also a company [link to be included later if I can track it down] that nationally syndicated radio talk show host Lars Larson endorses. They charge a one-time fee of $5.00 to do the same thing mentioned above. I have not yet checked them out, but I respect and trust Mr. Larson's endorsement. I do intend to research the company in question when I have some time.

Give Cards Some Credit

We have two credit cards. One is just a backup that we never use. Our primary card is used mostly for travel-related expenditures: airline tickets, accommodations, car rental. And that is how I discovered the $850 purchase from an online jewelery retailer in New York. I was simply reviewing the damage from our October Disneyland trip.

• Hotel? Check
  
• Enterprise? Check
• Alaska Airlines? Check
• Sara bought herself some very nice diamond earrings over the Internet? Huh?

I can't say I was surprised. But I also can't say I was overly concerned. I cut my teeth on credit cards when I first started in the banking industry. Fraud is generally only a big issue for the customer when they are away from home, such as on vacation in another state - or worse, abroad. The reason? The moment the card issuer catches wind of fraud, it kills the card and the financial resources available to the customer are now severely limited.

A simple call to Chase was all it took to get the ball rolling. I told them it wasn't my transaction and they immediately gave me a provisional credit in the full amount. At that point the onus was on the merchant to prove the transaction was valid. Since the jeweler could not prove that (since it was fraudulent), the credit became permanent.

Then I received a letter from Chase asking me to identify all fraudulent charges on the account. We have several companies that charge our card automatically. The declaration of fraud listed transactions from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, PayPal and Walgreen's, but those were all valid. The only fraud was the transaction from the New York jeweler.

From what I was able to learn, it sounds like the jewelery purchase was shipped to an address within 5 miles of our house. My guess is the perpetrator was some employee from one of the local businesses where we may have used the card in the past. We were fortunate, I suppose, that there weren't more fraudulent transactions. There easily could have been. This also reinforces my assertion (and others) that we are more likely to have our credit card compromised physically than electronically. 

We now have a new card number and all is well. This experience highlights one of the key benefits of a credit card versus a debit card. Had the fraud occurred on my debit card, that $850 would have gone missing from my account instantly. That could have caused a number of problems for me like overdraft, declined transactions, bounced checks and/or negative reporting to CheckFree. As it was, my credit line was merely hindered by $850 only temporarily and I was made whole, including interest, upon reporting the fraud.

To be clear, there is little, if any, difference between the liability protection between most debit and credit cards. They are both offer near complete, no fault, protection. The difference, to me, lies in the extent of the collateral damage.