Julie
Columbus,#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, June 05, 2003
I work in the Fraud area of another credit card company. Credit card companies do not post charges to credit card accounts themselves, therefore someone has accessed and used the account without authorization. This is fraud but it has been pewrpetrated AGAINST the credit card company, not BY them. VISA does not hold the customer liable for fraud, but you have to call the credit card company to let them know that the bill was not run-up by you. Probably someone intercepted some balance-transfer checks from the mail and forged them, or got the account number off the paperwork (or the cut-up card pieces) and committed internet fraud. I deal with this type of thing day in and day out and it is not a cause for hostility by the customer against the credit card issuer. All you have to do is call the phone number on the bill, ask to report theft or fraud, they will send you an affidavit to sign that you didn't do the charges and that is all! If you do nothing and ignore the bills they will have no way of knowing you are a victim, and then this could affect your credit.
Julie
Columbus,#3Consumer Suggestion
Thu, June 05, 2003
I work in the Fraud area of another credit card company. Credit card companies do not post charges to credit card accounts themselves, therefore someone has accessed and used the account without authorization. This is fraud but it has been pewrpetrated AGAINST the credit card company, not BY them. VISA does not hold the customer liable for fraud, but you have to call the credit card company to let them know that the bill was not run-up by you. Probably someone intercepted some balance-transfer checks from the mail and forged them, or got the account number off the paperwork (or the cut-up card pieces) and committed internet fraud. I deal with this type of thing day in and day out and it is not a cause for hostility by the customer against the credit card issuer. All you have to do is call the phone number on the bill, ask to report theft or fraud, they will send you an affidavit to sign that you didn't do the charges and that is all! If you do nothing and ignore the bills they will have no way of knowing you are a victim, and then this could affect your credit.