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Credit Card Fraud Detection,
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Have you ever received an automated call from your credit card company wanting to verify recent charges? If you haven't, understand that you might in the future. This is just a friendly call from your credit cards fraud detection service. They will probably verify that you have your credit card in your possession and go through 3 or 4 recent charges with you. If you feel that this is a fraudulent phone call, hang up and dial the phone number on the back of your credit card.
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What Happens Now?
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If the charges are yours, the issue is resolved. No further action is needed. If the charges are not yours, your account will need canceled and a new card issued. The unauthorized transactions get disputed with the credit cards security department. A form signed by you is normally required to begin the dispute process.
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What if I Don't Receive this Telephone Call?
When your credit card calls you, if they do not get a hold of you, a letter is usually mailed or possibly an email sent. At this point, an alert will be placed on your account. The next time you contact your credit card, the issue will be resolved during that call. If the suspicious activity is considered high risk by your bank, a block is placed on the account. Next time you go to use the credit card, the vendor will receive a message on their terminal that reads "call center". Many merchants will interpret this message as a decline. Unfortunately, this creates a big inconvenience for you.
What if the Merchant says I'm Declined?
Your best bet is to contact your credit card issuer from the point of sale immediately. By doing this, the activity can be verified, the block removed, and your purchase made with the card in question. I understand that this situation is a big inconvenience. Keep in mind, this service keeps the account protected and saves you the time and inconvenience of disputing unauthorized transactions, which requires a lot of paperwork.
There are many different patterns of charges that banks train their credit card fraud detection systems to look out for. Although not all inclusive, here's a list of the most common. These will not always trigger the credit card fraud detection, but in some circumstances they do.
- A gasoline purchase followed by a large purchase.
- Charges being made out of the state you live in or out of the country.
- A charge being made on your account after not making one for several weeks or months.
- A large purchase being made when you don't normally make large purchases.
- Multiple internet purchases in one day.
- Multiple gasoline purchases in one day.
- Numerous charges in one day when you normally make one or two.
- Paying bills such as telephone, gas, electric, and cable or satellite all at once.
You can see how these situations might look suspicious to a credit card company. Sometimes it's not all about charges though. If you contact your credit card and cannot pass the verification questions, that might also trigger a fraud block. It appears to the bank that someone is trying to gain access to your account.
Finally, if you do a lot of traveling, it's good to notify your credit card company before you leave. This way, they can note your account that you will be traveling and the credit card fraud detection system will not be as stringent. It's not always foolproof, but will save you some inconvenience in most cases.
I hope you have a better understanding now of a credit card fraud detection system. We can all be inconvenienced by them, but it saves us more hassle later on. Don't be embarrassed or take it personally if it blocks you, take it as a compliment that someone is looking out for you. :-)
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