A New Method of Stealing- Warning

New Way of Stealing
For those of you who protest every time I post something, don't bother reading this, since you won't appreciate it anyway,

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Be sure to read Scene 3. Quite interesting...
This is a new one. People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they?


SCENE 1.
A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, 'Funny, I thought I locked the locker..

Hmm, 'He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.

Everything looked okay - all cards were in place...

A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000!

He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions.

Customer care personnel verified that there was no Mistake in the system and asked if his card had been stolen..

'No,' he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had been made. An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet.

The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.

Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them.

How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped? Small amounts rarely trigger a 'warning bell' with some credit card companies.
It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!
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SCENE 2.
A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card. The bill for the meal came, he signed it and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along.

Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another person.

He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man. All the waitress did while walking to the counter
was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card.

No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology...

Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours. Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short period of time. Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, 'assuming' that it has to be theirs.

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!
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SCENE 3:
Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly to my checking account. The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure... While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing.

I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary? Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture.

He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on. It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing... He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open. About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.

Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card. Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened. Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlor...

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All I'm saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don't be careless. Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card. Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days.

I actually had a restaurant switch happen to me. But I got the good card of the guy at the next table returned to me. I thought about running up a super tab on his card and cancelling mine, but my conscience won out.

In SCENE 1 there were two thieves. Thief #1 took $9,000 credit from your account. Thief #2 took you for the interest you had were charged for that $14,000. Credit card theft and miss use is as profitable to the credit card issuer as your charging that amount yourself. If the victim had reported the card missing in time you would have deprived the card issuer of their cut.

Credit card issuers do have a degree of responsibility in a transaction. A signature is required and the the issuer must verify and approve the transaction, you would think for their own protection. To the issuer that is a bothersome bureaucratic step just as using an adequate number of spacers was to BP in the Gulf of Mexico. In the cardholders case he was held responsible for 100% plus compounding interest for cleaning up the damage.

SCENE 1.
Just another reason NOT to go to the gym.

TPP wrote: SCENE 1.
Just another reason NOT to go to the gym.

lol Good one.

I never sign my credit/debit cards...I always put "See Picture ID" in the signature block. That way, if someone does use my card without my knowledge/permission or it gets stolen is used, and the store doesn't check my picture ID, they are at fault!! This info was given to me a long time ago and it has served me well since then.

Whenever I'm asked for my ID, I make sure to tell the person asking, thank you.

Since I only use a debit card or cash when out shopping, I'm in a pretty ok place, cause there's hardly any money in my account - lol !

But seriously, I'm very happy about my bank - if i suddenly go buy something from a store I've never been to before, or spend a larger amount than the norm, they provisionally approve it, and then do a 'signature hold" and call me to verify that I did indeed make the transaction. And to change anything on my account like address or phone number requires a walk in, pony up my ID deal.

So not only am I being safe keeping my card balance low, and by checking my card when it has to leave my hands, I'm being safe thanks to my bank. And they're being safe - lowers their liability and loss.

As good advice now as it was in 2004 when this chain email started circulating, but hardly a "new' method of stealing.

Any of the schemes described could happen and more than likely have - although it's hard to say how pervasive any of them are. The tales above suggest a high degree of organization to these crimes, and intimate a great deal of preparation on the part of the thieves. For a thief to successfully pull of the credit card switch in scenes one and two above, for example, he or she would have to have at his or her disposal a huge collection of expired cards with a variety of designs to ensure that the dummy card approximates that of the mark, so as to go undetected. Yet, having a supply of such cards would be a liability to most thieves, since being found with them would certainly raise suspicions.

In Scene Three, the thief would also need a photo of the BACK of the card, which would contain the authorization code.

Break the chain:

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/cardswitch.html