Credit Card Fraud

[LAM378]

So I leave for WDW tomorrow morning. I've still been debating how much cash to bring in case anything went wrong with my credit cards, because I'm paranoid.

Anyway, I get a call this morning from Capital One asking if I attempted to make a $1200 charge at a vacation resort in Great Britain. There's already a fraudulent charge pending on the account for $53 that also originated in GB. Nope, not me!

I hardly ever use that card. I never leave the house with it. I charged tomorrow's stroller rental on it 5 weeks ago, but the only other thing I've charged on it since January was Memory Maker. I called WDW last Friday to purchase that.

I was planning on bringing that card to WDW as a backup, in case anything went wrong with my main card, but that's out now. I don't feel comfortable traveling with large amounts of cash, so now I'm all WHAT DO I DO?!? I know this can happen anywhere, anytime, with any big company, but sheesh...not a good feeling 24 hours before I travel.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

It's ok! You caught it in time call your card tell them you are traveling this is a mistake I made last year I went to my credit card and wouldn't let me because my cart that was a fraudulent have a great trip. I also. Carry a lot of cash on me I just make my husband hold it

 

[journ116]

What about purchasing some Disney gift cards? They're available at Target & Sam's Club, or you could wait until you arrive and purchase some at your resort gift shop. Don't put ALL your cash into gift cards though, just in case a vendor doesn't accept them.

Your other option, a pre-paid Visa bought through your financial institution. My step-father always buys some at his bank, gives them to my DDs as their Christmas gift, and they in turn use them at Toys R Us, Target, and even in WDW!

A little trick I do to keep track of my gift cards or pre-paid Visas (because you need to know the EXACT amount on those things at all times), I place a sticker on it with the original amount. From there, after every swipe, I erase or strike-out the previous amount and write the new balance. Also, make sure you hold onto your gift cards until you depart, just in case you need to make any returns (they'll need the original g.c. to do so…learned that the hard way a few trips back ).

Glad to hear that you caught the unauthorized purchases early! We had this happen 2 years ago with 2 different cards, and our bank/credit card company was right on top of it all!

 

[CtDisneyGuy33]

I agree w @journ116 above. Use gift cards or prepaids.

I never believed in either until I started following this site and the great ideas. I used both last trip and it was far better for me than bring a wad of cash and getting change for purchases, etc.

Question: Cant you prepay the Magic Band as well? Ive never used one (this trip will be first) but I thought you could.

 

[journ116]

I agree w @journ116 above. Use gift cards or prepaids.

I never believed in either until I started following this site and the great ideas. I used both last trip and it was far better for me than bring a wad of cash and getting change for purchases, etc.

Question: Cant you prepay the Magic Band as well? Ive never used one (this trip will be first) but I thought you could.

I almost forgot about charging items to your room via MB (probably because they're not always reliable…note outage last weekend). But, at least this gives you another option: charge things to your room via MB, and come the end of your trip, pay it off, either with the credit card you left on file, a bunch of Disney gift cards, or that wad of cash…however, if you want to pay off your room charges with a form of payment other than the card you left on file at check-in, go down the day before check-out to do so.

As you can see, you have many, many options!

 

[Disnee4Me]

also if you have time to get to the bank, get travelers checks. Once on a return trip from Disney, someone got ahold of my DH's credit card # at a gas station and charged nearly a $1000 worth of personalized statues for a church???? It definitely wasn't us ... hmmm wonder if they ever caught who did it???

 

[LAM378]

Thanks everyone! I just put my cash onto a few Visa gift cards. I've read of people doing this and thought it sounded like a pain (keeping track of the balance), but it's waaaaaay better than having another card compromised. I planned on charging pretty much everything to my Magicband...now I'll just pay it off with the Visa giftcards instead.

I'm so happy I got the fraud phone call this morning, instead of tomorrow morning!

 

[seahawk7]

So I leave for WDW tomorrow morning. I've still been debating how much cash to bring in case anything went wrong with my credit cards, because I'm paranoid.

Anyway, I get a call this morning from Capital One asking if I attempted to make a $1200 charge at a vacation resort in Great Britain. There's already a fraudulent charge pending on the account for $53 that also originated in GB. Nope, not me!

I hardly ever use that card. I never leave the house with it. I charged tomorrow's stroller rental on it 5 weeks ago, but the only other thing I've charged on it since January was Memory Maker. I called WDW last Friday to purchase that.

I was planning on bringing that card to WDW as a backup, in case anything went wrong with my main card, but that's out now. I don't feel comfortable traveling with large amounts of cash, so now I'm all WHAT DO I DO?!? I know this can happen anywhere, anytime, with any big company, but sheesh...not a good feeling 24 hours before I travel.

That is really scary, I'm sorry.

 

[LAM378]

The very INSTANT a fraudulent charge appears on a card? Notify your CC company. DO challenge the charge, but do one other very important thing... ask to CANCEL the card, and get a new CC number.

I got lucky here because Capital One was awesome. They caught and stopped the charges and called me at 8 this morning. There's no way I would have checked that account's activity until at least two weeks from now, after I get back from WDW. They cancelled the card and are removing the fraudulent charge that made it through.

It bums me out, though, that this probably happened when I bought Memory Maker the other day! Glad I had time to get the Visa cards today--I would have been nervous handing my other cards over to WDW this week knowing they've got a fraud issue.

 

[Rob562]

It bums me out, though, that this probably happened when I bought Memory Maker the other day! Glad I had time to get the Visa cards today--I would have been nervous handing my other cards over to WDW this week knowing they've got a fraud issue.

It's not necessarily Disney's fault. There's also the possibility that the computer you used to make the purchase is compromised and snagged the number as you entered it to make the purchase.

-Rob

 

[rt06]

Surprised any foreign transaction was approved. You usually have to call Capital One and tell them when and where you are traveling internationally in order to begin making overseas purchases. Sounds like your debit card, too.

At least you haven't suffered any loss. Just bad timing. Cap One is really good with these things.

 

[LAM378]

It's not necessarily Disney's fault. There's also the possibility that the computer you used to make the purchase is compromised and snagged the number as you entered it to make the purchase.

-Rob

I called Disney and purchased it over the phone

 

[Rob562]

I called Disney and purchased it over the phone

Ah...

-Rob

 

[Dwarful]

did you call the stroller rental company as well? That could be an option as well. Especially if you used it only 5 weeks ago to make that reservation. Even if you called the stroller rental company there is the chance that an employee snagged the cc info to use it for personal use.

 

[G00fyDad]

So I leave for WDW tomorrow morning. I've still been debating how much cash to bring in case anything went wrong with my credit cards, because I'm paranoid.

Anyway, I get a call this morning from Capital One asking if I attempted to make a $1200 charge at a vacation resort in Great Britain. There's already a fraudulent charge pending on the account for $53 that also originated in GB. Nope, not me!

I hardly ever use that card. I never leave the house with it. I charged tomorrow's stroller rental on it 5 weeks ago, but the only other thing I've charged on it since January was Memory Maker. I called WDW last Friday to purchase that.

I was planning on bringing that card to WDW as a backup, in case anything went wrong with my main card, but that's out now. I don't feel comfortable traveling with large amounts of cash, so now I'm all WHAT DO I DO?!? I know this can happen anywhere, anytime, with any big company, but sheesh...not a good feeling 24 hours before I travel.

Go to your bank. Get money cards (gift cards) for the money you are taking. Keep some of it as actual cash but get the cards for convenience. You could also go to giftcards.com and personalize your cards. I do this for every trip. You just cannot use any trademarked photo. I use photos of my family at a Disney restaurant for the "food money" cards, photos of inside Disney stores for the "general merchandise" cards, and a photo of me pulling out empty pocket with a sad look on my face for the "Oh crap" card.

 

[LowesChevy]

Disney Cards and prepaid visas are a great way to go. We just keep the receipts in case there is ever a problem, but never had an issue. Use them for merchandise, meals you name it.

I also make sure I fill out the travel form notification on my cc's website so they know where I will be using the cards. I am lucky enough to have two in case one is locked out, which has happened before while visiting my brother. Nordstrom used my credit card for 2 separate transactions and it was flagged. A big pain, had to contact them...hours later. I definitely wouldn't want to have to deal with that at WDW since if you are flagged you cannot use your card.

Glad your issue was resolved and hope you are having a wonderful time!

 

[Epcot-Rules]

I charge Rooms and meals to my card only. Everything else I bring cash for. For the record, our trip last November, I was impressed with the Magic Bands. My kids are older so they could always get food with them while mother and I were relaxing by the pool or having drinks in the World Showcase!!

 

[BuddyThomas]

So I leave for WDW tomorrow morning. I've still been debating how much cash to bring in case anything went wrong with my credit cards, because I'm paranoid.

Anyway, I get a call this morning from Capital One asking if I attempted to make a $1200 charge at a vacation resort in Great Britain. There's already a fraudulent charge pending on the account for $53 that also originated in GB. Nope, not me!

I hardly ever use that card. I never leave the house with it. I charged tomorrow's stroller rental on it 5 weeks ago, but the only other thing I've charged on it since January was Memory Maker. I called WDW last Friday to purchase that.

I was planning on bringing that card to WDW as a backup, in case anything went wrong with my main card, but that's out now. I don't feel comfortable traveling with large amounts of cash, so now I'm all WHAT DO I DO?!? I know this can happen anywhere, anytime, with any big company, but sheesh...not a good feeling 24 hours before I travel.

I have no great love for any bank, but I use Capital One and they are seriously fantastic about catching this kind of fraud stuff, to the point where they shut down my card if I go on vacation without notifying them. I thought this was overkill until the first time they called me and asked me if I was recently shopping in a Target in Colorado, trying to charge $780 worth of merchandise. Errrr, no, I was not. They caught it, shut it down and I lost no money. It happened two more times over the course of several years and they caught each incident.

 

[Matt_Black]

Another thing about the Disney cards- if you're a member of the Disney Movie Rewards program, unused points can be redeemed for gift cards.

 

[dreamfinder]

Keep in mind that simply because a card was just used now, doesn't mean that it was just recently compromised. With the sheer volume of data, it can take a while for your information to be actually used. There is a reasonable chance if you look back over your older statements you may find a smaller $1 ish charge somewhere on there that you can't really recall. Some groups will do a small hit like that to make sure the number is still valid, and then not actually use it for a while. Most companies (even those will big breeches like Target and TJX Companies) find it cheaper, and are even willing to take the PR hit to try to recover after the fact. As most laws stand they don't have the motivation to try to prevent any leaks of your private information, and doing an effective job is really really expensive, and still not 100% fool proof.

As mentioned, keep an eye on your statements. If you see any questionable transactions, call your CC company immediately. Look at the terminal where you are trying to use your CC. If something seems off, don't chance it. At WDW just put your card on file and then charge to your room (if you are staying on property). You can see the CM swipe the card, they should swipe it once and immediately return it. You can see that they don't do anything funny with it. Then charging to your room eliminates handing your card to CMs at restaurants (who typically have to take it out of sight to swipe it), and greatly cuts down on the number of times someone else has access to your card. If you shop online, check to see if your CC company offers single use numbers. Some still offer disposable one time use accounts to help protect your number. At this day and age, short of cutting all cords and reverting to cash only, you can do nothing but be smart and watch what you do.