{"id":8029,"date":"2009-09-03T20:00:09","date_gmt":"2009-09-04T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=8029"},"modified":"2009-09-03T20:00:09","modified_gmt":"2009-09-04T00:00:09","slug":"fraud-and-identity-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/fraud-and-identity-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraud And Identity Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit cards are the safest way to pay for anything.\u00a0\u00a0 Cash can be stolen, debit cards don’t have charge back protection, but credit cards holders are protect from fraudulent transactions under most circumstances.<\/p>\n

Identity Theft Can Happen To Anyone<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you don’t believe it, take a look at this article in the New York Times<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 You figure that if you are Ben Bernake, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve bank and the most powerful person in the financial world, no one would be stupid enough to try to steal your identity.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, the joke is that whoever stole his identity is now several trillion dollars in debt.<\/p>\n

Credit Card Protections Are Only Valid If Reported Within 60 Days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is an article<\/a> about a man in Denver who was paying his credit card off at a fixed amount every month. \u00a0 I know it’s crazy, but people do this. \u00a0\u00a0 Apparently, he also racked up some $11,000 of fraudulent charges.\u00a0\u00a0 Normally, this would not be a problem, except that he actually failed to notice this within the 60 day period.\u00a0\u00a0 Afterwards, he was unable to get the credit card companies to reverse the charges.<\/p>\n

While it is unlikely that someone would not notice such a large charge, it is far more likely that a smaller charge will sneak on your bill.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You should really spend a few minutes looking over each statement for errors.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since I pay my bills quickly online, I actually end up spending more time scrutinizing my bill than I do paying it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t actually keep receipts to match up every transaction, although I know some people who do.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Instead, I rely mostly on my memory.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps when I get older, it won’t be the best system, but it seems to work for me now.<\/p>\n

Follow The Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you notice a problem with your statement, you should first try to contact the merchant directly.\u00a0\u00a0 It could be\u00a0 an innocent mistake, and it is the right thing to do give the merchant a chance to resolve it for you without incurring the expense of a charge back.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you didn’t know, chargebacks are very costly to merchants as they can raise their fees for all transactions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If the merchant can’t or won’t help you, or the charge is clearly fraudulent, the next step is to contact your credit card company.<\/p>\n

Here are the rules<\/a> for chargebacks that the Federal Trade Commission puts out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The repeatedly say that the chargeback must be submitted in writing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While true, I have never had to do this with a credit card company, they have always taken my information over the phone, and then asked me to submit further documentation in writing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are dealing with a less reputable creditor, you should certainly put your dispute in writing as advised.<\/p>\n

Documentation Is The Key<\/strong><\/p>\n

These matters will ultimately come down to a “he said, she said” situation if the merchant disputes your claim.\u00a0\u00a0 The winner will be the party who has the most clear documentation of their case.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you have receipts, emails, tracking numbers or other information, submit it along with your dispute.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Always keep any explanations brief, polite, and to the point.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I can only imagine what it must be like to be the person who has to read through a hundred of these a day.\u00a0\u00a0 I would go crazy reading a dispute that sounds like a story from\u00a0 Grandpa Simpson<\/a>, and I would probably deny the claim without reading the whole thing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just be glad I don’t have that job!<\/p>\n

One Last Word<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, I will never be able to think of the term “Identity Theft” without recalling this clip <\/a>that I posted a couple weeks ago.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit cards are the safest way to pay for anything.\u00a0\u00a0 Cash can be stolen, debit cards don’t have charge back protection, but credit cards holders are protect from fraudulent transactions under most circumstances. Identity Theft Can Happen To Anyone If you don’t believe it, take a look at this article in the New York Times.\u00a0\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFraud And Identity Theft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/fraud-and-identity-theft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fraud And Identity Theft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Credit cards are the safest way to pay for anything.\u00a0\u00a0 Cash can be stolen, debit cards don’t have charge back protection, but credit cards holders are protect from fraudulent transactions under most circumstances. 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