If you've ever purchased anything from us, you know how careful we are about credit card fraud. Unlike other companies, we check every transaction by hand. No automation here. Trust me, the person I have in charge of this process would much rather go automated, since it's much easier. However, I just won't allow it. I want every order looked over in detail. Not just because of the reasons effecting my company, I just refuse to allow our customers to be ripped off.
Up to last week, credit card fraud was something I'd only read about. I was like everyone else, I was careful who I bought from online, and took every precaution I could. Well, last week I was looking through my credit card statement, and was shocked to see that my balance was way to large. I dug further, and found over $4600.00 worth of charges that I had not made. To say the least, I was shocked.
I did the normal thing. I called my wife to asked if any of the charges were hers. I was hoping they were (thou I wouldn't have been happy with her), but she didn't have a clue. By where the card was used, I knew the answer before she answered.
I called the credit card company and made my report. It pained me to do this because I knew what was going to happen. All these companies were going to end up eating all the loss. I've been on that side of things myself. The real shock came when I was told that my card had been swiped through a machine at the time of purchase. How could this be, since I was staring at my card as I spoke to the representative? This is when I first heard of credit card cloning, or "skimming".
Apparently someone who had possession of my card swiped it through a credit card "reader". It takes everything off your magnetic strip, stores it, and then allows another card to be "written" with your information. It doesn't need to be a blank credit card, they can erase information on a stolen credit card, then write yours onto it. Doing some research online, I found that these "readers" are now made the size of a pager, so they can be easily hidden from view. Also, the stuff to make it happen (the reader and writter) are legal to purchase... Yep, they can buy everything they need online, and it's totally legal.
I was also told that 95% of the time this crime takes place at restaurants. You hand your credit card to pay for your meal, they swipe the card on the reader, pay the bill, then hand it back. You never know what hit you, until that first statement arrives. Of course, it can happen anywhere you loose sight of your card.
Needless to say, we will continue looking closely at every transaction that happens at our store here in Gilbert, and online. I don't want anyone victimizing our customers. I also hope that our customers are understanding when we explain our guidelines. Yes, it might be a pain when we can only ship to the billing address on the credit card, but there is a reason. It not only protects us, but our customers. As I found out, you can never be too careful. Personally, I would much rather buy from a company that is extremely careful, than one that could careless.
These low life criminals could careless about you, and the stores they steal from. All we can do is be as careful as we can. Shop at places you trust, keep an eye on our cards as much as we can, and understand that there are dirt-bags out there who are looking to rip you off.
Side Note: After I called the credit card company, I called every company where the card had been used. I gave them my information, and offered to help in their investigation. Few know that the retailer/s takes the loss, not the credit card company. Credit card companies rarely investigate these crimes. They leave that to the companies who were victimized. Often these companies just eat the loss, which can be a HUGE hit to their bottom line. I just hope they choose to contact me and catch these loosers. I also REALLY want to know where my card information was stolen, and who did it.
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