Stolen Identity!

Last week while on my daily grocery shopping trip to the mall just across Tillicum Road, I had my credit card refused -- not just once, but twice. Curious, but not really bothered by it, I pulled out my only other credit card and paid for the groceries. (Isn't our society wonderful? We have multiple ways to rack up consumer debt almost instantaneously!)

When I phoned the credit card company the next morning, I was in for a shock. After identifying myself through the answers to several personal questions, I was asked if I had been in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, or India on Thursday. Having traveled a lot in France and Germany as late as the end of June (those might have been harder questions), I could readily and emphatically answer, "No!"

I then had a very interesting chat with the customer service agent who told me that someone had tried to charge $1300 worth of clothing on my credit card in a store in Saudi Arabia. That transaction had been blocked, but then the person tried to charge $800 at the same store (probably thinking that the credit limit had been exceeded). That transaction was blocked, too. Then the next day, someone else tried to use the card somewhere in India for electronic goods.

When I asked how this could have been done, he said the most common way is for thieves to install their own card reader at a store, and then come back later and pick it up -- now with all the digital information about people's credit cards recorded on them. They then produce phony cards and use the internet to sell the cards to willing buyers. I don't know how much a person would pay for a stolen credit card, but in my case, the buyers -- more than one, because I'm assuming that very few people are in Saudi Arabia one day and India the next -- got a really bad deal -- not even a flash pair of new jeans!

Wondering whether this had been done while we were still in Europe or after we had returned to Canada, I asked about the timing. Do these thieves wait for weeks or months before creating the phony cards, or do they do it right away? Unfortunately, my customer service guy was no help with that. Sometimes it happens quickly, but he told me that one thief had waited more than 10 months. So while it could have happened during our stay in Europe, I suspect that it occurred back here in Canada. While in Europe we used our Canadian credit card very rarely, preferring instead to pay out of our French bank account. These French cards are not credit cards; they're more like debit cards, and you need to have a PIN number for them, which makes it more complicated for thieves.

This all leaves me wondering just who these people are who can so brazenly use what they know is a stolen credit card. I might have a bit of sympathy if they tried to use it for groceries or health care, but expensive clothing and electronics -- give me a break!

The upside to this story is that it leaves me with more confidence in the credit card company's ability to recognize when a credit card number has been stolen. Before we left for France last year, I phoned the company to let them know that we would be living there and traveling throughout Europe, and they made a note in our file. In all that time, we never had a transaction refused. The other thing that the customer service guy reminded me is to always verify the transactions that have been posted to your account. That usually isn't an issue for me, because I check my account online at least every few days. He also reminded me that you have 30 days to report a suspicious transaction, or you may be liable for it. Luckily, it didn't even get that far.

In the end, that account was closed, and in four business days I was able to pick up a new card from the bank down the street. My whole identity wasn't stolen -- just a little piece of it, and for a very brief time -- but it feels good to get the whole me back.