When your credit card provider puts non-existent charges on your card

Like so many people with credit cards and private accounts, the threat of personal identity being compromised is scary.  I scrupulously check my credit card statements online, and if anything comes up that doesn’t ring a bell, I call my credit card provider and we discuss whether the purchase was real (for example, if I purchased something from a company who bills with their unfamiliar corporate name instead of their more familiar store name), or if someone illegally got ahold of my credit card info.  I was a victim of identity theft about five years ago on one of my credit cards, and I was able at that time to identify the false charges, get a replacement card, sign an affidavit that absolved me from the purchases, and everything went back to relatively normal.

So yesterday I went online to pay the bill on one of my credit cards, and I noticed something strange.  The online statement noted that the card had been used for six purchases that month – two to Computer Renaissance in Latham (where I purchased parts for the upgrade on my wife’s computer) and four other charges – including the purchase of some products at a Lowe’s and a Target – both of which were in Corona, California.

I looked at the charges, and a cold chill ran up my spine.  I don’t shop at Lowe’s or Target (preferring Home Depot and Wal-Mart), and even if I did shop at those other big-box stores, why would I travel all the way to Corona, California to get something from those locations, when I could just drive to Northway Mall and shop at those stores right here in Colonie?

Alarm bells were going off.  I called the credit card company.

After about 15 minutes of listening to the same “please hold” sprightly tune and how much I would benefit from using this credit card company’s services, I finally got someone on the line.  After I verified my information with the representative, I asked him to pull up my account so that he could see the same things I saw on the report.

“Do you see these charges from stores in Corona, California?” I asked him.

“Yes, Mr. Miller, we do.”

“I have never been to Corona, California, and I believe that these charges are a possible example of identity theft.”

“No, Mr. Miller, they’re not.”

Huh?!?

“We are getting a lot of calls from our customers, this is actually a computer error on our part.  Although these charges are appearing on your online statement, if you look at your total purchases for the month, you will see that they are not credited to your account.  This is a computer glitch that we are attempting to fix, but rest assured, Mr. Miller, the only items that are officially on your account are two purchases you made at a computer repair store in ‘Lah-them.’  These other charges won’t appear on your printed and mailed statements.  We’re trying to fix this error, and you’re not the only one who called us about it.”

Right.  That’s about as believable as a monogamous Tiger Woods.

I politely informed the customer service representative that I will take his statement at face value, and that I will be checking my credit statement – and if the phantom charges are credited to my account, or if I incur finance charges because of this error on their part, that I will take further actions.  Actions that might involve the New York State Attorney General – or at least the attorney general in South Dakota, where this credit card company bases its operations so as to take advantage of that state’s very lenient rules that benefit credit card companies and their practices.  I might even call the Ripoff Report, a website devoted to protecting customers from Big Bizniz.

Hell, I might even call the attorney general in California – or at least the local attorney in Corona, California.

But the fact of the matter is – you need to check your credit cards online.  Do it as often as possible, at least once a day, to make sure that if there are any any phantom charges or charges you don’t recognize, that you take care of it as soon as possible with your credit card company.  In this economy, the only person that can protect you – for all intents and purposes – is you.