[linsid]

I have a debit card with Citizens here in TV. They have notified me immediately from the fraud department when there were unusual charges posted and I can go online immediately to see all charges. Sometimes before I get home from the store! It is both a debit and charge. Very happy with Citizens Bank service.

[stadalberts]

You should really let us all know where this took place!!

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by linsid

I have a debit card with Citizens here in TV. They have notified me immediately from the fraud department when there were unusual charges posted and I can go online immediately to see all charges. Sometimes before I get home from the store! It is both a debit and charge. Very happy with Citizens Bank service.

You may want to check with your bank. I understand that, when you have a debit card and select "charge" for a transaction, the card still works like a debit card for purposes of your right to dispute a charge with the bank. So, the bank does not need to follow the Federal credit card law like it would if you were using a stand alone credit card.

[jklfairwin]

The difference is that you are only responsible up to $50 for false credit card charges and the bank/creditcard company is responsible for the rest; so they really care and most credit cards have great possible fraud alert systems. With the debit card everything lost is charged to you; the bank has no liability so they they are not concerned.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by jklfairwin

The difference is that you are only responsible up to $50 for false credit card charges and the bank/creditcard company is responsible for the rest; so they really care and most credit cards have great possible fraud alert systems. With the debit card everything lost is charged to you; the bank has no liability so they they are not concerned.

If you use a stand alone credit card and you dispute a false charge, the Federal credit card law is in effect. The bank must immediately remove the charge and investigate the dispute. The bank cannot charge you anything for the disputed charge. But, if you use a debit card, even if you select "charge" on the keypad, the transaction is not subject to the Federal law, and the bank can use whatever dispute rules they have established for the card. I never use a debit card for purchases.

[charlie1]

Not saying it is not the restaurant employee but there is a good chance it was not the restaurant. Chances are the orders made on line were shipped to people that are untraceable or out of the country. It is too easy to catch someone who buys over the internet and has the items shipped a known person. Fraudulent use over the internet takes an organized team. (unless the person is ignorant of how the internet works) I had overall responsibility for data security and credit card security at one time. With all the hacking happening at stores, etc that take credit cards, it could have come from anywhere. In fact, I can bet you there are a lot of companies that do not know that they have been compromised. The key for you is to report the fraudulent activity to your CC company immediately so they can look at all your charges over a period of time to determine if any place you used the card has had other issues. This is how most of the security breaches are discovered! Let them do the work of finding the people responsible!

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by charlie1

Not saying it is not the restaurant employee but there is a good chance it was not the restaurant. Chances are the orders made on line were shipped to people that are untraceable or out of the country. It is too easy to catch someone who buys over the internet and has the items shipped a known person. Fraudulent use over the internet takes an organized team. (unless the person is ignorant of how the internet works) I had overall responsibility for data security and credit card security at one time. With all the hacking happening at stores, etc that take credit cards, it could have come from anywhere. In fact, I can bet you there are a lot of companies that do not know that they have been compromised. The key for you is to report the fraudulent activity to your CC company immediately so they can look at all your charges over a period of time to determine if any place you used the card has had other issues. This is how most of the security breaches are discovered! Let them do the work of finding the people responsible!

If the card was compromised in the restaurant, I would blame the restaurant for not providing a safe and secure way for their customers to pay the bill. They should be responsible for their employees, or they could allow customers to swipe their own card at the table. They own the business.

[DecaturFargo]

When we were in Sweden and Denmark, every restsurant brought the portable machine to the table. Your card was never out of your control. This is what should happen in America for each and every purchase.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Pila0431

I visited a local restaurant for lunch on Wednesday, last week and paid for it with my credit card. The waitress took my card, I assume to the back, and charged my card and returned it with the receipt to sign. There was nothing unusual about the transaction. Over the weekend I checked my charges and found two charges, one for $359.95 and another for $362.95 (both on line). I know it happened at the restaurant because I did not use the card again until Sunday, when it was declined, which prompted me to look at my balance and I saw the charges. We obviously are not saying the name of the restaurant, but we are calling the manager to alert them they have a thief on their wait staff and they should buy portable credit scanners so the staff can bring it to the table to be charged thru the card chip. Even though I know it was done there, because of the transaction date, and the sparse use of my card during that time, my warning would be to check your on-line balance daily. It's a good thing I do not put much money in the debit card account as they tried another charge but it was denied. A warning to the wise is hopefully enough.

The exact reason I don’t let waiter take my credit cards and never debit bank card. Especially during the pandemic, some people are disparate and of course some are just thieves.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by charlie1

Not saying it is not the restaurant employee but there is a good chance it was not the restaurant. Chances are the orders made on line were shipped to people that are untraceable or out of the country. It is too easy to catch someone who buys over the internet and has the items shipped a known person. Fraudulent use over the internet takes an organized team. (unless the person is ignorant of how the internet works) I had overall responsibility for data security and credit card security at one time. With all the hacking happening at stores, etc that take credit cards, it could have come from anywhere. In fact, I can bet you there are a lot of companies that do not know that they have been compromised. The key for you is to report the fraudulent activity to your CC company immediately so they can look at all your charges over a period of time to determine if any place you used the card has had other issues. This is how most of the security breaches are discovered! Let them do the work of finding the people responsible!

I doubt the rarely find the individuals?
That’s why you use go-in-between like PayPal so they can’t get access to you’re credit cards/ bank cards.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by stadalberts

You should really let us all know where this took place!!

The OP does not KNOW.
OP is making an assumption.


Why bash a business without facts???

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

The exact reason I don’t let waiter take my credit cards and never debit bank card. Especially during the pandemic, some people are disparate and of course some are just thieves.

If you do not let the waiter take your card how do you pay?

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by DecaturFargo

When we were in Sweden and Denmark, every restsurant brought the portable machine to the table. Your card was never out of your control. This is what should happen in America for each and every purchase.

I have found they do it this way all thru Europe. No idea why we are so backward?

Would think the CC companies would insist on this to reduce fraud.

[perrjojo]

Once my credit card was used by the receptionist in my doctors office. She used it for online purchases and and her son’s gymnastic lessons. I knew who did it and called the CC company to report who had used my card and they would not take the information. I guess it’s just easier to write it off and charge higher interest.

[jaj523]

I have a credit card I seldom use but keep in case of an emergency. After about three months, I noticed that my FICA score had gone way down. After checking further, I discovered that someone had charged over $5000 at Sam's Club three months previously. I have never even been to Sam's Club. They had been sending the bill to a bogus address, so I never got an actual bill, which would have alerted me to the charge. When I finally discovered all this, I had a heck of a time trying to straighten out my credit, which had always been impeccable. Started getting nasty phone calls from debt collectors. It took months to get it all straightened out, and my credit number has still not returned to what it was before all this happened, although it has improved. I considered going to a lawyer, and only when I threatened to do that did Sam's Club relent and consider the charge fraudulent. But it still took months to get the credit agency to do the same. What a nightmare! I got a new card number and put an alert on it.