Life lesson - In case you're not aware

Tinstar wrote:
You are right FormerBoater, you win, I was wrong. It was probably my imagination that I spent 5 years over the fraud unit investigating credit card fraud. I know that now since you told me that local law enforcement is not involved with it. I thought the whole thread is about fraud/theft since that is what they suspected when my card was cancelled while on vacation. I was wrong about that too. Oh, and I'm glad to know that V/MC won't shut my card down now if they suspect fraud. That was probably my imagination also. I'm relieved that I can now tell them they must approve any and all transactions that come their way and my transactions are none of their business. Thanks for the "life lesson" and your knowledge.

I'll unsubscribe too.

I have no doubt that you present your credentials factually.

You as the OP of this thread told a story where you were very much inconvenienced due to your Card Issuers (not having robust fraud technology)were taking the easy way out, declining your very legitimate attempts to make purchases while on the road.

As far as local law enforcement involvement, the V and MC rules will ensure that the Chargeback(s) initiated by the Cardholder (in your scenario) will be resolved in a very timely fashion as the Chargeback Rules are very specific about response times.

Law enforcement involvement would be up to the merchant(s) involved in your scenario of racking up thousands of dollars worth of purchases and then initiating Chargebacks to dispute the charges.

My comment that local law enforcement is typically not involved is due to jurisdiction issues. Perhaps a "lone wolf" perpetrator of credit card fraud may fall within the local law enforcement jurisdiction, but typically organized crime is going to cross state lines and fall into federal jurisdiction.

Chargebacks are debited to the merchant's Acquirer virtually immediately by the Issuer. Issuing bank(s) are therefore made whole within 1-2 business days.

Merchants have a finite, rather short timeframe (2 weeks or so) to respond to the Chargeback (in your scenario to prove that it was in fact you, the Cardholder in your scenario that made the purchases).

Large merchants have whole departments of folks that deal with Chargebacks and their acceptance practices are designed to minimize illegitimate Chargebacks (i.e. like in your scenario...it was your card(s) and you did make the purchases).

In a retail transaction it can be as simple as the full magnetic stripe read when the card was presented and the signature matches the signature on file with the Issuer.

E-commerce and other Card Not Present transactions are more difficult for the merchant to reverse, but proof of delivery, physical address where the merchandise was delivered, signature on the delivery receipt, I.P. address where the order originated are all tools that they customarily use and all of that information is easily accessible these days.

Card Issuers are rewarded handsomely each and every time you use their card. As the source of funds, they can Chargeback and debit the funds destined to the merchant with a click of the mouse.

Prosecution can take months or years,but the payment system(s) Rules and Regulations make sure the dollar issues are settled promptly with the lion's share of the freight being paid by the merchants...not the Issuers or the Cardholders.

My position has been stated to the best of my ability while attempting to educate our RV community of the rights they have while on the road. Some may only have one card in the wallet, some may not for any number of reasons want to publish their itinerary in a data base. Some may (prudently IMHO) not want to carry large sums of cash while on the road.

And yes, they must approve any and all of your transactions that are originated by you as long as your account is in good standing, has not been reported as lost or stolen etc.

Furthermore, if they know that your account has been hacked (Target, Home Depot etc.), they have a very simple remedy available to them...notify you and issue a new card with a new account number.

The expense to issue a new card is not material to the Issuing institution, especially when one sees the revenue they enjoy from your useage of the card(s).