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Fraudulent CC Transactions

edited December 2017 in Fund Discussions
So first, my wife's CC bill arrives in the month 1 month late, around the time the next bill normally arrives. We always wait for bill to arrive and then pay immediately. Obviously now we owed late charges, which is probably why I looked at the bill a little closely. So what do I see?

For 2 months someone has been taking rides on LYFT on my wife's CC. Neither of us has account with LYFT, which is a good thing because that's another reason I spotted transactions quickly. There were several of them. My wife didn't see any other transactions she did not recognize. Needless to say we called and had a new card sent.

My question is HTF does this happen? The Lyft App asks for CC#, expiry date, security code, mailing address. 1) HTF does someone have all of this? 2) Assuming someone didn't have it WTF is LYFT doing allowing the charges?

Either Lyft does not care about protecting consumers and/or there is an insider problem at Discover since someone at a shady hotel at which my wife's DID NOT eat might have somehow got hold of all information but not address!

Please vote who the !@#$%^&* is : Lyft or Discover. There is no 3rd option here. Maybe both. Especially since there is no reason for bill to arrive 1 month late in my mailbox. Almost as if someone "held" it back so we couldn't see all those charges.

PS - We were told to wait till new card arrives before asking whether late fees will be refunded. They wouldn't even say at the point we called they would be. If late fees are not returned - nothing to do with fraudulent transactions, they should mail bill on time - we will be canceling the card because Discover will then be the WFC of CCs for us.

Comments

  • "Obviously now we owed late charges ..."

    Most Discover cards have late/missed payment forgiveness - they don't charge a late fee for your first late payment. So whether you're charged a penalty may not not as obvious as it might seem. Perhaps Discover is suggesting you wait to see if there is a late fee assessed before asking to reverse the charge?
    your first missed minimum payment won’t incur a $27 late fee, subsequent missed minimum payments will.
    https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/resources/credit-card-grace-period

    "Please vote who the !@#$%^&* is : Lyft or Discover. There is no 3rd option here"

    Equifax? https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax-data-breach-what-do
  • Isn't it strange that someone would steal credit card info and then only use it for paying Lyft charges, and doing that for 2 months? It sounds like an unfortunate mistake compounded by a strange coincidence that your wife's statement arrived late at the same time.

    It's probably the Russians training new criminals for the next election.
  • @msf. I and my wife were apparently not affected by Equifax hack. OF course as someone on this board pointed out, their website which asked you to enter last name / ssn / whatever would take garbage and say Yes/No, so who knows you may be right.

    However, I really feel there is no third option here. People on this board might remember I was a victim of identity theft and it prompted me to completely change my lifestyle and in may case it was an inside job. Think about it, insiders are in best place to do this shit. All it takes is one rogue employee. The fact that my bill arrived in the mail so late is what is making me very suspicious.
  • edited December 2017
    @LLJB, who knows? Unless it's equifax one thing I'm doing is not letting any CC "leave my sight" if you know what I mean. Like don't give to waiter to take it away (who know where) and then bring it back. Swiping in plain sight is okay.

    Equifax data breach - HTF do they know the security code on the back of the card? We are talking about someone who not ownly HAD access to the security code on my card BUT also paid someone who hacked equifax to get address and THEN only made Lyft charges ???

    And if any of the information that was typed into Lyft app was bogus and they STILL let it go through, then they are basically just collecting information for marketing?

    And then charge went thru at Discover if security code was not available to the Equifax hacker? Equifax hack tells what Card I have, I doubt they store the security code at the back.

    Basically I need to know to (a) never do business with lyft which sucks because Uber stinks as well, Or (b) stop doing business with discover.
  • edited December 2017
    “Please vote who the !@#$%^&* is : Lyft or Discover. There is no 3rd option here.”

    Sorry to disagree, but there’s a good chance someone else stole your card information and has been testing it out on LFT. Quite possibly (but not necessarily) an employee of LFT which would make it easier to cover their tracks. Data theft “wholesalers” like to test out their “wares” before selling the data to someone else. Check your credit files. If problems continue file a police report for identity theft. They could access the transactions to determine where they originated (possibly from a foreign country).

    Umm ... Why wait for paper statements to arrive from the CC company? We monitor our CC account online weekly to check for fraudulent activity. And we’ve linked it to our checking account so we can pay it off as early as possible every month. The problem trying to get the refund on the late charges would be climbing the wall of bureaucracy at the company. Been there. Done that. Often it’s not worth the hassle of persistent and thoroughly documented contacts to obtain a refund. Since the late charges could impact your credit rating it might be worth the hassle of clearing the matter up.
  • If I were you I'd probably report the problem to Lyft and maybe even the police, or threaten to involve the police if necessary. Presumably whoever was making these charges will use Lyft again and that's when they should be questioned and/or apprehended. It's probably the only way you ever find out what happened, regardless of whether someone bought stolen info from the Equifax hackers, it was an incredibly strange mistake or anything in between. It may also be too small of a problem for the police to be interested in a major metropolitan area like San Francisco.

    I'd be surprised if something like this has anything to do with Equifax and I'd even be surprised if someone who handled your credit card, like a waiter, was the source. Using stolen credit card info only to take taxis and doing it for months is not typically criminal behavior. My suspicion would be that something really strange happened or multiple strange things happened and your credit card somehow got connected to a Lyft account that it didn't belong to.

    Nonetheless, based on what you've shared I wouldn't worry so much about doing business with Lyft or Discover but you'll probably never know for sure without pursuing more details.
  • Our CC info was stolen somehow long ago, so I set up an alert on all our CC so i get an email every time they are used for transactions greater than $0.01... Some days i get two or three emails a day. Big deal. 99% of the time I recognize them Maybe once a year I do a little digging, but it is very little work and worth the peace of mind.

    I would not waste my time calling the merchants or the card company with more information.. They don't care. I have a card I use about once every six months whose info was stolen and misused... right after I used it for the first time in months at a liquor store. It seemed obvious the information was stolen by a store employee and a little investigation would have caught them. Visa couldn't care less. The store denied everything
  • edited December 2017
    Thanks for all the comments guys. One reason I haven't contacted Lyft is because I am not their client. Best to work through Discover. THEY are liable for all charges and can deal with Lyft. We have new card now and don't see any other transaction we don't recognize.

    Why wait for bill to arrive in mail? Good question. One reason - simplify life. There is already too much computer / online usage we are trying to cut down. As family I make my daughter call me from college instead of continuous texting, for instance. I want to check mail just once a week and pay bills. I DO NOT want to be constantly connected. However, one thing we should do I realize as I'm typing this is to sign up for text alert when card is used.

    Now once again, Lyft app asks for Name, CC#, Security Code, Address, Phone Number. You would think they would verify ALL before letting you use the app. The ONLY party that can easily know all of the above is someone at Discover. The waiter who takes my card away could perhaps be "selling" information to someone who can dig up my Phone Number and address. BUT how does he spoof my Phone? I know it's possible to do that because I've received calls from myself asking me to type last 4 digits of my SSN from cyber theives out there (google, it is fairly common)

    Someone (how?) stole my information happens to be a Lyft employee? Okay, HTF did he get Security Code? Or the waiter above worked with someone from Lyft?

    Sometimes the answer is indeed the most obvious one. I agree I might be suffering from unconscious bias since my personal experience on identity theft was an inside job, I'm predisposed to thinking that's the case again. I don't buy someone was "testing" the card with Lyft. How many times does he need to test? There were 25+ transactions over 3 weeks.

    Finally whenever CC card is used online, they ask you BILLING address. If you are receiving something there is SHIPPING address. If Merchants are not verifying information against BILLING address they are not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities. Lyft is not a Mom-Pop shop.

    It would very well be a CROOK at Discover or INCOMPETENCE at Lyft or Both
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