Another Reason to Watch Those Credit Card Statements

Even if you lock your credit cards away or put them in ice to help prevent you from using them, you’ll want to always check the statements. We “retired” some of our cards and for the longest time I wasn’t keeping a watchful eye on them for fradulent use. There was no way that someone could use them, right?

Well, I just read about a low-tech scam out there where thieves are trying random credit card numbers and when they find one that works, they cut out the numbers from an old card to form the working number and glue them onto a new card. They scratch the magnetic strip on the back so clerks have to punch in the number.

Yahoo.com Article

My concern with our old cards was that our number was out there at previous places we have shopped at and that the number could get stolen that way. So on the cards we are not using, I placed email alerts on them and I also signed up for Mint.com. They give me a financial summary every week of our credit card balances. So far, I like this system since it helps me to keep a watchful eye on those credit cards we aren’t using.

But pretty soon…it will be time to cut up almost all of the cards. I’m really looking forward to that

Posted by Tricia on September 12, 2008 at 9:28 PM in Credit Cards | 6 Comments »
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Abigail responded:
Posted: September 13th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Wow, that’s just terrifying. Thanks for the heads-up!
JW Thornhill responded:
Posted: September 14th, 2008 at 5:28 am
I’ve been using Mint for a few months now and it is AWESOME!
Pooja Sood responded:
Posted: September 14th, 2008 at 6:41 am
well said. I’ll definitely follow your advice too.
Tina responded:
Posted: September 14th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I’ve signed up for Mint but I am nervous about giving them bank account numbers so I haven’t used it yet. Did you have any concerns? Do they make their money off of advertisements? Thanks for any input.
Tricia responded:
Posted: September 14th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Tina – I am still a little nervous about giving them my bank account info. So, right now I only use it for my credit cards. I have been impressed with that, so I may input other info. I’m just not there yet

Mint is free to use, but they do make their money from advertisements. They also give suggestions (like a credit card with a better rate). If you use their suggestions/link – they make money off of that as well. But that helps to keep the site free to use.
Nichole responded:
Posted: September 15th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I just read about this a week ago. They have actually figured out the mathematical formula that goes into creating CC#S. The first 6 digits tell you who the issuer is, and then the other digits follow a formula that I will not repeat here. There are sites that teach the formula, and I used it on my own cc#s numbers to see if it was a true formula, and yes it is! I was so shocked@! So there is a method to their ‘Not so random” number hunting.

I have email alerts as well, and I have started really checking the balances every month. I also started making screen shots of payments made etc. in case of errors.