AMEX has me confused with my K-pop alter-ego
Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 10:06 pmBeen doing some traveling, and I only use two credit cards when traveling: American Express and Capitol One.
In the last 90 days BOTH have had fraudulent charges placed for approx $1000 in value.
First Capitol One said I spent $750 in a boutique in NYC on a date I can prove I was not in NYC. That charge was reversed in less than 3 days.
The best fraudulent charge was American Express and a 193,000 South Korean won charge ($171) for an online Korean something. Amex is dragging their feet a bit, almost 5 days since I flagged it and its still open. Hey, Amex, I was not in South Korea nor do I speak/read Korean to even place an order. But take your time. I'm sure the next Amex data breach will expose whatever account number you re-issue to me.
Capitol One cancelled my card the day I reported it and then overnighted me a new card. Amex? Well, lets just say no new card has arrived yet.
Here comes my Dave Ramsey is a choad rant:
If I didn't use my credit cards I would have to rely on a local credit union or worse, a regional bank to 'investigate' and then hopefully refund my money. NEVER, EVER travel using debit. If your numbers get stolen, or worse your money is GONE until a bank (usually a local bunch of folks that mean well, but have almost zero people in the fraud department) randomly decide if they believe you. I have a previous post from a few years ago about $1200-ish that was taken from my debit account and the weeks it took to get it back.
A heavy hitter like AMEX and Capitol One have more people in the fraud department than most small European countries have in their military. And no, I generally don't carry a balance so I don't care if they charge 30% interest; I pay it off every month. Smart people use credit cards like the tools they are... financially ignorant people think a CC is a loan of worse: 'free money'.
Also don't even get me started on your credit score when doing things like renting, starting utilities etc. I saved over $600 in deposits because my credit score is damn near 800. I pity the folks that have sub 600s and try and get a service or utility turned on that requires a deposit.
In the last 90 days BOTH have had fraudulent charges placed for approx $1000 in value.
First Capitol One said I spent $750 in a boutique in NYC on a date I can prove I was not in NYC. That charge was reversed in less than 3 days.
The best fraudulent charge was American Express and a 193,000 South Korean won charge ($171) for an online Korean something. Amex is dragging their feet a bit, almost 5 days since I flagged it and its still open. Hey, Amex, I was not in South Korea nor do I speak/read Korean to even place an order. But take your time. I'm sure the next Amex data breach will expose whatever account number you re-issue to me.
Capitol One cancelled my card the day I reported it and then overnighted me a new card. Amex? Well, lets just say no new card has arrived yet.
Here comes my Dave Ramsey is a choad rant:
If I didn't use my credit cards I would have to rely on a local credit union or worse, a regional bank to 'investigate' and then hopefully refund my money. NEVER, EVER travel using debit. If your numbers get stolen, or worse your money is GONE until a bank (usually a local bunch of folks that mean well, but have almost zero people in the fraud department) randomly decide if they believe you. I have a previous post from a few years ago about $1200-ish that was taken from my debit account and the weeks it took to get it back.
A heavy hitter like AMEX and Capitol One have more people in the fraud department than most small European countries have in their military. And no, I generally don't carry a balance so I don't care if they charge 30% interest; I pay it off every month. Smart people use credit cards like the tools they are... financially ignorant people think a CC is a loan of worse: 'free money'.
Also don't even get me started on your credit score when doing things like renting, starting utilities etc. I saved over $600 in deposits because my credit score is damn near 800. I pity the folks that have sub 600s and try and get a service or utility turned on that requires a deposit.
