scrubbedexpat027

Not sure what / if I'm doing anything wrong but I'm going to be on my 4th replacement credit card soon.

I'm a stickler for monitoring my transactions online and each time I've noticed suspicious activity whilst still in the pending state.

The bank doesn't seem to do any sort of investigation. Just cancel and replace.

It's a pain in the butt having to wait 7 days for a replacement though!

Sally Redux

It is just very common there. Not sure you can do much to prevent it.

hungryhorace

Welcome to the US. Credit card fraud is now a big problem here. There's nothing you can practically do unfortunately, given the compromises keep coming from the merchants!

Bob

Can't you just go to a branch and get a new card printed there? We can with ours.

SanDiegogirl

The US as just started looking at the chip technology which is in cards in most other countries.

Up to now this 'new' technology was considered too expensive to implement in the US, but credit card fraud has become so prevalent and users are becoming weary of new cards every few months, the powers that be are taking notice.

hungryhorace

The card should still continue to work until the new one arrives, at least that was the case with our cards.

If you have an AMEX card, you can request they send you one for delivery before 0900 the next day.

Hotscot

I travel a lot.
Gets replaced about four times a year. They have very effective algorithms for identifying unusual behaviour.

Pulaski

OP might want to start shopping somewhere else. We had our card compromised for the first time earlier this year, so it had to be cancelled and replaced. Mrs P swears it was a small non-chain ethnic restaurant that we went to for the first time a couple of weeks earlier.

Sally Redux

I like the way you pay at the table in restaurants here. Never liked my card disappearing out the back for several minutes.

Jscl

I now have a second card that I don't use much, but it's useful for when the main one can't be used. My husband and I also use our cards in different shops (if we go to shops A, B, C he uses his card, if we go to D, E, F I use mine), that also stops us both being down at the same time when one of the bigger chains gets their data compromised. That's happened to me the most, there's only been one time my card was actually skimmed and my card used.

hungryhorace

Would normally agree but when major retailers such as Target are found to be compromised, what hope do others have?

scrubbedexpat027

That's what I thought until it was refused at the supermarket. I went into a branch (Wells Fargo) and they told me it had been cancelled immediately and there's nothing I can do but wait the 7 days for a new one.

I told him it was lucky I'm a multi-millionaire so that it won't affect me but that seemed to go straight over his head. Then I remembered he was looking at my bank details

hungryhorace

A wealthy person often has more than one bank account I find

scrubbedexpat027

And probably has someone to sort this stuff out for them.

Pulaski

I don't shop at Target. Just a few minutes in their red-painted shops literally gives me a headache.