T his is an email that I received, another one of those 'read it or lose' emails where they attempt to scare you into believing things that are not necessarily true. I don't understand why people continue to propogate these types of emails, but sometimes they are very helpful and for the most part they are fun and some are just outright baloney.
This one is not bad.
enjoy!
Mark
Be sure to read Scene 3
Quite interesting.
SCENE 1.
This is a new one. ?
People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they?
A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker.
After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, 'Funny, I thought I locked the locker. ?
Hmm, ?'He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.
Everything looked okay - all cards were in place.
A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000!
He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions.
Customer care personnel verified that there was no Mistake in the system
and asked if his card had been stolen. ?
'No,' he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had been made. ?
An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet.
The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.
Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them.
How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy?
$9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped?
Small amounts rarely trigger a 'warning bell' with some credit card companies.
It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!
SCENE 2.
A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card.
The bill for the meal came, he signed it,and the waitress folded the receipt
and passed the credit card along.
Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. ?Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and
behold, it was the expired card of another person.
He called the waitress and she looked perplexed.
She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man.
All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card.
No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology.
Verdict:
Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours.
Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short period of time.
Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, 'assuming' that it has to be theirs.
FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!
SCENE 3:
Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in.
I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly ?
to my checking account.
The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on
the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.
While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing.
I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. ?Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a
picture.
He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on.
It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing.
He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open.
About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.
Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card.
Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.
Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlor.
All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don't be
careless.
Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card.
Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days.
FORWARD THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN THINK OF. LET'S GET THE WORD OUT! JUST BE AWARE
Never let your card out of your sight.....check and check again!
My comments are:
these are possible, but not really probably
number one is crock, if you didn't sign the charge, then you don't have to pay for it, ever
you will never be billed or lose money beause of credit card fraud
it's the credit card companies that are spreading this shit around trying to scare everyone into taking good care of their cards so the credit card companies do not lose more money
DEBIT CARDS are a different story, it's a very long and drawn out process to get your bank to put money back into your account after a fraud, guard your PIN with your life, it's the key to everything, a lousy 4 digits!
