So I’ve been writing about personal finance — credit cards, in particular — for almost seven years. I’ve seen my credit score increase by over 100 points in that time. Did I get a big head during that time? Li’l bit. Did I think I was invincible? Also yes. Did I get slapped by reality? Absolutely.
I had my credit card information stolen in September. And to this day, I still don’t know how it happened. I don’t shop at suspicious websites (looking at you, Temu) or lend out my credit card. But it happened all the same. Three credit cards later — yes, three — the issue was finally settled. Here’s what happened.
¿Dónde Está la Biblioteca?
A little background information: I live in Seattle. I grew up in South Texas, but I haven’t been to the area in over a year. So imagine my surprise when I received a notification from my Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card about suspicious Uber charges … in Mexico.
Now, I’m not proud to admit this, but I ignored the first alert because I thought it was a scam. (I told you I thought I was invincible.) But when the second alert came in, I started to pay attention. The charges that came in weren’t exorbitant, but there sure were a lot of them.
Apparently the person who stole my credit card information had places to be while in Mexico and was taking several trips throughout the day. All totaled, it was about $150 in fraudulent charges.
So, I called Wells Fargo to figure out next steps.
Please Stop Taking My Money
The call itself was uneventful; I canceled the credit card and submitted a claim. I was told to expect my new credit card within the week. I hung up and went about my day. But then, another notification came through. And then another one.
I thought these were maybe residual charges, but when I opened my Wells Fargo app to double check, I saw these were new charges on a credit card I hadn’t even received yet. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t just answered a column question about a similar situation just a few weeks prior.
A consumer wrote in about how her ex-boyfriend was using her credit card to pay for his gym membership without her permission. She canceled the card so she wouldn’t continue getting charged by the gym, but the gym charged her new credit card even though she never gave it that information.
I was confused at the time, having never heard of such an occurrence. I made a few calls and figured out what she should do next, but her experience left me curious. So, of course, I found myself in a similar situation the following month. Life really said, “You’ve got questions? I’ve got answers.” And sucker-punched me in the face with first-hand experience.
I called Wells Fargo back to figure out what was going on. Turns out, the woman I had spoken to deactivated my digital card number on my device, but not with merchants I had directly saved my digital card number to.
Because of this, Uber was able to charge my new credit card without my needing to update my card information anywhere.
So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, ask your bank or card issuer to deactivate your digital card number with merchants as well as on your device, just to be on the safe side. You may have to give your new card number to a few merchants, but I say that headache is easier to manage than having to deal with fraud.
Lesson Learned
After my digital card number was deactivated with merchants, I was assured it wouldn’t happen again. But it meant I needed another new credit card sent to me.
I was instructed to cut up the first new credit card I would receive and wait for the second one. However, I was warned residual charges might show up on this second new credit card, and if they did, I would need to cancel that second card for another replacement. In case anyone is keeping a tally, that’s three new credit cards.
Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and I was able to keep my second replacement card.
I learned the hard way that no one is invincible. So take it from me: Keep an eye on those text alerts, ask plenty of questions when you call your bank or issuer and maybe learn Spanish … just in case.
More from U.S. News
How to Prevent Credit Card Fraud
7 Signs Your Credit Card Is Being Hacked
Dear Clever Credit: My Ex Uses My Credit Card. How Do I Stop This?
I Had My Credit Card Information Stolen. Here’s What Happened originally appeared on usnews.com
