Royal Caribbean Credit Card - Compromised

[DataStar]

Of course, the RCI Visa Card is no different than any other Visa card issued by a bank. But there are a few things that you can do both to reduce the chance of your account being compromised and perhaps more important, to detect fraud immediately.

 

B of A (and pretty much every other bank) uses various programs to detect fraud. Some are pretty effective. One of my clients -- a foreign bank -- implemented one of the most popular ones and once they got it tuned, the fraud went down substantially.

 

When doing a card-not-present transaction (for example, an online purchase) you don't have to use your actual card number. At the B of A website, you can request what they call a ShopSafe number. This is a unique credit card number that is set up for any amount you choose, and for any number of months you specify. The ShopSafe number is only able to be used by one merchant, although it can be used multiple times if you permit it. For example, if you know that you have a monthly payment of $40, you can set the ShopSafe card for $480 and 12 months and that will work. Using ShopSafe reduces the number of organizations that have your actual card number.

 

Also, B of A provides a series of alerts that are available to you as a cardholder. For example, you can have an alert sent to your cell phone or email account any time a card-not-present transaction is made, regardless of amount. And you can also set a limit and request an alert for card-present transactions.

 

Like others that have posted, I've had a card compromised, and B of A was good about getting the replacement card out to me, and the affidavit defining what charges were unauthorized.

 

Is there any way to have a 100% guarantee that your account won't be compromized tomorrow? Or that it was compromised 9 months ago and the perpetrator is waiting to use your card when you may have forgotten that compromise notice you received all those months ago.

 

Alan

[temple1]

The number was ran through some type of art museum just to see if the number was valid. Then a phone call to Ticket Masters was made with an attempt to charge $205.

 

The suspect only had the CC #, because I have the card in my possession. They did not have the security code on the back of the card nor the correct information such as the billing zip code and answers to other security questions. So the charge was denied.

 

As I've stated, I did not use the card anywhere else on the cruise. It had a zero balance and had not been used in several months.

 

I don't suspect the people at the counter that took the card when I was checking in to set up my Sea Pass account. But I'm confident it was someone down the line that handles the CC#.

 

I'm been in Law Enforcement for 20 years now and this is the second time that it has happened to me. 1st was my AmEx card and now Bank of America.

 

The both caught it. When I go out of the country I call the CC companies and let them know where I will be and what dates. My CC has been cut off in the middle of the ocean before and the ship locks up your Sea Pass card, so make sure you call your CC company. AmEx says I no longer have to call them, but I do.

 

Also if you plan on using a ATM/Debit card, most of the time there is an out of State and Country limit of $250 per day. You may want to call your bank, some banks let you notify them online of the dates and location that you will be at. This will increase your daily withdraw amount and not cap you at the $250 limit.

 

Safe travels!

 

From your original post the person who tried to use your number had nothing but the card number - that they could have just happened on your number by trial an error or other more sophisticated number selection process. A thief would know which numbers are VISA, Master Card, Discover or AmEx just from the first couple of digits. If you have access to the list you can also tell which bank issued the card from the first few numbers.

 

I can see the waiter or bartender at your local watering hole writing down your card number in the back while processing your charge. If they have any sense at all it would also be the time they would write down the 3 digit code on the back. At this point they have your name, can determine if you are a local, your number and code - very easy to come up with a home address for on-line stealing. A large corp with most all of the transaction computer generated - I think it would be awfully hard for Jane in any department to actually see a transaction in order to steal a number.