Probable Credit card fraud on the Spirit

[msunrullieone]

Just got back from a wonderful cruise on the 18th. But we got a call from the security dept at our bank regarding suspicious charges on the card which we had used for onboard expenses.

 

The charges were made last week while we were on the cruise. Several website charges for games, an out of country discount shoe store for $1600, and then several charges made out to NCL Spirit that increased in amount through the week. NONE of those charges were on our final bill we received our last morning on the ship.

 

We didn't use our card in any ports, and obviously used our key card for all charges on the ship. Our bank has declared these charges as fraud, and thankfully we're not liable. The NCL office was already closed for the weekend, but we definitely will call Monday to discuss. Just wanted to make other cruisers aware from the March 11-18 Spirit to check your statements.

[mpk218]

hahaaa yep it happens . Mine was a meat outlet somewhere in Europe last time . Thats why its always best to use a decent bank card .

I have found AMEX to be the best when it comes to fraudulent charges .

 

Good you caught it ;)

 

Edit: It most likely was a purchase just prior to your boarding that someone pinched your number and the number was used while you were on board . Did you arrive at port a day or two prior to sailing?

( restaurant , taxi , etc etc . )

 

it happens

[msunrullieone]

I wonder how many pairs of shoes one can get at a discount site for $1600?! Good grief. ;)

[msunrullieone]

hahaaa yep it happens . Mine was a meat outlet somewhere in Europe last time . Thats why its always best to use a decent bank card .

I have found AMEX to be the best when it comes to fraudulent charges .

 

Good you caught it ;)

 

Edit: It most likely was a purchase just prior to your boarding that someone pinched your number and the number was used while you were on board . Did you arrive at port a day or two prior to sailing?

( restaurant , taxi , etc etc . )

 

it happens

 

Nah, that couldn't be it because we used my card for the hotel/NO expenses and hubby's card for cruise. Plus several of the fraud charges were made out to the spirit but none of those charges were on the final bill charge.

[HppyCamper]

My wife had fraud on Her Visa here in the States recently. Visa took care of all it fine.

[willysgrandma]

Another example of why you should NEVER use a debit card when traveling and only use a c.c. Had this been a debit card, your bank account could have been emtpied.

[msunrullieone]

Definitely thankful USAA caught it... We would have noticed when we got the statement but it could have been a big hassle by then. So glad it wasn't a debit card, ugh!

[cruisemainiac]

I would't assume this to be an NCL issue. I have an Amex I only use for cruises, one day I look at my online statement and had a $300 charge for an on line dating site. I've never looked at a dating site and I hadn't used the card in 5 months, go figure. Amex dealt with it, case closed.

[NeilD]

I wonder how many pairs of shoes one can get at a discount site for $1600?! Good grief. ;)

 

Ask Imelda Marcos.....am I dating myself here?

[NLH Arizona]

I wonder how many pairs of shoes one can get at a discount site for $1600?! Good grief. ;)

1 pair of excellent shoes, 10 pairs of really good shoes, 30 pairs of ok shoes or and 80 pairs of shoes you shouldn't have purchased.

[Sauer-kraut]

1 pair of excellent shoes, 10 pairs of really good shoes, 30 pairs of ok shoes or and 80 pairs of shoes you shouldn't have purchased.

 

That would be enough great work shoes to last me 2 years. :D

[Partyatsea]

Maybe it's coincidence, but a short time after we prepaid our DSC online on myNCL Monday we got an email from BOA, we have the NCL Worldpoints card, alerting us to a fraud alert. They said I had a large charge (denied) from a department store in Canada. They closed my card and are sending me a new one. First time we've ever had this kind of issue.

[xenagurl]

Sorry that happened to you OP, that's never pleasant. When I've had that happen it usually tied into me taking money off of my debit card while in a different country and my bank info being skimmed from (or around) the ATM machine.

[MeHeartCruising]

...then several charges made out to NCL Spirit that increased in amount through the week. NONE of those charges were on our final bill we received our last morning on the ship.

 

Is it is possible these Spirit charges were preauthorizations for purchases you made on the ship that were removed at the end when a final, single charge was made for your entire bill? The reason I ask this is that last summer when I was on a Royal Caribbean ship, on the first day when I purchased the $75 internet package using my Seapass Card, this charge was submitted to my Visa card for approval either immediately or later that evening. The bank blocked the charge, suspecting it was fraudulent. The next day, I received a letter from the ship's desk that I needed to come to the desk to make other arrangements to pay them the $75. After using their phone to call my bank, it was cleared up as not being a fraudulent charge and was permitted to be re-run. Subsequent charges for shipboard purchases went thru fine. This was not a debit card. But a regular Visa credit card. There have been other threads on this topic on Cruise Critic. Cruisers should be aware that individual purchases made thru the week on a ship are (sometimes?) processed as pre approvals (or whatever you want to call them) every time you do a transaction on the ship. Not just at the end of the week when you see the total charge that ultimately shows up.

[msunrullieone]

Is it is possible these Spirit charges were preauthorizations for purchases you made on the ship that were removed at the end when a final, single charge was made for your entire bill? The reason I ask this is that last summer when I was on a Royal Caribbean ship, on the first day when I purchased the $75 internet package using my Seapass Card, this charge was submitted to my Visa card for approval either immediately or later that evening. The bank blocked the charge, suspecting it was fraudulent. The next day, I received a letter from the ship's desk that I needed to come to the desk to make other arrangements to pay them the $75. After using their phone to call my bank, it was cleared up as not being a fraudulent charge and was permitted to be re-run. Subsequent charges for shipboard purchases went thru fine. This was not a debit card. But a regular Visa credit card. There have been other threads on this topic on Cruise Critic. Cruisers should be aware that individual purchases made thru the week on a ship are (sometimes?) processed as pre approvals (or whatever you want to call them) every time you do a transaction on the ship. Not just at the end of the week when you see the total charge that ultimately shows up.

 

Hmmm, will definitely check into that on Monday with NCL. Wish they were open on the weekend! Now my DH says he's waiting for ups to deliver me a big crate of shoes! I really just posted this for others to be aware of our experience, not to bash ncl. I had my identity stolen 10 years ago from a worker in my doctors office, now that was a horrible nightmare with lasting repercussions even to this day. Thanks!

[Starry Eyes]

I also suspect the sport charges were preauthorizations. My card number has been stolen, too (not on ship)...sometimes there is a time lag between when the number is lifted and when it is used. Or some merchant's computer system may have been hacked recently, compromising your number even though you shopped there month prior.

[Lost Sailor]

Last June we sailed the Jewel. We also had the BOA world pts Norwegian card. We disembarked on July 2nd. July 3rd we received a call from the fraud department of BOA & that morning our card had fradulent charges , the biggest one was for British Airways tickets for over $2000.00. They said most of the charges originated in Miami, some were overseas. We only used the card once in Port Canaveral, the rest was on the ship. It may be a coincidence or not:confused:

 

I must say BOA caught it quickly & our account was credited all of the charges, including the foreign transaction fees.:)

[Lost Sailor]

PS, I also contacted NCL customer service to inform them of what happened, just in case it was from NCL so they would be aware if they had any other complaints.;) Then I booked my next cruise for this coming summer:p

[MagnoliaBlossom]

There has been a huge fraud ring in our town of 50,000 people. Over 2,000 people had their cc or dc numbers hacked. This was so big they even brought in the secret service. BOA caught mine right away, and we were all asked to submit our last three statements, looking for a common vendor.

 

Multiple, but not all of the victims, had used their cards at Kroger. Feeling is it was a person, employee or shopper or vendor, had a capture device (forget what they call them) where your number can be lifted without your card even leaving your wallet. Thus, the big market for these new card cases to prevent the magnetic strips being read.

 

Its a scary world nowadays, so be vigilant in protecting your information.

 

Good luck with your quest and please let us know the outcome. We were on the Spirit the week before you, hope you enjoyed her as much as we did.

[BayouGirlUSA]

Thanks for the heads up Msrullieone!! Hubby is checking our statement! We, too, only used this credit card for our onboard account and did not use it in any of the ports. If we come across any fraudulent charges, I will certainly let you and NCL know.

 

It was great meeting you at the M&G!!!!

[Jasalth]

I am glad you had a wonderful cruise, and that your bank caught everything for you!

 

I have had my debit number stolen twice in the past year. It was horrible, once was during our last cruise. On the drive home it was very late at night (2+ am) and knew we didn't have enough gas for the last 90 mins home. Not wanting to go into the gas station, gave in and used our debit card for the purchase... 3 days later, I bought train tickets in France! :eek:

 

The time before that, I had just made my last payment to Carnival with my debit card since I have a WAH job that DD into my bank account and that was where all our cruise funds were coming from. I tried to use it for a dinner the next day and it was declined. The bank caught the attempts at my card being swiped at a China TA.

 

After that, I made the decision that the debit and CC's don't leave the house 99% of the time. I have gone back to cash and checks for everything :) I love the sighs and noises people make when I whip out the checkbook this day and age, but I hope nothing like that ever happens to them!

 

I agree it doesn't have to be an NCL issue (though my issue after the Carnival Payment actually made it way onto CC after I saw a post on those boards, I wasn't the only one who had a TA in China trying to charge their card after final payment..). I could see some scrupulous people going on cruises with the gadgets that pull the numbers from the air going on a cruise for that exact purpose. I never realized how many CC's are pulled out during check in before thinking about it because of this thread. Time to by OBC to use for my account!

[bravestwj]

Just got back from a wonderful cruise on the 18th. But we got a call from the security dept at our bank regarding suspicious charges on the card which we had used for onboard expenses.

 

The charges were made last week while we were on the cruise. Several website charges for games, an out of country discount shoe store for $1600, and then several charges made out to NCL Spirit that increased in amount through the week. NONE of those charges were on our final bill we received our last morning on the ship.

 

We didn't use our card in any ports, and obviously used our key card for all charges on the ship. Our bank has declared these charges as fraud, and thankfully we're not liable. The NCL office was already closed for the weekend, but we definitely will call Monday to discuss. Just wanted to make other cruisers aware from the March 11-18 Spirit to check your statements.

 

Sorry to hear about this trouble! It was great cruising with you. From what I hear of NCL's service they will take care of this for you. Please let us know how it turns out.

[bonvoyagie]

Actually it is not the Magnetic strip that they read - it the RFID chip in some of the newer cards that allow you to pay without swiping a card. These cards tend to have what looks like a computer chip in them.

 

The magnetic stripes must be passed over a read head - this is done with a device called a skimmer - some are palm sized devices that the theif passes the card through others are placed over the card slot on ATMs. Most of the time the only information on the card is your name and the card/account number.

 

At least now banks are issuing different numbered cards to each card holder on the account so they can trace fradulent activity and be able to freeze one card and not the whole account - the other card is still ok to use.

 

While I hope it is not true, but NCL could have employee(s) on the take - and commiting credit card theft.

[cod]

On our last Spirit cruise, our final statement charges and our actual CC charge matched and it was posted promptly to our account after we got home

 

However, on a couple of other Spirit cruises, several charges would be pending on our CC for a time....the correct charge and a couple of other charges from NCL that I had no idea what were! I would call the CC and explain and both times they said that since everything was only 'pending', not to worry because it would probably straighten out. It sounded like this was not unusual. And sure enough, after a few days, what was not mine just disappeared.

 

I guess I'm asking 'are these NCL charges pending at this time'? Good luck!

 

As for your fraudulent charges, isn't it maddening?! We've had that happen twice in the last five years of so. Once with a cc (they called me regarding 'suspicious activity') and Chase handled it in a most professional way. Another time with a debit card. I checked my bank balance and it was $100's off...went to my bank and it was straightened out but much more of a hassle. A few months ago my DD had it happen with her debit card and now she won't let it out of her sight! No handing it to a waiter or the like and letting someone 'take it away'.lol She doesn't let it out of her sight!!! Not sure if that prevents it from happening again but can't hurt I guess!

[davesgirl51]

A couple of things :

 

1) Zappos was hacked a couple of months ago and Bof A caught it immediately.

 

2) Always call your credit card company before you leave and let them know you will be out of town and the only expenses to be incurred are those at so and so.

 

3) Upon returning to the US, your credit card may show up with a dozen pending charges on many different NCL ships. Within 3 days that should all be erased with only your final bill.

 

4) There's no use calling your company for pending charges as nothing can be done until it goes through.

 

5) Sadly, these days you need to be a computer to monitor everything, all your passwords and it still gets effed up. :(