Mystery charge

[Tree_skier]

17 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

I think we need to drop this, but ...  😄

 

I don't think you understand how skimmers work. 

 

Someone installs the skimmer in the CC slot.  A cardholder inserts their card into the CC slot (which has the skimmer).  The cardholder completes the transaction and is correctly billed by the merchant they visited (e.g., Tim's Texaco). 

 

The skimmer owner (aka scammer) then obtains the information from all the cards that were inserted. 

 

The scammer then either uses that card information and uses it for payment at one or more merchants (could be Tony's Pizza, Sam's Sushi, or Royalcaribbean.com) or sells the information. 

 

The original cardholder is billed for the scammer's transactions and those transactions will state the merchant name where the scammer made the payment.

 

P.S. I may be missing some technical details or steps.

 

Disclaimer:  I am in no way saying this is what happened in the OPs case.

I've gotten hit once on my American Express.  It was two years ago when on Navigator of the Seas.  I get notifications any and every time something hits my AE card.  I was sitting in the Bamboo Room on embarkation when my card was charged $150 at a Texaco gas station in Bakersfield, CA.  I immediately called and was told nothing could be done until it changed from pending to posted.  They froze my card and issued a new one.  I disputed the charge a few days later and never heard a thing back however the charge disappeared off my card.  I suspect it was a skimmer that got me.

[2wheelin]

19 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

This doesn't seem like fraud, or at least traditional fraud.  A small purchase for what could be a big ticket item doesn't make sense.

This seems more a human mistake somewhere.

 

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

$270 isn't under $10 though. That's something people will notice.

My point was that they will try any amount to test the waters. I thought you were implying that a small charge of $270 wouldn’t be tried when they could just go for the big ticket item first. I also had a fraudulent charge for $199 once and I know a lot of people who have auto pay for their cards and would not immediately notice a couple hundred dollars.

I have also experienced having the card locked and number changed as the first line of business when calling about a questionable charge. They issue me a new number for the account and then investigate.

[grouchomarx]

Well the charge posted today.  Called Royal, they have no clue, put me on hold on and off for 30 minutes.  I asked several times to speak with accounting only to be told "accounting doesn't work on the weekends" and that she was working with the resolutions department .  She put a note in the system to investigate the charge and told me to call back next Thursday.  I will have to wait until then before proceeding with a dispute with Amex.  Very annoying.

[shof515]

Today is a Friday, it is a weekday

 

Tomorrow, Saturday  is a weekend 

 

it looks like whoever you talked to dont know the correct days of the week

[KroozFoolz]

"What is a weekend?"

- Violet Crawley

[grouchomarx]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

Today is a Friday, it is a weekday

 

Tomorrow, Saturday  is a weekend 

 

it looks like whoever you talked to dont know the correct days of the week

I thought it was weird but then maybe they're in a different time zone...who knows.  Ain't getting any answers today.

[2wheelin]

4 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

Well the charge posted today.  Called Royal, they have no clue, put me on hold on and off for 30 minutes.  I asked several times to speak with accounting only to be told "accounting doesn't work on the weekends" and that she was working with the resolutions department .  She put a note in the system to investigate the charge and told me to call back next Thursday.  I will have to wait until then before proceeding with a dispute with Amex.  Very annoying.

No way I would wait till next Thurs. Call back Mon, give them your case # and ask for a resolution update or you want to speak to accounting.

[grouchomarx]

Update: Good news, today the charge was reversed from my Amex without me doing anything further than what I already posted here.  Yay!  I feel so relieved.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

1 minute ago, grouchomarx said:

Update: Good news, today the charge was reversed from my Amex without me doing anything further than what I already posted here.  Yay!  I feel so relieved.

 

Excellent news! Thanks for the update. 🙂 

[ARandomTraveler]

Thanks for the update. So annoying to have to wait so many days to figure out what's happening with money related things. It's not even really about the amount of money, it's more just having to keep it on your "to do" list of things to keep checking up on. The nice thing about credit cards is that it's always fixable, so much less stress than when people are taking money from your checking account.
 

I've been dealing with RC accounting for 2 weeks now. They had to re-book one of my cruises and 15 days later, they still haven't applied the $900 deposit I paid back in July. I keep having to contact them to extend the "courtesy hold" they've saved my cruise under until the deposit gets posted. They told me it would take 7-10 business days, and we've now passed the 10 business day mark, so it's annoying to me to have to keep making sure my cruise doesn't get cancelled before they extend the hold on it for the 4th time. 

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, grouchomarx said:

Update: Good news, today the charge was reversed from my Amex without me doing anything further than what I already posted here.  Yay!  I feel so relieved.

Excellent!!

[grouchomarx]

2 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Thanks for the update. So annoying to have to wait so many days to figure out what's happening with money related things. It's not even really about the amount of money, it's more just having to keep it on your "to do" list of things to keep checking up on. The nice thing about credit cards is that it's always fixable, so much less stress than when people are taking money from your checking account.
 

I've been dealing with RC accounting for 2 weeks now. They had to re-book one of my cruises and 15 days later, they still haven't applied the $900 deposit I paid back in July. I keep having to contact them to extend the "courtesy hold" they've saved my cruise under until the deposit gets posted. They told me it would take 7-10 business days, and we've now passed the 10 business day mark, so it's annoying to me to have to keep making sure my cruise doesn't get cancelled before they extend the hold on it for the 4th time. 

Oh my gosh I’m sorry to hear of your woes.  Stuff like this is just extra stress on top of every day life stress. Booking a vacation should never be stressful!  Good luck with them.

[brillohead]

9 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

Update: Good news, today the charge was reversed from my Amex without me doing anything further than what I already posted here.  Yay!  I feel so relieved.

Was it actually reversed, or did the "pending" charge just never materialize?  (two different things)

Also, if you used a reputable travel agent, you wouldn't have to deal with any of this.... one simple email or phone call would fix everything.  

[Another_Critic]

19 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Was it actually reversed, or did the "pending" charge just never materialize?  (two different things)

 

Time line ...

 

On 9/13/2024 at 12:28 PM, grouchomarx said:

Well the charge posted today.  

 

10 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

Update: Good news, today the charge was reversed from my Amex ...

 

[grouchomarx]

11 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Time line ...

 

 

 

It posted to my account and was then removed.

[grouchomarx]

12 hours ago, brillohead said:

Was it actually reversed, or did the "pending" charge just never materialize?  (two different things)

Also, if you used a reputable travel agent, you wouldn't have to deal with any of this.... one simple email or phone call would fix everything.  

It posted and was reversed.  I have no interest in using a TA for anything.

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

It posted and was reversed.  I have no interest in using a TA for anything.

 

Everyone has different priorities.

I have no interest in spending more money than I have to, or spending time waiting on hold to straighten things out when mistakes happen.  To each their own.