So, about a month ago my girlfriend and I spent a week in Spain (Madrid, Toledo, Seville). We had a great time. While we were there, one of my credit cards started getting declined. I figured the company (my local credit union) was being overly cautious for fraud protection, and just used a different card for the rest of the trip.

I only use the card when I'm out of the U.S. (they only charge a 1% conversion fee), and b/c I don't use it here I forgot to call them about why it stopped working. So, I finally called today. It turns out the card was over its limit, which luckily was only $1500. The problem is that I didn't spend anywhere near $1500 for those days it was working. I had the woman read me the transactions over the phone - a few I recognized as hotels we had stayed in, but there were a couple large transactions from a place I didn't recognize. My guess is that I used it at a restaurant, and the waiter swiped it more than once for several hundred dollars each time.

Does anyone here have any type of experience with this? I have receipts from our hotels, but doubt I have receipts from all the restaurants we ate at (we only used the card for food and hotels). My understanding is that traditional fraud protection coverage applies where your card is stolen, but that it wouldn't apply here. The woman on the phone said I should try to contact the place that charged me (which might not even be possible as we can't remember all the names of the places we ate), and if that didn't work I could "dispute" the charges. Am I gonna get stuck paying for all these charges?

Dispute them. I'm sure your card has some protection on it. Call your rep at the CU again and ask her what you can do to get them disputed.

Hmmm..

Similar thing happened to me in florida a few years back. I used my credit card once , while in barnes and noble...when i got my next statement, i had about 4000 in charges all around florida...

i called up my credit card company, and they immeidately wiped away all the disputed charges...

it was rather quite nice of them...

if anything , thats a reason to go with a certain credit card company.

I had this happen at a gas station. Dispute the charges, the credit card company will then follow up with the establishment that rang up the charge and, if necessary, local law enforcement. They've still got to show your signature on a charge form for there to be a contract. You should be okay.

Go online and get a complete statement and then do google searches for the vendors/charges you don't recognize to see what they are and whether you think you charged there or not. If you don't have online access to your account, have customer service fax or mail a listing of charges since your last statement to you, and do the same.

They are only going to be so helpful in expunging charges when you say that you don't remember all the restaurant names, etc where you charged. You need to do the research first and then tell them emphatically that you charged x but not y. Then most credit card companies will freeze those charges pending an investigation. The investigation generally consists of little more than you filing out a form and signing a statement that you didn't charge the items in question and then they credit the cash back.

It sounds like you really don't know what happened at this point. Someone may have your card # for all you know and the only reason there aren't more unrecognizable charges is that you are at your limit already. So I wouldn't assume everything's legit.

Also, who are you? recent name change here I think. Avatar looks familar but still I'm clueless.

Just went through this same thing noit too long ago. Just dispute it. It'll take a little while, but they'll take care of the charges. Don't stress.

Oh, and DON'T LEAVE THE U.S.!!! THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT TO GET US DUDE!!!

I used to be nacho. Who did you used to be?

And you're right, I'm only guessing as to how those charges got there. One thing I did notice was that on some of the receipts my entire account number AND expiry date was listed. I made sure to keep my copy of the receipt when I noticed that, but that also means the person charging me had a copy with all that data, too. I guess it's entirely possible someone made the charges using that info from a receipt copy. Why the hell all that info is on a receipt is beyond me.

Ok, it's comforting to know that others have been through it and have come out ok. At this point I'm just really glad the limit was only $1500.

billy g

As a side note, I'm always puzzled by everyone complaining about the name changes when its obviously so easy just to ask someone who the f are you?

i think that for me it's more a question of seeing a new name and wondering if you should care who it is in the first place.

That shouldn't be the case. It's still fraudulent use of your card.