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When Fraud Detection Shuts Down Credit Cards Inappropriately
reifman writes: On Sunday, Capital One declined a $280 travel reservation I charged at India-based ClearTrip.com and immediately shut off my card for all transactions until I contacted them by phone. It wasn't the first time that CapitalOne had shut off my card after a single suspect transaction. But, I'd actually purchased from ClearTrip.com using my CapitalOne card on two prior occasions. It was an example of very poor fraud detection and led me on a tour of their pathetic customer service. The banks want to cut their losses regardless of how it impacts their customers.
Having had my own credit card suspended out of an abundance of caution on a different credit card issuer's part (for legitimate charges), but having recently had some widely known scam charges get accepted, the fraud protection algorithms that the credit companies use certainly seem inscrutable sometimes, and so do the surrounding practices about communicating with customers. How would you like it to work instead?
My CC sends me a text message whenever it is used. It's quick (usually arrives before I've signed the slip), it's free, and it doesn't need some stupid app installed with insane permissions. So, *I* can decide which transactions are bogus, instead of some computer algorithm; and when a truly bogus one does appear, I can notify the bank immediately. The bank can then concern themselves with actual proven bogus purchases, instead of thousands of "suspect" ones.
Well, but there is still a point here. For example, I have had a couple of occasions of fraud on my account - they both happened when the "accounts got out" (massive breach of the credit union's credit card file). The first racked up three charges for $900.00 in Japan The next was a flight in India (in rupees) that came to well over $1,000 plus the foreign currency conversion fee. However, I have had the same card processor block the card and deny the purchases when I made two orders Newegg.com in the same day. The "fraud detection" is completely broken.