Make your credit cards less vulnerable to fraud

Last year, one of my family’s credit cards was used to rack up hundreds of dollars in bogus charges at Apple. com. Another card was compromised four times in a row, as thieves repeatedly charged merchandise and Uber rides.

We ultimately got our money back, but repeated credit card fraud can be frustrating and disheartening. Dealing with the aftermath taught me to prize security over convenience, and to change some bad habits that made me an easier target.

The clock is ticking on credit card fraud

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, consumers have 60 days after bogus charges show up on a statement to report them to the credit card issuer to avoid most liability, says attorney Amy Loftsgordon, legal editor at Nolo, a self-help legal site. (The law limits a consumer’s liability to $50 per series of unauthorized uses, but most issuers waive that, Loftsgordon says.)

So my heart sank when I realized that the fraud on our Apple.com account had started at least six months earlier.

I’d noticed that the Apple.com charges had been ticking up, but assumed my husband was buying more audiobooks and my daughter was downloading more games. I’d grouse at them occasionally, they would proclaim innocence and the charges would continue.

Finally, the thief went too far and charged over $300 in a single month. I contacted Apple and discovered our card had been used to purchase dating apps and virtual phone numbers, which were likely being used to scam other people. The electronic receipts for these purchases were sent to an email address I didn’t recognize.

A new card didn’t stop the fraud

The kicker: The thief was using a credit card number that had already been reported as compromised. Normally, credit card issuers will deny new charges on a compromised number. But according to the card issuer, the thief started their crime spree during the few days that my replacement card was in the mail. Since we already made regular purchases at Apple.com, the card issuer assumed the charges using the old card were legit and allowed them to go through “as a courtesy” — month after month. (I was assured that this sequence of events “is extremely rare and hardly ever happens.”)

An Apple customer service representative deleted the most recent month’s charges and the issuer removed the rest — even those well past the 60-day mark.

My takeaways: Sites where you make multiple purchases each month need to be monitored carefully for bogus transactions. Compare what your credit card statement says you’ve charged with your purchase history on the site.