Cloned Credit Cards

Twice in as many years, I have had my credit card cloned and sold on the black market. Fortunately, the issuer of the card has reacted quickly by immediately canceling the card, deleting all fraudulent charges and sending me a new card via overnight delivery.

The first time it happened was at a major grocery chain in Arizona where their corporate computer was hacked and thousands of card numbers were stolen. I found out about it by hearing the news from someone in the RV park and then checking my account online. By then there had been a number charges, most of which were declined because they were out of the country.

The second time it appears a card reader was used on a fuel pump at a large chain of convenience stores here in Vegas. The big difference this time is I now receive emails confirming all charges within minutes of them being made. This enabled me to call the card company in such a timely manner that the thieves were only able to use the card once. This is a service that I believe all credit card companies should offer and if your provider does not, I would encourage you to contact them and request it. After all, it is probably not a question of if your card will be stolen but simply when.

Update (10/04/2014): In doing a little research on credit card cloning, I discovered that new "smart" cards which have an embedded microchip in place of a magnetic strip are on their way and that MasterCard and Visa have set October, 2015 as the deadline for their implementation. Click here to read a Wall Street Journal article on the subject.