r/Banking • u/Omar_Town • 3d ago
Advice Unrecognized transactions 5 times on two different cards since January
I need advice on what I can do to avoid this. I have started following my accounts more closely and removed all cards from everywhere that were saved. Do I need to switch banks or something? It has happened at two different banks though. One rep told me that it is usually from the places I frequent. But the places I frequent are grocery stores and gas station. That’s it. I am considering using cash everywhere but that’s a lot of work, so that always carry sufficient amounts.
Every time I have been issued a new card and I haven’t had to pay anything for these transactions but it is getting tiring with new cards every couple of months.
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u/Commercial_Flan6257 3d ago
It is absolutely where you are using your card! Skimmers take less than five seconds to attach. Think about the access criminals have to these. A busy cashier scanning items, self checkout at grocery store, gas pumps...these are prime targets and get plenty of traffic to make it worth it!
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u/Background_Radish238 3d ago
If this happens too often, the bank can close your account. Grocery and gas stations, especially the gas stations are the worse. People put hidden card reader and pin hole camera in those card reader. With iphone, you should try Apple pay, should be safer. My son uses mostly Apple pay. Some guy still charged his card from Parkistan.
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u/AugustusReddit 3d ago
Lock your cards when you're not using them. Unlock while in line before using them and then lock them afterwards. This reduces the chance of unauthorised transactions that you might miss - otherwise you have to constantly monitor your card transactions.
Virtual cards are offered by many banks and card issuers. You can easily cancel and recycle them via apps. Google wallet and Apple Pay are also good options.
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u/gard3nwitch 3d ago
Card skimmers at gas station pumps are one way that card numbers get stolen, so it could be that.
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u/Infinite-Grade-4485 3d ago
Has nothing to do with the bank. Not at all. Fraud happens. It’s not your bank leaking your card info. Card skimmers. Bin attacks. Merchant compromises get your card compromised.
Gas stations have one of the highest risks due to card skimmers due to people swiping their card.
Consider using tap to pay, or mobile pay through your phone, whenever possible. It’s the safest forms of payment. It’ll reduce the chances of your card being compromised.