I’ve become a fraud investigator resulting from India outsourcing

Just file a report with your credit card company and forget about it.

I did - but the credit card company kept calling me - asking all these questions. So I did further research and solved the problem myself.

Sometimes that's just the way it is...and it sucks...but if you don't follow up they would either pester the life out of you or not credit you if need be. Customer Service Reps (it is a shame to say) are just lazy sometimes...not all...but lately it seems they are less helpful than they used to be.

I can always tell when one of them thinks if they act dense enough I will just drop it. But I just ask for their manager. I always note the time and the date, so that if there is a problem they can go back and check . Most places have recording for quality assurance - so it just pays to make sure you have all the details so they can pull the call if need be.

It's exhausting getting a problem solved. Yuck...sorry Linkat! Glad it was not a fraudulent charge though...

So was the purchase made by you or who did the purchase?

I am proud of you and you are lucky at this time.

how ineffably appalling

I made the purchase. I am the only one that has use of my credit card as I keep it with me. Not that I don't trust my hubby - just that I carry with me. He has his own account. This is more because it helps both our credit history having your own account than not trusting one another.

I always check my credit card statement - not necessarily to the receipts but I make sure it is places that I have shopped at and the amounts are reasonable. This threw me off because I did not recognize the business name and on the statement it also had the city - which I know I had not been to.

I did iniatially think this could just be their main location and that is why I tried to call them and look up the business - all it said was that it was some sort of health/body type of business. Nothing about toys!

I do think investigating would be fine and I've proven I'm good at it. Maybe I should consider a career change.

Oh and with all the calls and emails and canceling the card - they probably spent the $60 for all that.

That's what I do. I record all credit card transactions in Peachtree, and toss the receipts unless they are either medical or for something from which there might be a warranty issue. Tic off each item when paying, and if it doesn't match the statement, there is cause for investigation. While I get rid of the receipts, I keep each statement for a couple of years with notations of check number and date paid.

Peachtree sounds like overkill, but it gives me good information and I really know how to make it perform. It can be had from Staples and Best for about 1/3 list price.

This is a very common issue. The mistake was the store/company not telling you that you may see XYZ on your CC statement instead of the name of the store. Someitmes the CC account is in a different name from the store. Or they use another corporate name for the CC account.

I did the same thing, finally figuring it out by myself. They were willing to do the investigation, but it would have taken time. I finally figured about it was a store and yes, I had placed the order. I just did not recognize the different name on the statement.

Well technically how did you solve the problem? You may have done the footwork and that alone is quite impressive.

I can understand the frustration involved with dealing with the Indian based customer service and their obvious geographical limitations in this investigation. Their big mistake (seemingly) was to forgo the typical credit card policies of credit card fraud investigation and force the burden of proof onto you. Still, do you have an individual who actually may have perpetrated the crime?

You don't mention the actual charges being removed from the bill. Is this implied? Will there be criminal charges processed against any individuals?

Or did I read it wrong and you did purchase something from the retailer like as you stated "under a different name"?

Yes - I did purchase the item - the merchant name was different. Apparantely this merchant has two different businesses where they sell different products. They did not inform me that the charge would show up as the other merchant.

In a sense, it was an error on mine and the merchant's side. Prior to contacting the fraud department - I looked up the merchant name on my credit card bill and called the number under the business name. The phone would ring and ring and no would answer. The location of the business was in a city I haven't been to in over a year. So it appeared to me (especially in light that no one answered this business phone) as potential fraud.

My complaint is that the supposedly fraud expert just kept calling me up and asking me the same questions over and over. They obviously had better contacts as they did get a response from the merchant stating that the credit card was used in person and some one was physically there to sign. I told the credit card company to get a copy of what was signed to view it so I could determine - instead they kept calling me with similar questions.

Thinking afterwards, that possibly the mall near this business and the mall near my house may be within the same reit - I sent an email to the business office at the mall I frequently shop to see if they recognized this business. And that is how I found out they operating with two different names and the mall gave me a different contact phone number.

Wouldn't it have been easier for the credit card company, who seemed to have a direct contact at the business especially like some one said above it happens frequently - and also they are the "fraud experts" at least according to the job title.