I just had a pizza delivered and I paid by Visa. I swiped my card, got my receipt and then walked from the front door to the kitchen and the phone rang.

It was Visa fraud protection asking if I'd just ordered a pizza! I hadn't even taken a slice out of the box yet.

I'm not sure what triggered it as suspicious but I'm very impressed with how fast they reacted.

Perhaps they are monitoring that establishment.

yeah I had the same thing happen to me, a few years ago it was a purchase from some cigar shop in the deep south united states, it was not a large purchase but it was on my card, we got it taken off my bill

They can be amazingly fast ... the time I got a call after being in Future Shop, I had driven two blocks back to my office and was still in my car when the cell phone rang - and later on I'd discovered they had already left me a message at the office as well.

BMO just sent me a new card yesterday. New account number too. They said they had reason to believe that security on my previous card had been compromised, and although no charges had been added to my account, they said they will be monitoring my old account for a few more months.

I don't use my card that often, maybe 10 transactions in a month. Never missed a payment either. This is very interesting. i'm going to call them this afternoon and find out more information if I can. I'll post the details of my investigation.

farfromover, my wife got the same thing from BMO and I suspect it is related to the security breach at TJX effecting Winners and HomeSense stores in Canada. My wife shopped there once in awhile. My own card (on the same MC account) has not been revoked, probably because I never used it at either of those stores.

Credit cards used in the stores as far back as 2003 may be effected, but apparently not debit cards.

http://www.tjx.com/tjx_faq.html
http://www.tjx.com/tjx_message_ca_en.html

I think you are right. Though I don't recall using my BMO MC at one of their stores (Winners/Home Sense) in the last couple of years, though it is possible if you go back all the way 2003. My wife is the one who usually shops there, and has a Visa separate from my credit card.

Anyways, it all looks good now on my account. When I called them, they just said that it was a precautionary measure.

Now, all I have to do is change the MC number on my paypal account. Thank goodness I don't have any automatic withdrawls by Credit Card. I can't imagine how much of a pain this must be for some customers...

Tell me about it - I have a lot of things being paid automatically, and it's a pain phoning them all. After the third incident in 3 years, I threatened to cancel my card unless they revealed where the leak was occurring, so that I knew where to stop shopping. Of course they wouldn't reveal it (for good reason, it would discourage vendors for reporting), but they did indicate that one incident had been North American retail, the second European retail, and the third had been a non-related cheque scam (likely from someone simply writing down the card number - perhaps that's why they don't send those free Visa cheques anymore ...). And that none were related to Internet usage.

All the way back to 2003 ... that's a lot of people ... though fortunately I've gone through a couple of cards since last time I was in Winners.

Questions swirl as BMO, CIBC reissue credit cards
CBC News
Thousands of CIBC and Bank of Montreal customers have been issued new credit cards from their banks along with warnings their old cards may have been used fraudulently, CBC News has learned. (http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/02/13/cards-reissued.html)

I guess it was just a matter of time... I got my BMO MC stolen/hacked last week with the thief/hacker charging 6k plus in Quebec. I have always been careful when using my credit cards so it was still a surprise for me when I got notified that the credit card was stolen. I do use the credit card for web based purchases but only from legitimate stores. I have been using the card for online purchases for more than 5 years with no incident.

The last 3 months, I only used my MC to buy computer related stuff from dell.ca and Futureshop retail stores and Futureshop web site (first time). BMO MC will take care of the fraudulent charges but I am left wondering where the card was stolen and what else I could possibly do to protect the cards in the future.

BMO MC will take care of the fraudulent charges but I left wondering where the card was stolen and what else I could possibly do to protect the cards in the future.

Ultimately, there's not much else you can do short of not carrying a CC, which in simply impractical.

I was talking to a friend who now works for one of the major banks as an investigator, about about the pro's and con's of using debit cards. He said he has stopped using his debit card and now uses credit cards exclusively. He says there is not much chance of losing money if your debit card is cloned but it is your money that's tied up while the mess gets sorted out. With a credit card it's the banks money.
He uses his credit card for all purchases and pays the balance in full when he gets his statement. He says the banks permit this because they are betting that a lot of cardholders who start doing this will wind up carrying a balance at some time.
He also said that although the banks consider fraud seriously, the banks recover most of their losses and expenses in this area through tax write off or by increasing fee's. Fraud does impact their bottom line by reducing their revenue.

He uses his credit card for all purchases and pays the balance in full when he gets his statement. He says the banks permit this because they are betting that a lot of cardholders who start doing this will wind up carrying a balance at some time.

There isn't any better way to pay for anything, if you are a consumer. Such a simple solution, but it still amazes me that people use a debit card when they have a credit card in good standing.
It is very important NEVER to carry balance on ANY credit card, though.

I haven't used a debit card in 10 years. Credit Card also has bank accounts attached to it, so no need for more than one piece of plastic.

He uses his credit card for all purchases and pays the balance in full when he gets his statement. He says the banks permit this because they are betting that a lot of cardholders who start doing this will wind up carrying a balance at some time.


I am inexperienced re such financial matters.

I dont understand the bit about "banks permit this" ie paying ones balance off in full? Of course banks must allow one to pay fully for ones monthy purchases.

Anecdotally speaking, my wife and I have had credit cards since 1986. There has never been a month when we havent paid it off completely. In fact myself being very risk adverse I often overpay on my cc bill. I know this isnt a good financial practice but it is a psychological thing, ;)

Rouge21, if you're that concerned about not paying interest, you can set up your credit card for pre-authorized payment. The cc company will withdraw the amount you specify (you can specify full balance) on the due date. You don't have to overpay and you don't have to pay in advance to be sure they get it in time.

It also asks if I want the extended warranty with that? ;) No, wait, premium cards sometimes give you extended warranties...

I think this is probly an underused very worthwhile feature. And many nonpremium cards have it ie my no fee BMO Mastercard tacks on an extra year of warranty protection gratis. I wonder what is involved in making such a claim.

you can set up your credit card for pre-authorized payment. The cc company will withdraw the amount you specify (you can specify full balance) on the due date. You don't have to overpay and you don't have to pay in advance to be sure they get it in time.

Thanks. I pay most if my bills on line now...including cc; so no waiting in line or writing out cheques...very convenient.

So if I see a balance of $2800 I will often pay $3000...makes me feel like I am ahead for the next month :confused: although I do know I have lost interest on the $200. Like I said it is a psychological thing.

My wife and I both have BMO Airmiles MC and her's was affected by the Winner's/Homesense fiasco earlier this year. We use our cards for everything that we can, and pay off the balance every month.
Today, I was checking my unbilled transactions to compare what I was actually getting charged for in Cdn$ for some U.S.$ purchases made recently.
There near the bottom of the list appears a small transaction ($3.75) dated 01/jan/08 billed as:
TPA WWW .GREENP.
Living/working in the GTA I know that Greenp is likely referring to the Toronto Parking Authority. I remember this thread, and realize that my card might have been cloned since using it in a parking meter is good way of checking whether a CC account has been blocked - no PIN needed, no attendants around, and likely little in the way of security cameras.

I go to their website, they have an online portal where you can check where/when any CC parking purchases were made. Mine indicates it occurred @ 13:31 on 31 Dec 2007. I know for a fact I wasn't anywhere near the GTA on 31 Dec 2007,.... and neither was my CC. Talk to the rep from TPA, and she confirms that the parking meter involved is located near the Danforth, and occured on that date.

Great! My card has been cloned! Great start to 2008.

Call MasterCard to block my CC and my wife's (they are linked to the same account), and have new cards issued (takes 2 to 5 business days). This really bugs me since this is the 2nd time in a few months that I have been ID Frauded. [/rant]

Good thing is my wife and I had contemplated going to Aruba next week - good thing we didn't - might have been down there with no CC, or have had someone back in Canada running up the card to its limit.
Due to this thread, I guess in a twisted way, DHC has potentially saved me some (extra) grief/misfortune :confused: ;)

(p.s. you can read about my other ID Fraud misfortune here: http://digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=68761&highlight=abagnale )