I know there was just a thread about fraud...

And I know it can happen anywhere, any time. But what do you do if you notice a server acting suspiciously while in possession of your card, while on a shop?

I just did a drive thru. I handed the girl my card, and she proceeded to lay it down on the far side of the register, with both hands and my card on that far side (out of sight), then lean over slightly as if inspecting something...
Then she ran my card at the card reader on the near side of the register.

There's not much I can really do at the moment. I'm guessing there were only 2 employees in the store, and that I won't get the truth if I question it now. Do I put it in the report? Tell the scheduler? Or just nix the shop and talk to the manager of the store tomorrow, requesting the video survelance of the time she was in possession of the card to be examined? (The concerned regular customer in me would demand to see it myself, the realistic shopper in me knows they would never allow that.)

Should I proactively cancel the card, or wait and watch for charges that aren't mine?

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Is this a new chip card?

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If you did not specifically see your card being skimmed, accusations would sound paranoid. I would simply watch my card activity like a hawk. Since my cards get handed out on restaurant shops and other places and the information given on line, I watch all my cards carefully for fraud and I only use credit cards or gift cards. I don't use debit cards because my understanding is that it is harder to recover funds on a debit card than getting fraud on credit cards cleared up. Gift cards I get in sizes that they are totally consumed in one or two uses.

If I hand them the card I tell them that I will have to have a picture of them. It is a PITA to get some of the charges cleared up.

Another possibility is that she was reading the date off the card. I worked at a place fairly recently where I had to manually enter the date after the card was read.

I second the idea of carefully watching your charges over the next week or so. You won't be responsible for them. If something does happen, you will have a good chance of who is to blame.

@TeriW wrote:

Another possibility is that she was reading the date off the card. I worked at a place fairly recently where I had to manually enter the date after the card was read.

That was my first thought as well. I have one card that is absolutely impossible to read except if you hold it exactly right.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@Flash wrote:

I don't use debit cards because my understanding is that it is harder to recover funds on a debit card than getting fraud on credit cards cleared up. Gift cards I get in sizes that they are totally consumed in one or two uses.

Not true at all. Debit and credit cards have exactly the same fraud protections. The major difference is that if someone runs up a $500 bill on your credit card it only takes away from your available credit. If they do it on your debit card it takes away from your available funds (which is different from actually being not in your account).

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Reading the date makes sense. It was just an odd behavior that I hadn't seen before. And honestly, I would've been watching her more closely if I hadn't been screwing with my stopwatch, so maybe I would've recognized what she was doing more clearly that way.

I think it's a chip card, but I'm not sure (not looking at it right now). It's a fairly new card that I just recently opened and normally only use at grocery stores to earn upromise rewards... I guess the plus side is that anything non-grocery will stick out to me, and it's one of the few that my husband doesn't have so I won't have to question wether a charge was him or not.

Thanks for the advise, everyone. I'll just watch it for now and see what happens

I just asked if it was a chip because she may not have seen one yet and was looking more closely. The date makes perfect sense too.

@bgriffin wrote:

I have one card that is absolutely impossible to read except if you hold it exactly right.

With some cards, it is so hard to read the numbers, you practically have to read it by feel rather than sight. The job I mentioned previously was in a restaurant with low lighting. So frustrating trying to read those cards.

Check your purchases or have instant messages sent once anything is bought. All credit cards will send you a text-message asking if you bought a item or made a purchase depending on how tight you want to manage your account. Some merchants won't ask for IDs under $20 while others ask for a $5 charge, that's how it works.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2016 05:05AM by GrosMichel.

I wonder if shopping would be just a little easier if you used a Visa Gift Card for gas purchases, meals and all other shop required purchases. That way they are not taking directly from your bank account and creating a fake card to drain everything you have.

I would check with the Credit Card company to see what was charged. I would not wait to see if something was charged when I receive my bill. Also, notify them that you might have a concern and for them to call you if any purchases made out of state or on-line.

That's an excellent idea!!

@shopper8 wrote:

I would check with the Credit Card company to see what was charged. I would not wait to see if something was charged when I receive my bill. Also, notify them that you might have a concern and for them to call you if any purchases made out of state or on-line.

Another good idea is to have your online banking with a credit card linked, where you can see to the minute if something was charged. I go online everyday and make sure everything looks right. I got an offer from my bank for a new alert system, for any out of state charges, large unusual charges (not customary for me) or money falling below a certain minimum in my account (that I decide amount) so I can't wait to get started!

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I know there was just a thread about fraud...

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