This message on my answering machine made my whole body shudder!

My first thought was… identity theft. Somebody has discovered one of my credit card numbers and is going berserk somewhere in Europe with it.

The last time this happened, Moscow seemed to be the target for spending. And you know at the end of the day, it’s not so much the money – if you dispute it early enough then you don’t pay for somebody else’s spending spree – the major problem is the ensuing hassle of getting it all resolved.

The credit card company will suspend the card immediately and issue you another one. But you know the deal - terminating one card, and then waiting for the new one to arrive is painful. And if you use the card to cover a recurring monthly payment then you’ve got to switch everything over.

At the end of the day you feel like a criminal! Hey, what’s wrong with that picture?

I’ve been through this fiasco twice in as many years, and I have to tell you the whole thing just stinks! And I’ve always been very careful how I use my card, but in this day and age and limited real privacy, nothing is foolproof.

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SIDEBAR

I got so mad during the last time this happened – it was to a business card – I wrote an article on how to reduce the chances of credit card theft. I published it in issue #4 of my eZine. You can subscribe to my eZine at New England vacations newsletter by clicking here.

END OF SIDEBAR
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Back to my story…

Well, somebody WAS going berserk in Europe with my credit card… except it was legitimate.

My wife had gone to England at short notice, and elected to use our credit card like an ATM when she got to London – this saved her the hassle of buying foreign currency at the airport.

The thought was good, but it started a chain of events that caused the message on my machine.

So I called the fraud number they left. It was all polite and automated. I was told about the transactions my wife had attempted, and that they were both denied. I was then asked – by the machine – did I know about these, and to verify that they were okay?

The fact is, I realized by now that my wife was in London with no money, and all manner of thoughts passed through my head!

As good as automation is for our lives, there comes a point when you’ve just got to talk with a “live” person to get something resolved. I thought this was one of those times.

I spoke with Christopher, and explained that I wanted to okay in advance any attempts by my wife to use the credit card while in England for the next week. This he did immediately and the issue was resolved.

Credit card companies have sophisticated triggers and early warning systems in place these days to keep one step ahead and protect themselves against fraud. When one of these pre-programmed events happens it triggers an automatic denial for a transaction.

An event can be as simple as unusual activity on a card based on trends over the previous months. This is what happened to my wife.

We don’t usually make transactions from a foreign country. So she got bounced when she did!

But you know it could happen if you decide to go on a shopping spree using a card that usually has one or two transactions a month, or you just use as a reserve. This’ll trigger the transaction denial mechanism as well.

The moral of this whole episode for us is to call ahead to our credit card company and let them know when we expect any unusual activity to happen on our card BEFORE it’ll happen. I suggest you do the same.

I certainly don’t want another call from the fraud squad – and I’d suspect neither do you.

For vacation and travel information in the New England region visit my New England Vacations Guide web site by clicking here.