Episode•September 6, 2022•7 min

Tiffany's Take: Dealing with Fraudulent Credit Card Charges | Ep. 135

Every Tuesday, Tiffany answers one of your submitted questions. To submit a question for an upcoming episode visit here: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com/asktiffany. Connect with Tiffany on Social Media Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff Twitter: @moneytalkwitht Instagram: @moneytalkwitht LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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Key Takeaways

1
File a police report immediately for fraudulent charges
Report online fraud at ic3.gov and local theft at your police department
Credit card companies may require a police report before refunding money
Essential for removing fraudulent activity from credit reports
2
Contact your bank or credit card company right away
Start their investigation process immediately
Begin the refund process for unauthorized charges
They may also pursue charges independently
3
Freeze your credit reports to prevent further damage
Freeze at TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian individually
Protects against identity theft like new accounts or loans
Creates a barrier requiring your action to unfreeze
4
Consider credit monitoring as extra protection
Identity theft protection services provide additional monitoring
Freezing credit already blocks most unauthorized use
Useful for ongoing peace of mind

Intro

Tiffany answers a listener's question about dealing with fraudulent credit card charges made by someone close to them without permission.
Tiffany Grant is a financial coach and host of the Money Talk with Tiff podcast, providing practical money advice every Tuesday in solo episodes.

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– Listener Question Introduction

Tiffany introduces her new Tuesday solo format answering listener questions submitted via moneytalkwitht.com/asktiffany or social media.

Someone close to me used my credit card for a fraudulent charge without my permission. What should I do?
– Listener

– Step 1: File a Police Report

Tiffany explains that filing charges provides the best protection, especially when dealing with credit card companies who may ask if charges were filed before issuing refunds.

For online theft, file at ic3.gov. For local/in-person fraud, file at your local police department.

If this is someone that is really close to you and you don't care about the relationship... the best thing to do is to go ahead and start criminal charges.
– Tiffany

– Step 2: Contact Your Bank or Credit Card Company

Immediately notify your financial institution so they can begin their investigation and refund process.

Definitely contact the credit card company or the bank so that way they can start their process and you can start getting your money back.
– Tiffany

– Step 3: Freeze Your Credit Reports

Prevent further identity theft by freezing credit at all three bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.

If this person can do something like that to you now, imagine if they got access to any of your other information and what you don't want is someone to buy a whole house or a car or something else in your name.
– Tiffany

Freezing also helps prevent impulsive credit use by requiring deliberate action to unfreeze.

– Bonus: Consider Credit Monitoring

While freezing credit provides strong protection, identity theft monitoring services offer additional peace of mind.

Resources

Topics

fraudcredit cardsidentity theftcredit monitoringpolice reportsfinancial securitycredit freezebankingpersonal financevictim resources