On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 21:29:03 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:
>Chris Blunt wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 16:04:20 GMT, Rosalie B.
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Chris Blunt wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 12:05:40 GMT, Rosalie B.
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Icono Clast wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Chris Blunt wrote:
>>>>>>> Credit card companies build a profile of your normal card usage,
>>>>>>> and in an attempt to prevent fraud, watch for unusual activity
>>>>>>> that doesn't appear typical of your normal spending pattern. If
>>>>>>> you try to use the card in a way that triggers their alarm bells
>>>>>>> they'll do those kind of checks to make sure nobody else is trying
>>>>>>> to use your card.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Nonnymus wrote:
>>>>>>> I suspect that had we driven there, charging gas and meals along
>>>>>>> the way, it might have gone unchallenged.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Really?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thrice in the past year or so, when I got home there were 'phone
>>>>>>messages from the credit card companying checking on whether it was I
>>>>>>using my card at out of town hotels.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Those messages were followed-up by letters.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Duh-uh.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>They knew where the card was being used (hotels) and should have
>>>>>>contacted me where I was, not where I wasn't, i.e., at home.
>>>>>>
>>>>>If the use of the card was fraudulent by another person, you would not
>>>>>have been at the hotel - you would have been at home.
>>>>
>>>>He may or may not have been at home. The point is that they needed to
>>>>speak to the person using the card to verify that it was the
>>>>authorised cardholder carrying out the transaction. The best way to do
>>>>that would have been to ask the hotel who were requesting
>>>>authorisation to put the customer on the line in order to answer some
>>>>security questions.
>>>>
>>>They probably didn't catch it in time to do that.
>>
>>They gave approval for the transaction to take place when the hotel
>>requested authorisation. That would have been their opportunity to
>>"catch" it. Its no use waiting until a thief has already walked off
>>with the loot before you lock the door.
>>
>Do you think a human does all the approvals? I don't. I think it was
>probably that a human reviewed the transaction, but not in real time.
Of course humans don't handle every approval request. Most credit card
companies have developed sophisticated computer systems to analyse
customer's spending patterns and watch for unusual activity. These
systems make decisions about whether to approve or deny a transaction
authorisation based on a number of factors such as where the card is
being used, how much is being charged, how recently the card has been
used, what type of store its being used in etc. That's why a
professional credit card company should have picked this up at the
approvals stage, not wait until after the customer had left the hotel
and then tried calling him at home.
Chris |