Our Turn

Got an e-mail from Capital One this afternoon, asking us to review 5 charges. 4 of them were fraudulent, so I clicked on "Wrong." The screen reminded us that we are NOT responsible for fraudulent charges, and asked us to call in. Did, on our wifi phone. They made it clear that these things just happen, killed the card, and offered to DHL a new one here in 5-8 days. We opted for home for March. Again, they reminded us that the charges would disappear in 72 hours.

Capital one now issues cards with different numbers on the same account. That means that although MY card was hacked, his wasn't! Account is still fine. If the other card is hacked, we will have them send a replacement here.

Credit cards, other things, and life get messed with sometimes. Fortunately, it usually works out in the end, at least with credit cards!!!

Sure, "it usually works out in the end" - the banks are happy, the thieves are happy and, aside from a little inconvenience, the affected customer is happy. The only losers are all the rest of us, who pay the price for all this fraud - even dumb schmucks like me who learned years ago not to use my credit cards in Mexico. The problem clearly is astronomical and will keep getting worse, unless and until regulations prohibit the banks from passing-on the costs of credit card fraud to their customers. Then you'll see some action. Right now, it has all the markings of a "crime without victims."

In recent years, banks have been required to provide some "truth in lending" information: showing real interest rates, etc. Why not require the banks to issue an annual statement to each customer that might say:

"The cost to you this past year to cover credit card fraud was $670.75 These costs could be eliminated if we tightened-up our credit card security, or swallowed those costs ourselves, but in the meantime, it's Don't Worry, Be Happy."