by Peanutbutteryarn
Sorry if this is a common problem but I’ve never not been believed when a fraudulent charge has been made. My credit card number has only been stolen once or twice before.
On April 16th I used my chip embedded, Chase Freedom card for the first time in about five months. I made a small purchase at a craft store. The next day, a $79 charge was made at a Walgreens about eighty miles away from my city and I called Chase as soon as I saw the charge (I receive text alerts each time that card is used). I confirmed I did not make the purchase and that the card was with me. The $79 charge was removed and I received a new card a few days later.
On Tuesday I received a letter from Chase dated 5/17, saying “A review showed that your card is protected with an embedded EMV chip, which ensures that your actual card was used to access your account. The purchase(s) we reviewed was made with your card at a functioning chip-enabled reader.
“Because you confirmed that the card was still in your possession and not lost or stolen when you contacted us, we are not yet able to conclude that this was fraudulent activity.
“If you have more information to support your claim, please call me directly at 1-855-xxx-xxxx (it’s probably silly to hide the phone number but I will just in case) extension xxxxxxx, within 14 days of 5/17/18. I’m here Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.p. Eastern Time.
“While we’re reviewing your claim, we have issued temporary credit(s) to your account for the purchase(s). If we don’t receive new information from you within 14 days of 05/17/2018, we will finish our review and share our final results with you.”
Since I opened the letter after hours I called the general Fraud line, and the rep told me that since I have a chip card and confirmed I had the card on me at the time of purchase it must have been me. I insisted that it was not me, I was eighty miles away, and I have a time sheet from work saying so. She then provided an email address to send my time sheet to and I sent it yesterday, 5/30. I also called the rep who sent me the letter and left a voicemail yesterday.
Today he called me back. He asked if the purchase made on April 16th was me, I confirmed it was. He then read off the purchase made at the Walgreens on April 17th: a 99 cent water and two Apple gift cards. I immediately said “gift cards are purchased with stolen credit cards all the time,” because they are! I also explained that I was at work, eighty miles away, and it would have been physically impossible for me to make that purchase. I asked if he knew anything about the time sheet I sent yesterday, which he did not.
He said that since my card has a chip and I had the card, it must have been me who made the purchase and they’re going to put the charge back on my account. I told him that I don’t know how the purchase was made but, again, it would have been physically impossible for me to have done so.
His supervisor is going to call me back in 1-2 business days, and I emailed my time sheet to his supervisor. I want to be prepared when I speak to this person. Does anyone know if clones of chip cards can be made? Has anyone experienced a similar situation? The first person I spoke to on the phone did say the card was swiped, but the letter says the card was used at a functioning chip-enabled reader. Also, how else can I prove to them that I didn’t make the purchases?
Thank you for reading and thanks in advance for any help!
TL;DR: Chase bank doesn’t believe the fraudulent charge on my chip enabled credit card wasn’t me. I was at least eighty miles away at the time of the charge and can’t even remember the last time I used that specific credit card at a Walgreens.
*Edit: As recommended by a couple people, I found Location Services information on my phone showing I was at work six minutes before the purchase was made (the location circle is very small, so I probably walked to another building in the area at that time) and sent it to the supervisor. Surely that will help.
*Edit 2: I called the police department for the city the Walgreens is in, who transferred me to that county’s police department, who told me to call my city’s police department, who told me to file a report online with my county’s sheriff’s department. I have a temporary report number for now and should be issued a case number in a few days.
I think that’s all I can do for now. Thank you so much for the help, everyone!
*Edit 3: A Fraud Department supervisor called me to say my documents have been received and will be forwarded to the Disputes Department, who will get back to me within ten business days. The fact that it’s been moved to Disputes is a good sign, I think.