How to Deal with a Credit Card Fraud Alert Text Message

My story from this morning…

This morning I woke up to a text message that came in at 12:08 am asking me to verify some activity on my Wells Fargo credit card. It also gave the amount and the description of the activity as well as the ability to reply Y if I recognized it or to call a phone number if I didn’t.

I was pretty skeptical about the situation. I didn’t want to respond at all or blindly call the phone number, because I didn’t know it was really Wells Fargo. The first thing I did was log on to my Wells Fargo account using my computer. There was no record of the transaction at all. Then, I went to the Contact Us page on the Wells Fargo website to verify the phone number. It was indeed the correct phone number.

I called the phone number and went through the automated phone system ending up at the fraud department. While I was on the phone with the representative, I found an email from Wells Fargo giving me the same information as the text as well as the location (Hampton, AR) and the status (declined). I have never even heard of Hampton, Arkansas, let alone been there. So, the representative canceled my card and sent me a new one. The whole process took about 20 minutes.

Dealing with the Alert

First, don’t ignore it, but don’t trust it either. Verify the given phone number with another source. Banks have a contact us page on their website with a list of phone numbers. Typically, fraud gets its own phone. Call that number even if it doesn’t match the text message number. If the text message is a fraud, we would rather call and have the bank say that nothing funny is going on with the account, then not call and have something happening.

Also, log in to your online account to see if you can find more information. Sometimes, we forget that we make purchases and the description and amount isn’t enough to jog our memory. And check your email for emails from your bank.

The fraud department at the bank does this all day. They know how to set you up to make your credit card safe again. Let them walk you through the process and ask your questions, that’s what they are there for.

The Technology Involved

1. Online account to the credit card
   1. To track account transactions
   2. To set up alerts
   3. Verify two-factor authentication and contact information
2. Text messages via a cell phone
3. Email account
4. Fraud alerts are automatic with the credit card company.

If you have a credit card, you should have online access to that card. To have online access to that card, you need an email address. You should be checking that online credit card account frequently as well as checking your email daily. That’s a lot of technology (2 devices and 2 accounts). That’s a lot of back and forth between devices and accounts. That’s a lot of having to know what you are doing.

Be Vigilant

This situation is common. Without my interference, the situation could have fizzled out or it could have grown into a bigger issue. It could have fizzled out because Wells Fargo did their job. They looked at my purchase history, my location, the description of the company, and other factors and declined the purchase. Banks are doing a lot to help protect their customers including being proactive about suspicious activity by reaching out to the customer. The credit card thief may have stopped there realizing it wasn’t going to work.

On the other hand, the thief could have continued trying to use the card in other places. Since the first purchase didn’t work, what about an online location like Amazon. Will the credit card work at Amazon? And if they were successful, then I would have to deal with Wells Fargo and Amazon. And if that went through, they would have probably continued to use it until they were found out.

By being proactive and calling Wells Fargo, we know for sure the situation is taken care of and since the card is now canceled, it is likely no further issues will crop up from that card. This mindset is exhausting. Constantly having to critically think about every tiny message you receive and thinking the worst is draining. I know, but it is necessary. In this situation, it is fairly easy to deal with, a 20-minute conversation with your credit card company and activating a new card when you receive it. Not bad and the best possible outcome.