We recently purchased roughly $750 worth of goods from NewEgg.com and two days later the card used for that transaction was being declined at every purchase!
After being embarrassed when a purchase of a $4 coffee was declined we went to the bank to investigate. We were then informed that there were some fraudulent looking activities against our account so the card had been frozen. Good thing.
What made the transactions look like fraud was initially that NewEgg hit the account two different times – once for about $400 and the other for close to $350 – with just a few short hours between the to transactions. These transactions originated from out-of-state – I’m in WA, NewEgg is in CA.
The final straw for the fraud detection was a transaction from a Wal-Mart Bowling Green, KY.
What the Fuck!
So, in the first place those two charges from NewEgg triggered the FDS – which is what allowed Wells Fargo to detect the bull-shit charge from Kentucky. Thank you WF.
But how could my card number have ended up Kentucky? Well, on speculation here’s what we have.
NewEgg (who processed that transaction) has an order fulfillment center in Memphis, TN (as evidenced by the UPS tracking number). Those shipments travel on I-40 from Memphis to Nashville, TN then north on I-65 to Lousiville, KY – right, directly through Bowling Green, KY – where the fraud occurred.
So, some how, a purchase from NewEgg on the 28th, triggered a fradulent credit-card transaction on the 29th – while my package from the order was traveling through a city on it’s route at that same time! What are the odds!?!
Worst case NewEgg is complicit in credit card fraud. Best case – they have some very unscrupulous people working there.
Also, congratulations to Wells Fargo for detecting and blocking this fraud before it became more than a few hours of inconvenience.
Now I’m stuck waiting for five to seven business days for replacement cards – I have to get cash from the bank teller – like a caveman!