Charges You Have to Pay on Stolen Credit Cards

Credit card theft is one of the most dreaded situationsyour account frequently. Of course, you should always
any cardholders do want to be in. If your card hascheck your account even if you did not lose it
been stolen, you need to take swift action. The firstbecause many unscrupulous people can actually make
thing you need to do is to notify your card company ofpurchases using card numbers alone.
the situation, immediately. The sooner you report theHowever, if you checked your account and noticed
loss, the less likely it is that you will be held liable forthat several unauthorized purchases have been made
any fraudulent charges.using your card number, you need to contact your
Many credit companies will not hold cardholders liablecard company as soon as possible. Give a detailed
for unauthorized uses as long as the situation hasexplanation and indicate the details of the fraudulent
been reported at specified days. Some credit cardcharges made.
companies could charge you certain amount of moneyNext, you need to create a letter and recount the
if the thief used the card is not reported as stolen fastsituation. Include the date that the card was stolen, the
enough.date where unauthorized charges were made with
On the other hand, if the thief used only the cardand the date that you reported the loss of your card.
number and not the physical card when makingSend the letter through certified mail with a return
purchases, you will not be liable for any fraudulentreceipt requested to the card company's address for
charges at all. If the fraudulent charges are made usingthe correspondence. Make sure you are mailing the
only your credit number and not your physical creditletter to the right address, as the address may be
card, you will not be liable for any of the fraudulentdifferent from the payment processing address.
charges.Finally, keep a copy of your card number as well as
The good news is that certain technological advancesthe number for your credit issuer's customer service.
made it easy to detect fraudulent charges made withKeep it somewhere safe. This way, you can contact
a stolen card. In order to track down any purchasesyour creditor once your card has been lost or stolen.
made on your stolen card, you can start by checking