Community Chat

[PickyPicky3]

Two months ago I reported almost $3000 in Comcast and Spectrum cable bills had been fraudulently charged to my credit card. My bank took care of everything -- changing my account number and setting up blocks for Comcast and Spectrum.

Tonight I almost fell off the couch when I got a text from my bank that they had blocked $275 in Comcast charges ON THE NEW ACCOUNT NUMBER.

How is this possible? Apparently cable companies, making a case that they must be paid, negotiated a "pushthrough portal" with corporate VISA and Mastercard. This allows charges to go through to a changed account number and be processed, even though the crooks doing this cannot see the new number. Then it's up to the individual bank to block the charge.

Ain't that somethin'? 

[Tori3569]

It's not just cable companies.  It's usually with recurring charges set up on one's cards.   Amex does it too.  It has been helpful when I've changed a card and forgot to change it on the vendor's website, like my electric bill.  
In my experience it has been relatively simple to see and fix.  

[ECBG]

So very sorry.  I would be at the bank with all of the documents.

[8new nickname 6]

The cable companies must have you set up on auto pay, They carry over to a new account. I used to work for a credit card company. Call comcast & ask

[PickyPicky3]

@Tori3569  Would that mean my crooks used my credit card number to set up a recurring charge at Spectrum and Comcast? You would think once my bank contacted the cable companies about the fraudulent charges that would have been fixed.

[PickyPicky3]

@8new nickname 6  (whoever you are) @ECBG 

I don't have a Comcast or Spectrum account. This is the new McDonald's of internet crime. There's a criminal cable bill payer on every streetcorner.

The blocks on my new account number worked. I wasn't charged, just alerted.

[PickyPicky3]

I called my bank fraud department again and they said it was not a recurring charge. Cable bill pay criminals know an account's numbers will be changed, and they know about the pushportal, but not every account will have specific company blocks put on. They tried to use my old account numbers again hoping it would be successfully processed.

So, if this happens to you, make sure specific company blocks are put on. It's just like blocking a specific phone number on your phone.

[Tori3569]

Since you don't use those companies, I think the original recurring charges just kept going through.   , I'd contact the cable companies and take it up there as well as the bank.

[jackthebear]

one reason never to use autopay

I never want anyone to have the ability to reach into my money and take what they want

[Spurt]

Thats why I only do auto pay with certain companies and go online to manually pay for others...and never store your credit card on Amazon....while its convenient for returning customers, crooks have been known to hack into their site and make fraudulent purchases...better to enter your info when making a purchase.....Some say another problem with Amazon is they dont always require the CC security code when you make purchase...