About six months ago, apparently, my credit card info was stolen from my 18-year-old son, likely online. But we only found out recently because the use of it has been odd and random.
First, the card was used on Patreon for two accounts, giving donations of less than $5.00 about once a month. He said he has used Patreon before, but not recently and not the odd amounts.
Second, they ordered some anxiety CBD and it was sent to our address with his name on it. He said he might have gone to the site but gave no information and certainly no credit card info.
Third, they gave a $20 donation to the Sierra Club in his name. He doesn’t know what that is. I thought it was a scam, but then we got Sierra Club tote bags.
About then we realized our card had been compromised. We canceled it but then waited a month and never received our new replacement cards. I’ve been watching the account and no purchases. Then, three days ago, my son received a dish drying rack from Amazon, but not from his account but to his college dorm.
None of the amounts are much. Some went through PayPal. And we got products and two different addresses. I’m not sure what is happening but want to stop the leak. Help me understand what is happening so I can understand and put a stop to it.
You might be right. But I don’t understand the Sierra Club donation and he has better sources of CBD than a website.
Yeah, neither do I. But this is NOT what criminals do with stolen credit card information.
If the card was actually compromised, after small charges went through you’d be getting slammed with big charges until they hit your limit or you shut down the account. Something else is going on, likely involving your son and/or his friends.
Cancel the account. Get a different card and don’t tell your son about it.
Discipline him however you see fit, but there is an essentially 100% chance it’s him. Sorry.
Edited to add: a DIFFERENT card, not a new card for the same account. If he’s added it to Apple Pay or similar, it’ll update on his phone even with a new card number. Close this credit account entirely and open a new one.
So, Patreon donations - and he HAS used Patreon before. CBD that was sent to your address with his name on it (no one other than you/your son would benefit from this). A donation under his name (no one other than the person named would benefit from this). A drying rack from Amazon sent to his college dorm (no one other than your son would benefit from this) even AFTER getting a NEW card.
Scams that are trying to steal money usually result in someone else benefiting from less trivial purchases. It doesn’t make sense that this “scam” would be related to such trivial purchases, sent to your own home addresses, over such a long duration of time. Not to mention, the chances of it happening again after getting a new card?
I agree with the others saying your son is lying about this. With what is happening, it makes WAY more sense that your son is just doing this and lying about it, than a scammer going through all the trouble to make these things happen, which is not really yielding any benefit for a scammer. There is no motive.
Call the bank up and ask them what the address on file is. Report the card STOLEN and tell them to cancel all recurring transactions associated with the card.
Willoughby said:
Call the bank up and ask them what the address on file is. Report the card STOLEN and tell them to cancel all recurring transactions associated with the card.
It was the old address. Now the new address (we just moved). The address used for the dish rack he got at college is not listed at the bank, but it is listed on Amazon.
We did report the cards stolen last month. Then, no replacement cards for a month (we moved, holidays, so we gave it time and watched online that no one had used them). Then, a few days ago, someone used the card (not sure yet if new or old).
The purchases are so random and amounts so small, I don’t get it. It feels like a glitch.
@Finlo
Your son stole the cards when they arrived in the mail. There is no glitch - no thief from outside the family would put your or your son’s address down for items purchased using your credit card.
My guess is your son is using it. He must’ve gotten the new card info and created a new Amazon account without telling you, then added your card as a payment method. All of this is easy to do. A scammer wouldn’t do this. If your card was actually stolen you would be getting large purchases, and none of them would be for your benefit like a dish rack for a dorm…