How To Dispute Unauthorized Credit Card Transactions
Over 80% of United States consumers that are of age use credit cards. Unfortunately, with such a huge number of people using credit cards as a way to pay, there are of course a few bad apples that try to take advantage of weaknesses in the security of credit cards. Many consumers open their mail to find credit card billing statements with purchases that they are not responsible for. The good thing is, you cannot be held liable for anything that you did not personally purchase. As a matter of fact, under the consumer protection act, you are not liable for any fraud, theft, or any other type of unauthorized use of your credit card.
The first step to getting your money back is to find out how much money was taken, by who, and on what date. This is a very simple process. Get your billing statement for your credit card and a pen. Circle the fraudulent transactions on your billing statement. This will tell you the amount of money that was taken for the purchase, the date of the purchase, and who the merchant was that charged the card.
The second step to getting your money back when your credit card has unauthorized purchases on it is to call the bank. When you do call you bank, you will most likely be greeted by an automated system. Press zero repeatedly until you are transferred to a live representative. At this point, it is important to remember to be polite. The representative on the other end of the phone is there to help you so there is no need to be rude to them. Greet the representative with “how are you doing” and once they respond let them know what is going on.
At this point, you will most likely be transferred to the fraud department within the bank. This is where you will need the information that you circled on your bill earlier. Let the fraud department representative know what purchases were unauthorized by you. This representative will explain to you that he or she will be sending a form for you to fill out to your billing address. The form is simple, it asks you to list the transactions and if you authorized them. Answer all of the questions needed and send the form back to the bank. At this point, you should receive your money back and there will be a thorough investigation to help find the person that made the fraudulent transaction on your credit card.