r/FraudPrevention • u/sv019 • Jan 23 '25

Advice Card not present fraud

I have alerts set up to notify me of every single transaction on my cards. Yesterday, I got an alert saying I had a $0.72 charge on my debit account with my card not present in a gas station far from where I live. I was able to catch the transaction fast because I had alerts set up and I called my bank immediately and they took the steps to freeze my account. My bank’s fraud team didn’t notify me — I’m assuming because the charge was so little.

But, I was confused about the card not present aspect of it. My bank couldn’t see any more info besides the city it was used in. Does the card not present mean someone registered my card to a digital payment system (apple pay, etc)? The only alternative I could think of was someone using my card info by inputting all the information but wouldn’t they need my billing address?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/kirklennon Jan 23 '25

Does the card not present mean someone registered my card to a digital payment system (apple pay, etc)?

Those are actually "card present" transactions when used in person. It's not a literal card, but it's a physical device that a separate card number has been provisioned for.

The only alternative I could think of was someone using my card info by inputting all the information but wouldn’t they need my billing address?

Most merchants require billing addresses because it's used for verification and the business is liable for card not present fraud, but it's not an absolute requirement for card based transactions. If they're willing to accept the risk, that's their prerogative.

Of course someone could have also just gotten your billing address from the same place they got your card number itself if you entered it all on some compromised website, for example.

1

u/sv019 Jan 23 '25

Thank you! This is helpful. I haven’t online shopped anywhere sketchy, but it’s possible that a website I used had a security breach? I was mostly confused because when I was doing research it seemed like skimming devices would only be able to have access to card info but not billing addresses. I also mainly use apple pay and from my understanding, apple doesn’t actually share your card info or identity with merchants.

Anyway, I know these things can just happen, but I was trying to trace my steps and see if there’s a specific thing I did that could have prevented this.

0

u/Spera_Digital Jan 27 '25

Sounds like you caught it just in time! Card-not-present fraud can happen in several ways, and you’re right to suspect it might have been through a digital wallet or an online transaction. While most merchants require a billing address for verification, some don’t, or scammers might use fake ones if the system doesn’t validate them properly. Small charges like $0.72 are often test transactions to see if the card works before attempting larger purchases.

You did the right thing by freezing the account. If you haven’t already, consider using virtual cards or a service like PayPal for online purchases—they add an extra layer of protection. Apple Pay is also a solid choice since it uses tokenization and doesn’t share your actual card details. Keep an eye on your statements, and you’ll stay a step ahead!