BrainSlap!

Recently, again, my credit card number was used by some unscrupulous individual or group to purchase something I did not approve. This is the second time this has happened in two years. Fortunately for me, I caught the initial "test" purchase and canceled my card before they could purchase anything expensive. This was their test to see if the card and security number was valid, I assume.

I saw a purchase of $4.82 come across my card so I checked it out, knowing that I hadn't purchased anything from the company in question. A sub-second search on Google returned a result that the phone number and name of the company was known to be associated with an identity theft crime ring which is why I immediately canceled the card. I was glad I caught it but my primary thought was "Why the heck wasn't this identified first by Visa and immediately denied before getting approved?"

Why am I better at identifying invalid purchases than Visa or any other credit card company? I assume it's just too costly for Visa and others to "manage" and easier for them to reimburse me rather than prevent it but that kind of thinking is what got us in this mess in the first place. If credit card companies were proactive and made more secure ways of authenticating transactions, we'd have much less identity theft. It doesn't take a genius to steal credit card information because of the way credit cards work. All a thief needs is a valid number and sometimes a valid security code. With that basic information they can place orders all day long with no other questions asked.

With the current process in place, this problem will only become worse. I'd love it if someone could force the credit card companies to increase their security but the unfortunate reality is that, to them, it's just not worth it.