Fraudulent Charges on your credit card statement?

You only have 60 days to dispute it.

Lately, we have seen a lot of people who have had their credit card information stolen. Fraudulent charges are popping up like a movie theatre popcorn machine. Funny, right? Not to the people in Arizona who have been victimized. Worse yet, its only a matter of time before you become a victim of credit card fraud.

How to Handle Credit Card Fraud in Arizona.

While credit card fraud is a form of identity theft, you need to handle it differently than you would with identity theft on your credit report. Follow these steps and keep reading for tricks and traps to avoid at the bottom of this page.

Step 1.

Call the bank and report the fraudulent charges to them immediately. Then be sure to follow up with the bank in writing. The law requires you to put your dispute in writing. While most banks prefer that you call them so they can stop further activity on the credit card, the bank is not liable to you if you fail to send a written notice. You only have 60 days from the date that you should have received your credit card statement that contains the fraudulent charge to dispute it. If you blow this deadline, your only remedy is to pursue it with the merchant. Don’t miss this deadline because merchants are routinely much more difficult with which to resolve these disputes.

Step 2.

Be sure to get a written acknowledgment of your dispute from the bank. They can send it to you via email or by letter. Whatever you do, be sure that you save a copy of this acknowledgment because in some cases, it may be your only written proof that you timely made your dispute. Do not wait longer than 2 weeks to get this written acknowledgement. If you don’t get it, call the bank and have them email it to you at once.

Step 3.

Keep an eye out for the bank’s decision. Be sure to wait no longer than 60 days for it. They have this amount of time to check with the merchant and get its side of the story. If you don’t get your decision in this time, call the bank and find out where the decision is. Many times, they will tell you that they sent you a decision when in fact, they did not.

Step 4.

Tricks and Traps to avoid when disputing fraudulent credit card charges.

Don’t fall for the bank’s defense “We have chips in our credit cards so you MUST have been present when the card was used.” While most credit cards today have computer chips in them, they are no defense to online or telephone transactions. The banks would prefer you not to think about this, but you should. You have to stand your ground, or better yet, let us stand your ground for you.
Be sure to put your dispute in writing. The law requires you to put your dispute in writing. However, if call the bank and they acknowledge it in writing, you will have satisfied this requirement.
Make sure your dispute is timely. If you submit your dispute within 60 days of when it first appears on your statement, you can get the bank to remove the fraudulent charges. If the bank fails to do so, you can sue th bank in the state where you live. If you don’t file the dispute timely, you can only go after the merchant and must file your suit where the merchant does business.
Filing a lawsuit by yourself is a bad idea for a few reasons. First, we can file and manage the lawsuit at no out of pocket charge to you. Secondly, the bank will most likely turn your lawsuit over to their attorneys who will handle the matter and get your case dismissed. They are very smart, and well seasoned in the law, especially in its nuances of it that a laymen may not know. If they get your case dismissed, you will end up paying the fraudulent charges or risk having your credit score trashed for years to come. Again, there is no reason to make this a DIY project.

Call us if you have Fraudulent Charges on your Credit Card Account

Call us at the Arizona Credit Law Group at (480) 907-6088 for a free, no obligation consultation. You can also email us at [email protected] for more information.