Credit Card Fraud

[Kendall James-Vargas]

CCL guests have been arrested for credit card fraud. This is such a shame, but I'm very glad they were caught. It's always safer to use a credit card rather than a debit card while traveling! Thankfully I haven't encountered any credit fraud on a cruise. Have you? 

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-passengers-arrested-for-credit-card-fraud-onboard/115062

[RoadTravelled]

@Kendall James-Vargas  I've fortunately never been the victim of credit card fraud.  However, someone did open an account in my name and then never paid the bill causing my credit rating to plunge for awhile.  It took me forever to get that unraveled.

There seems to be no shortage of people who are bent on thinking up ways to cheat other people to serve their own greed and get something for free.  But, like the recent art theft, it's really stupid to do this on a ship.  Where are you going to go to escape?  You are bound to get caught.  Was it really worth it in the end?

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@RoadTravelled That is such a shame! Credit cards are more secure than debit cards when it comes to fraud, but rebounding from fraudulent activity is never easy. I too have had my card compromised. It's all mostly due to online fraud. I have encountered a gas station stealing my card information, but I noticed the payment and was able to defer it immediately. It's so important to keep an eye on your card activity on the phone app daily. If you wait too long, it takes even longer to resolve the issue! 

I can't agree more! The art heist was just sheer stupidity. It seems like just a novice cruiser decision. Thankfully, I don't have any impulses/desires to steal things but art on a cruise ship is the worst plan ever. There is no way a piece of art was worth it. I don't think breaking the law is ever worth it. I prefer to play by the rules. 

[3Sisters]

@RoadTravelled Credit card fraud is so dangerous and runs rampant! You can do so many measures to protect yourself, but you swipe at the wrong location and your personal information can be compromised at an instance. I believe what goes around, will come back around. If you are breaking the rules and doing harm to others, you will get exposed. Thankfully cruise lines are excellent at security and protecting guests. I wouldn't mess around on a cruise ship. More than likely, you will get caught. I feel very safe when cruising and it's because of the awesome security onboard. I feel like that's a major perk included in my cruise premium. Every person is accounted for and pre-scanned on the ship.

[euroguy]

I can totally relate as I was a recent victim too. In December someone tried to use my CC info to make a purchase 600 Mike's away. Thankfully capital one saw it and asked if legitimate and notified me via text. I called them vs. Clicking on text link (might have been fraud text) turned out true they blocked charge killed card and sent me a new one few days later.... then also in December I received a notification that a change happened on my credit report, looked and had a collection for a verizon account in NY (I live in California) took a couple weeks but got it all cleared and restored to normal. But what a pain in the butt as had to file police report, prove who I was and show proof of residence etc. Grrrrr. 

Couple things a person can do are #1 put a freeze on your credit reports which won't let companies pull your credit. You can unfreeze it when ever you need to. The more extreme measure is a full lock on credit bureau but much harder to unlock. All 3 of my credit bureaus have freeze on them. Problem solved. Hope this helps

[3Sisters]

@euroguy I'm so glad you were alerted about this. Sometimes these purchases come without warning! That's the absolute worst. It takes forever too clear up these errors on your credit and you have to jump through hoops to prove it's inaccuracy. I can't believe they made you file a police report. That's wild to me. What was the police report supposed to do? When you work so hard to have amazing credit and then this happens, it's brutal. I would freeze my credit too if this kept occurring. Scammers will find you anywhere. I read an article about airports and wifi at the airports being very unprotected and unsafe. To be honest, your info can be stolen even when you don't put it out there by accident.