Credit Card Falsely Used....sent preactived!!!

A FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR SHOPPING SPREE for Sixteen hundred dollars that
Home Depot already has under investigation and never told you that you
owed the money and THEN you want cashiers that probably didn't even
help the theif at their register because the suspect used the self
checkout with your card REPRIMANDED?

Do you POOP GOLD NUGGETS or something?? Should I BOW?

There is no way the card arrived pre-activated. The reality is your
identity got stolen a bit. Do you for example confetti shred all your
mail? (note that papers from nonconfetti shredders can be
reconstructed fairly easily if someone really wants to). Do you guard
yourself against your information being stolen by say never using
wi-fi on anything? Do you actually cover the pin pad so noone could
steal your information. Reality is that stuff like this happens.
Reality is that it sucks. Reality is that it is not Home Depot's fault
and probably not your fault either.

If you managed to catch the problem at the first credit card
statement, and you notified Home Depot immediately, then all the
fraudulent charges would have been flagged, taken off your record for
the investigation and your credit score would not have suffered.

Finally, it is noone's job but yours to be on top of your own
finances. With the advent of sites like
creditkarma/creditsesame/quizzle, one cannot really complain if say
the credit card was redirected. Honestly, If home depot gives you that
shopping spree I'd switch to Lowes since I do not want to subsidize
your entitled delusions. Granted, you should ask that they flag the
account, switch the account numbers, release you from the fraudulent
charges per the credit agreement ... and cooperated with the police,
assuming you even reported it to the police.

No, the OP shouldn't get a shopping spree. However, I cannot agree
that the store is as much a victim as the OP. We can continue
bringing up the multitude of people that whine and complain when asked
for ID, or we can realize that we live in a day and age where people
take stuff that isn't there's. If there is a way for stores to
protect themselves and in turn protect their customers, they should be
doing so.

That seems pretty messed up, but why would you get 5,000 dollars? They
should investigate what happened and clear the fraudulent charges.

that had they ASKED for an ID, someone would be ticked off that they
were hassled to prove their identity!

And as to the store managers (or any of their subsequent staff) being
reprimanded, if the thief was smart enough to sign your card, it's
unlikely that anyone would have stopped them. It's not like they have
a signature on file in each store to compare it to! Typically a
signature is all they need. Others have even pointed out that some
credit card companies don't even SUPPORT a retailer asking for any
added form of ID beyond the signed card!

Having worked as a cashier, it's not really fair to expect to police
every customer that walks in the place. Either you get people like
the OP who aren't happy if you don't do enough, to the people like one
customer I had who claimed to be using his mother's card (the name on
the card was "Donna" and he really didn't look like a "Donna" to me)
and she was waiting in the car. He wouldnt bring her in, nor would he
provide any ID, so, guess what, NO PURCHASE. But not before he threw
a very loud tantrum in the store that involved my manager and security
staff. Luckily they backed me, but other times they didn't, just to
save face with a customer.

I understand being angry and feeling violated, but before you go
lashing out at everyone and their brother, take a step back and
realize that the only person really at fault here is the selfish idiot
who stole the card and used it in the first place! Everyone else is
just as much a victim too.

So again, before you go screaming for their heads, think about what
you would do if faced with the same situation? How far would you push
the issue?

You need to look at your credit reports to see what's actually on
them.

Home Depot certainly DOES NOT OWE YOU a $5,000 shopping spree. Get
real already, and follow up on the fraud charges. Gee Whiz ---
someone else looking for a FREE ride!!!

I don't think you should get a $5K shopping spree. Your credit report
absolutely should be cleared of any reference to these charges.

Our Home Depot checks ID, regardless of self check or regular check
out. Wonder why that did not happen here. I thought it was their
policy to do so. Also, to activate card, had to call and do it. Sounds
like somebody you know may have taken this card as his own.

How do you know it was preactivated?



if you didn't receive the card, you can't be sure of that.


It sounds more like someone stole your identity and opened a credit
account.




if you never had access to this card, then do this...

1) Contact the police and file a police report

2) Contact the credit card company and ask for the fraud department.
Include the police report #

3) Contact ALL THREE credit reporting companies and talk to them about
freezing your credit. Include the police report #

4) Contact the FTC for more help.

I'm not so sure the card was preactivated. The cards we receive have a
little strip of paper on the front, telling us to call a toll-free
number or go to a website to activate the card.

Your "friendly shopper" merely had to dial up or log in to activate
your card. I realize that the phone activation may be tied to the
phone number on the application, but I'll bet there are ways around
that. (I haven't tried.)

And it's pretty easy to be someone else online.

Are you sure they do indeed send them out already activated? Did
someone intercept your card?

I agree with the comment below, find out what bank issued the card and
get them involved as well, and probably more so, then Home Depot.

I don't believe you deserve a "shopping spree" however.

Just out of curiosity, which bank issued the Home Depot card? I had a
horrible experience with a Home Depot card several years ago, issued
by CitiBank at the time (was amazingly charged with late fees for
June, July, AND August despite using the card once and paying in-full
in June). That was not my only bad encounter with a Citibank issued
card.

I'm not sure if all the blames should all be heaped on Home Depot.
And at least at my local Home Depot locations, there are the
self-checkout counters as well.

a $5,000 shopping spree? For what?

And why should the cashiers be repremanded? The way it works is the
customer swipes the card, the cashier never even sees it.

The police need to be notified and Home Depot has cameras so it should
be very easy to get it cleared up.