I hate to bring up the topic of traffic violations again but wanted to share our experience because it might help others avoid a problem. We received a notice of a traffic violation (driving in a bus lane) from our summer trip to Italy. I'm sure we did this; we were pretty lost at one point and were hugging the right side of the road. I logged onto the website to pay the fine. There was an option for credit card payment or bank transfer, and I chose to pay by credit card. Two days later I received a call from my credit card company about suspicious activity on my account. Someone had tried to use my card for a hotel charge in Italy, and had entered the number manually but with the wrong expiration date. They denied the charge and issued me a new card. Perhaps Italian web security isn't the best, or maybe we just got unlucky. Either way, I'd recommend using the bank transfer option if you find yourselves in our situation in the future.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23242 posts
Stick with the credit card. The fraud department did their job and a even if it had not caught it you liability would be limited to $50 if your credit card company chose to impose the $50 limit. A bank transfer opens up your entire bank account. You credit card number could have been picked up at any point so it may not have come from the credit card payment.
Posted by
Temora, NSW, Australia
337 posts
Hi Credit Card fraud is not limited to Italy, my last credit card replacement followed an online payment to a US based company, only to find two days later someone was buying baseball tickets somewhere in your South West. The Credit card company tracked it. I still use the US company that has secure payments and have no problems prior to or since. I favour C/Cards but if need also use a debit card but has a $ limit to minimise scams.
C/Card fraud is international it will happen to you.....