Does Bank of Montreal MasterCard actually monitor for credit card fraud?

2015, Apr 23    

This hasn't been the first time a credit card has been compromised and it won't be the last. As someone who takes all forms of security very seriously I am always ticked off when these breaches occur.

I've had a BMO MasterCard for some time now but every once in awhile it will be breached somehow.   This latest incident is what makes me worrisome.

The card was breached on Monday April 20, 2015.

I received a strange call from a person stating that they were from Apple computers. They asked whether I made a purchase of an iphone today. The name and last four digits of the card used were quoted by the person on the phone. I stated I made no such purpose and they suggested I contact my credit card company about cancelling the card. Thanks for the heads up Apple!

A call is placed to BMO MasterCard and I find out that there is indeed a large dollar purchase of an iphone for around 1200 dollars. I'm quite surprised that there is actually a 1200 dollar phone that you can buy. I can see Apple exercising some common sense in verifying that this was indeed a legit order. BMO immediately cancels the card and issues a new one.

The call is then transferred to the fraud department where I tell my story about how Apple contacted me regarding this charge. I further ask why I was not informed by my own bank about this charge. No response.

The incident is logged on BMO's end until I ask whether there were any other charges. Yep, of course there was another charge. There is a 17 dollar charge from Miracle Ear. Interesting.

I soon find out the timeline.

2015-04-20 3:30 EST $17 Miracle Ear purchase

2015-04-20 4:48 EST $1200+ Apple Iphone purchase

Is this not suspicious? This is credit card fraud 101.

What do most people do when they want to test out a stolen credit card? They make a small test purchase to make sure the card is active and then make the larger purchase.

I had a breach around ten years ago with the exact same type of behavior and it too was not caught at the time. Once again, does Bank of Montreal MasterCard actually monitor for fraud?

Outlook not so good.