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Credit card fraud is a worrying problem, and most of the time you’ll probably think the perpetrator is a stranger.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sometimes a family member may be the one who used your credit card without your knowledge or permission to increase spending. It could be your child, a parent, or even your spouse. What are your rights in such a situation to ensure that your credit card usage is not affected?
Read all the answers from our credit card experts.
Ask Punculali a question.
Federal law protects consumers from unauthorized use
The Fair Credit Billing Act protects consumers from unauthorized use of their credit cards. You are not responsible for unauthorized payments under the FCBA and you can dispute them. The law limits consumer liability for unauthorized payments to $50.
In addition to the FCBA protection, Visa, Mastercard and many credit card issuers offer a zero fraud liability policy, meaning that individuals who report fraud may not be liable for even the $50 liability set by the FCBA.
Dispute fraudulent payments with your credit card company
Consumers must write to the credit card company to receive their complaint within 60 days of receiving the first invoice with unauthorized charges. The card issuer must acknowledge this complaint within 30 days of receipt of the complaint and resolve the issue within 90 days or less of receipt of the complaint.
The card issuer is investigating the issue and you do not need to make any payments for the amount in dispute while this is happening. However, you will have to keep up with your payments for any other billing expenses that are not in dispute. And the card issuer can cut your line of credit by the amount in dispute. While the investigation is ongoing, the card issuer is not permitted to take any action to recover the amount in dispute.
Other FCBA rights for those filing such disputes include:
- The lender is not allowed to report you as in arrears.
- He cannot ask you to speed up the payment of the debt.
- It cannot close or restrict your account because you filed a complaint.
- The card issuer also cannot deny you credit or otherwise discriminate against you simply because you have taken FCBA legal action.
Should I report a family member to the police?
You have adequate protection against unauthorized use. It’s a good news.
What becomes unclear is that the card issuer may ask you to file a police report as part of an investigation. In this case, you will have to decide whether you want to formally prosecute a family member.
You will have to decide whether you want to skip this betrayal or take action to protect your own interests and finances. If you are not ready to file a police report, you must be prepared to pay the charges yourself.
To better understand the situation, you can talk to a lawyer and find out how filing a police report can hurt your family member if it comes to that. Then you can decide how to proceed.
bottom line
If a family member has used your credit card without your knowledge or permission, it is considered unauthorized use or fraud. The Fair Credit Billing Act offers protection against unauthorized use of your credit card. You may need to file a police report for some protections in cases of fraudulent use. You will then need to decide whether to file a case against a family member.
Contact me at [email protected] if you have any credit card related questions.
Editorial disclaimer
The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective judgment of our contributors and is not based on advertising. It was not provided or ordered by credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to our partners’ products.
