Originally Posted by
Centurion
They often do not see detail exceptions for dept stores (individual items) and restaurants (tips) and some other merchants.
For some reason drug stores and gas stations are high up on the fraud alert index. I am sure someone can chime in with more details as why crooks test cards at these locations
Also, high on the list are grocery stores believe it or not.
I travel around the world quite often with my family (over 100+ days each year) and even when we call AMEX to let them know ahead of time and not to block any charges, sometimes they will want the store to call in to verify it was me. And of course, grocery store clerks don't want to take the time to do that.
It was frustrating at times because I already called them to tell them we were going to that city but as it was explained to me, it's all computerized and grocery stores have a high amount of fraud. They said even if they put a note on the account that I will be in X city during X dates, if the amount is over a certain amount and it's at a particular type of store then it will flag to call in.
When we travel we almost always rent a house and the first thing we do is load up on groceries so it's not uncommon to buy several hundreds of dollars worth of groceries upon arriving to a new city.
That's about the only time that I get asked to verify that it's me. Grocery stores (when I'm not in my home city) believe it or not.