Originally Posted by
Dr Jabadski
You’re welcome. There’s something to be said for the old fashioned way of doing things. I try to obtain a hard copy paper receipt for EVERY credit card transaction, try to jot down every Lyft/Uber and other digital receipts. Keep them until I receive my hard copy paper monthly statement at which time I check off every charge and discard the paper receipt.
Legitimate unfamiliar merchant names and charges can always be quickly reconciled by comparing dates and amounts. For me to have a possible fraudulent charge, the name and date and amount would all have to be unfamiliar (or completely mismatched as with my $300 example above).
With all due respect, WAY too much work.
I gave up reconciling my credit card statements with paper receipts or other records a long, long time ago. My CSR alone had nearly 500 transactions last year. My CFU had over 200.
I look at my primary credit card transactions online on a regular basis to look for unknown charges (and new Chase/Amex offers). There is a good chance that I would not notice an extra Starbucks (or other small value/frequent merchant) charge I didn’t make, but it’s quite unlikely that they would charge me for something I didn’t authorize. A truly fraudulent charge tends to stick out like a swore thumb. And is pretty rare. Occasionally (especially on foreign trips) I come across merchant names that don’t ring a bell at all. But since I am looking at it a day or two after the transaction, I can usually work out what the charge was for.