Someone Used My Credit Card Online. Can I Track Them?

Six out of 10 Americans with credit cards have been the victim of credit card fraud, with 45% of credit card holders being a victim multiple times.¹ Unfortunately, this means you are likely to experience this at some point, so it’s important to know how you might be affected.

When you see a fraudulent charge pop up on your account, your first thought might be how you can dispute this charge as quickly as possible. After you’ve filed your dispute, you might want to find out who actually used your credit card information. But is there any way you or your bank are able to track the person who was using your credit card online?

We’ll let you know and provide some steps to take to protect your credit card information from fraud in the first place.

How Credit Card Fraud Happens

Any unauthorized use of your credit card is considered fraudulent, but what are some of the most common ways this could happen?

• Physical Theft: Your physical credit card is stolen.
• Data Breaches: Your information stored with an online retailer is accessed and stolen.
• Hacking: Your online account is accessed, and your information is stolen.
• Application Fraud: A card is issued in your name and used illegally.
• Skimming: A device is installed illegally on a card reader (such as at a gas station), and your information is stolen.

Can You Track Who Used Your Card?

When your card is used for fraud, it could be friends, family, or a random stranger stealing your physical card or someone stealing your card’s information online (also known as card-not-present, or CNP, fraud). CNP fraud means that someone can use your card without it being physically present.

If someone stole your physical card, it may be possible to get security footage from the store where the fraud occurred. However, this isn’t something most places will provide you. It becomes really difficult to track if your fraud is remote because there is no security footage or witnesses.

Bottom Line:

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will be able to identify the specific party responsible for stealing your credit card information.

What Steps To Take When You Find Fraudulent Transactions

Fraud happens quite frequently. While banks do have processes in place to alert you to potential fraud on your accounts, monitoring your own transactions and your credit report is the most important step you can take.

The best option is to look at your credit card transactions online via your bank account every few days and make sure you at least look at your monthly statement. You also need to review your credit report at least annually to ensure that no one has opened a fraudulent card in your name. This can be done with each of the 3 credit card bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).

Report to Bank

Once you see an unauthorized transaction, the first step is to contact your bank immediately. You can start by calling the number listed on the back of your card to be directed to the appropriate department.

The bank will freeze your credit card, preventing further charges from being posted to your account. This is done regardless of how your card information was stolen, whether someone stole your physical card or it was remote fraud.

Hot Tip:

Check out our guides to disputing charges with American Express, Capital One, Chase, and Citi.

Bank Completes Their Investigation

The good news is that you are not responsible for making any payments for fraudulent purchases, and a provisional credit will be issued to your account while the bank investigates.

The bank will review the charges and may examine your banking history. This prevents someone from simply claiming that a large purchase is fraudulent to avoid paying for their transaction.

For example, do you have a string of unauthorized purchases for high dollar amounts? Is the purchase you reported for something you have purchased in the past? Depending on what they find, the bank may approve or deny your claim.

Get a New Card

Once the card with fraudulent activity is canceled, your bank will issue a new card with new numbers and a new security code.

Your physical card will be sent in the mail and will arrive within a few days at the address you have on file with your bank. In some instances (if you are on vacation, for example), your bank may be able to send the new card to your current location.

Hot Tip:

Don’t forget to change your card on file for any recurring payments that are set to auto pay.

Identity Theft Protection Services

Additionally, there are services such as LifeLock, myFICO, and Experian that offer paid credit monitoring services. You can get alerts when your personal information has been used to open new credit accounts, get frequent privacy scans, and so on.

This could be a useful tool if you’ve been a victim of fraud multiple times or just need help monitoring your credit report.

How Your Bank Tracks Fraud

Banks generally offer consumer protections against fraudulent transactions, meaning that banks are liable for the money. According to the Federal Trade Commission, during the first half of 2024, there were 87,457 reports of credit and debit card fraud, resulting in $220 million in losses.

Banks generally write off most fraudulent charges as losses, especially in smaller cases of fraud. However, if the charges are high enough, your bank could take additional action through bank investigators or law enforcement. Banks have sophisticated methods of investigating fraud, but here are examples of steps banks might take to recover funds.

Time Stamp and IP Address

Banks use time stamps and IP addresses for multiple reasons. First, they might see if that purchase was accidental and not actually fraudulent. This means they can quickly check to see if your fraudulent purchase was actually a recurring subscription service you forgot to cancel or a child making an unauthorized purchase using your card.

Next, they can use IP addresses to check if purchases were made from different states or countries. This is often a good sign that a purchase is fraudulent, and if it is, they may move on to the next step.

Geolocation

Using sophisticated software, investigators might be able to pinpoint the location that the fraud took place. This information would be shared with law enforcement, and steps could be taken to apprehend the fraudster.

This isn’t a step that would happen for your average fraud case. As this level of investigation is costly and time-consuming, it would only happen in high-profile cases.

Track Buyer Data and Account Activity

Investigators might also examine other relevant information, such as the buying patterns on your credit card. They may be able to uncover things such as the criminal’s shipping information.

Your Liability for Fraudulent Transactions

Luckily, if someone uses your credit card for a fraudulent purchase, it’s not the same as you losing cash. You are protected by your card issuer as long as you submit your claim in a timely manner.

It’s also important to note that your liability for fraudulent charges is not dependent on the identification of the suspect.

Credit Cards

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), which amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), states that the consumer’s liability for unauthorized credit card charges is $50 “if the consumer reports the fraud within 60 days of receiving their credit card statement.”

This does put some level of responsibility on you to review your credit card statements in a timely manner. If you don’t report the unauthorized charge within 60 days, you could be liable for the entire amount.

That being said, most card issuers offer zero-liability protection for consumer cards. Credit card companies generally require users to report fraudulent activity within 30 days for this protection to apply.

Debit Cards

The rules are more stringent when it comes to fraud protection on your debit card.

For example, federal law may still limit your liability to $50, but only if you report fraud within 2 business days of the charge being posted. If you report fraud between 2 and 60 business days, you are liable for up to $500. After that, you are liable for the entire amount.

Your specific debit card issuer may offer higher levels of protection, but these protections are not as common as those offered by credit card issuers. This difference in protection is one of the main reasons we would advise using your credit card over your debit card for most purchases.

Ways To Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Here are a few tips on how to avoid credit card fraud. If you want to read up on more ways to keep your money safe, check out our related article below.

Virtual Cards

Virtual cards are a great option when making purchases online. They are issued by your bank for one-time use. They apply to 1 vendor and are often dollar-specific. Once the card is used, the number becomes inactive, making the inappropriate use of a virtual card extremely unlikely.

Tap To Pay

Contactless methods use the EMV chip to secure each transaction with unique, encrypted data. This means that your credit card data is not shared with retailers, making it more difficult for skimmers to obtain your data.

Use a Credit Card

We briefly touched on it above, but using a credit card instead of a debit card is generally preferable for its fraud protection benefits. A credit card offers more time to report a fraudulent transaction and a higher protection threshold.

Final Thoughts

The good news is that if you report fraud in a timely manner, you are rarely liable for it. In most cases, your bank will write off fraud as a cost of doing business. However, if the fraud is significant enough, your bank may take steps to locate the suspect. They can use a variety of different techniques, including IP tracking and geolocation, but the truth is that a suspect is rarely held accountable.