Comments on: Virtual Credit Card Numbers: A Security Risk?

By: Sophie

Sophie — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:50:53 +0000

Wow, sorry to hear that. Have you reported the incident to the relevant authorities? A warning to anyone buying anything: always check out your rights when it comes to refunds and disputes!

By: Nina

Nina — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:58:26 +0000

I just lost my hard earned money to a scam website claiming to sell virtual credit cards.
I guess he must have been doing it for years but I want to let others learn from my mistake.
The name of the website is :VCCCHEAP.COM .
The name of the person who runs the scam website is Welid Moh Ysef
I have been well played by him and hope others don’t get ripped off by this scammer.
This is his liberty reserve account:U3752619 and this is the way he receives his fraudulent money.
With Liberty reserve,you cannot get a refund or place a dispute and I must say it’s the perfect way for Mr SCAMMER (Welid Moh Ysef ) to scam his victims which unfortunately I am now one of.
Word of advice,don’t ever think of spending a dollar on this website because you will never get anything in return.

By: Lou

Lou — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:59:02 +0000

Actually found this site b/c I had a Citibank virtual card declined this morning… I placed the order online yesterday afternoon, and set the virtual card to expire at midnight. Little did I know, “will be processed the next day” meant the credit card as well.

Just jumped on my pc and created another number and voila! My order is processed…

This was my first experience; looks like at lease one kink has been solved…

By: Mercie

Mercie — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:32:38 +0000

I have been a Citi card carrying member since 2004. I have used their VANs ever since then and have not had any problems. I live by their VANs and refer and suggest everyone uses it. Citi was my second credit card but were the first to introduce me to virtual account numbers.

I use VANs for all my online and phone orders. I’ve even let a friend use them because they were unsure about a website. I use them to pay bills to trusted companies like Verizon as well as to suspicious sites when I order cheap merchandise.

Similar to what I’ve read. About 4 months ago, I ordered a product for my father for $1.98. As far as I knew, that was the total price. Well, the following month, Citi calls me stating that there was fraudulent activity on my account. It appears, what I actually ordered was a trial, and the company kept trying to charge the monthly fee of $79.99. I told Citi that I didn’t authorize those charges. Citi continued to block it and nothing was ever charged.

Now, Citi probably only called me because the merchant kept trying to recharge it but it eases my mind that the Citi VANs still work.
1. The number can only be used once
2. It can’t be charged for more than the limit
3. It expires quickly so your active credit card number is not sitting in multiple databases waiting for a hacker to steal it

It may have had some glitches in the past and some may arise in the future, but I have never experienced them (knock on wood). As long as they work to fix the problem, I say they are still worth it.

PS. Discover has a similar feature that never really worked for me.
Bank of America Shop Safe has just failed the limits test. I called to inform them and they said someone will look into it. They did past the one number per merchant test though.

By: FLYPino020

FLYPino020 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:23:08 +0000

I have a few questions.

I generated a virtual account number and set the limit to $50 and the expiration date to March 2010.

I recently purchased something off of Amazon.com that totaled up to $48.99. I have $1.01 remaining on that virtual account number.

I was then able to sell a textbook for 79.99 + 3.99 for shipping and handling ($83.98). Will I be able to receive payments (credit) on my virtual account number or is it not able to receive credit? Do you think there will be a problem if my limit is set to $50? How is that supposed to work?

Thanks in advance!

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:56:31 +0000

I used a virtual number for a trial product that cost $1.00 to ship. I created a number for $1.00 that would expire in 1 month (advanced options for amount and exp. date). After receiving the trial I CLOSED the number. When the trial ended I received an email that the company would charge $79.99 if I didn’t return the unused portion of a SINGLE USE container. That had fraud written all over it. Confident that I closed the number I just moved on and dismissed the “threat”.

I can happily report that was about 3 months ago and I was never billed. The number was used for $1.00 and then I closed the number. Further more, I’ve used my virtual numbers for YEARS and never had a problem. Create limits of amount and time, and go to Active Numbers and close the numbers you no longer use.

By: BMILL

BMILL — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:07:19 +0000

They are worth it, I work for one of the companies listed above. they all have different software. Its the way a merchant can push a payment through visa, its not us the manual push cant be denied its like a membership they will follow your account even through fraud and lost stolen accounts…..

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:18:42 +0000

Fred: The system of approving transactions, as you describe, is EXACTLY what the virtual cards are all about! And we do have electronic banking in real time, and you can do this. The problem you are having with this is that your landlord does have electronic banking, which is why your bank has to send them a check. They can’t electronically pay something to someone not set up to receive electronic payments. So your complaint should be with your landlord. Of course if you’re concerned about the bank sucking up interest on your money you always just write him a check yourself.

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:01:21 +0000

Where did we ever get this absurd idea of giving people our account numbers? It is ridiculous that they can dip in to our accounts any time they feel like it and take as much as they want. It is a system that seems designed for fraud and abuse. I want a system based on transactions. I authorize one transaction for a certain amount and no more. Once it goes through, the number is useless to crooks because the transaction has already been completed and cannot be reused. Oh and while we're at it why can't we have electronic banking in real time yet? When I pay my rent "electronically" the bank takes my money out today but then they print a check and put it in the mail and my landlord gets it 8 days later. They they have to wait for the check to clear. Bank is sucking up interest on my money the whole time.

By: Sandi B.

Sandi B. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:29:04 +0000

I have been using Citicard Virtual Account Numbers for over 2 years now & have never had any problem at all. On one order I placed the merchandise did not all ship at the same time as one item was on back order. When the merchant tried to ship the back ordered item & charge it to the original virtual acct numberon original order, it was denied to the merchant. So I had to get another virtual acct # to get the item shipped.
On another order to a different merchant, I returned part of the order over 30 days later & it was credited back to my virtual acct # that is tied to my actual credit card number.
If you are able to set a dollar limit on each order, I am not aware of that feature. However, I plan to check into that.
I do however print off a copy of each order with the virtual acct on the order (some web sites will not actually print the card #) & keep it. But you can also go to the virtual acct # screen & look up all your past transactions with each virtual acct used. They keep these orders on file for a rather long period of time – not exactly sure how long.
I am a really big fan of these “fake” numbers & planning on checking my other credit card to see if they offer the same thing.
And I have actually had charges denied when I ordered one of these free trials for a product (I did not know & was not told they would start a recurring monthly charge). When it came time for their 1st monthly recurring charge they were denied because of the virtual account number’s one time charge feature.
Just love my virtual account number!!!