On our recent trip to Paris we took a laptop and signed in at the first opportunity (we use credit and cash withdrawal cards often and want to check that nothing "funny" is going on). Imagine our surprise when we first sign in and find $6000 in charges that we know nothing about. We were able to contact MasterCard (after some consternation trying to work the hotel phone system), confirm and get their agreement that the charges were fraudulent (there was $7000 more in charges in the pipe). Just yesterday they removed the charges and all associated interest. Thank you MasterCard!
How the number got nabbed and used I don't know -- nothing to do with Paris though (it was a card I use infrequently but when it was used it was used for Internet purchases). All the charges were for what appeared to be a hydroponics store in Petaluma California. So I am guessing either they are the scammers or a "customer" running a grow op scammed them and MasterCard.
Anyway all is well. Moral of the story though is check your credit card charges, online if possible and often!
