Kaiser von Wilhelm said:
Weird. Ive never had this happen personally, nor have I known it to happen to anyone else. Nor have I ever heard of it happening to anyone I don't know either, until this thread.
I assumed that this would a thread complaining about all the Chinese-made garbage they sell now that they play off as real products, or all the bs reviews for the garbage they sell. The knockoffs and flat out lies about what you're actually buying deserves this kind of thread. That's a gripe everyone should have using prime, as that literally applies to anyone buying the crap that they portray as legit.
Sucks it happened to you, but you're literally alone in this problem. Maybe once you close your account, just open a new one? Might be a weird glitch with your account. I bet you it'll never happen again.
Other people have reported surprise charges. I came across one yesterday, but that customer used Amazon Prime.
I use to have a Bank of America credit card because it had a "Shop Safe' feature that let you create a virtual credit card number for each transaction and set a limit on the amount. I loved it. But then Bank of America cancelled the program and so I didn't see the need to keep using Bank of America.
With their "Shop Safe", you could create, a virtual card number with a set spending limit (I always set it for about $5 more than the purchase price), and an expiration date no more than a year away.
If they still offered "Shop Safe", I would just give Amazon a new credit card number for every transaction with a limit to just over what I was buying. That way, if they did add a new service, they couldn't collect for it. Then when they sent me an e-mail about adding a new card, I would have notice of the charges and could dispute them.
I did look at privacy.com which does something similar to "Shop Safe" and signed up for it. However to activate it, I would have had to give them full access to my bank login details. I'm not about to give them my login username and password.
I did discuss with a VP from the local bank about setting up a small bank account distinct from my regular account and just transferring money to that account as I need it. That would, at least, limit the damage if they are hacked.
From what I have read this morning, you can create virtual credit card numbers through a Google Wallet on your cell phone. I will be looking into what features it has.
It appears that American Express has recently added a Virtual Card feature. I'll have to check that out in more detail.
