I recently got my credit card statement that had a charge on it that I
wanted to dispute. I called to credit card company to dispute this
charge because I had no knowledge of the charge and never recieved any
products from this company. I the merchants bank then provided a
rebuttal to my dispute. I have to write a letter to my credit card
company why I should not pay this charge. The amount in question is
$1,273.00. The merchant provided a credit card reciept with a
signature that was not mine, but it was faxed from my company's fax
number and had my mailing address on it. The merchants send a
chargeback response which states,
"Customer placed this order over the phone and was sent an
authorization form for this charge via fax. Customer signed and
returned this form the same day, acknowleging the fact that he had
read and understood our special order policy, which requires full
payment upfront and cannot be returned. This is detailed in full on
the fax authorization form, signed buy the customer and enclosed with
response."
Now my question is how do I handle this? I need to write a letter to
my credit card company and I'm not sure how to word it. I didn't sign
the reciept, someone else did, I never talked to this company, and I
never got any product. The only thing I could think of is that a past
employee took my wifes credit card and charged this product and forged
my signature. Please help me!

Hello industry-ga,

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has some useful information on this
topic.  In the following two publications, the FTC explains the
procedures for disputing unauthorized charges, and provides two sample
"dispute letters".

"FTC Facts for Consumers: Fair Credit Billing"
FTC
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fcb.pdf

"ID Theft" (September 2002) ["Credit Cards", at pages 17-18]
FTC
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.pdf

One sample letter relates to "identity theft" -- which you seem to
believe has occurred -- while the other is more general.  You might
want to contact the FTC about which letter you should send, as well as
for additional advice.  (As you probably know, Researchers for Google
Answers can provide general information, but not the type of advice
that the FTC might be able to give you.)

"Bureau of Consumer Protection"
FTC
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/bcppriv.htm

If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, another FTC page
indicates that you should contact the credit card company to see
whether you should (also, or perhaps instead) file an "ID Theft
Affidavit".  The government’s consumer information web site provides a
partial list of companies that accept this affidavit, but in any
event, the FTC advises you to check with your credit card company.

"Instructions for Completing the ID Theft Affidavit" / "ID Theft
Affidavit"
FTC
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf

"New Consumer Assistance Initiative Announced: ID Theft Affidavit"
FirstGov for Consumers
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/affidavit.htm

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search strategy -

Searched on Google for:

credit card fraud site:gov

Browsed FTC web site.

Thank you! This helps me out.