 TITLE: How Do Credit Card Companies Investigate Fraud? CONTENT: How Card Issuers Investigate Fraudulent Charges\n-----------------------------------------------\nOnce a suspected fraud transaction is noticed, your credit card issuer may cancel your card, send you a replacement and start a fraud investigation. It may also refund the amount back to your account. Even if it doesn't immediately issue a refund, you're not responsible for disputed amounts during the investigation.\nA credit card fraud investigation could take up to 90 days, during which time the credit card issuer may contact the merchant that charged your card to get more details about the transaction. The card issuer may request copies of a police report or receipts to compare signatures if they're available.\nCard issuers and merchants may also look for \"friendly fraud,\" which is when a cardholder makes a purchase and then disputes it as fraud—even though it wasn't.\nIf fraud has occurred, the outcome of the investigation will also help the merchant and credit card issuer settle who is responsible for covering the fraudulent purchase (the actual fraudster may be long gone). Either way, you won't pay anything if your card's payment network provides $0 fraud liability. END