"Payment Authorization" On CCs?

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hannahmcintyre

hannahmcintyre

Not named after Miley
Aug 3, 2008
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Australia
Hey guys, just wondering if someone can help me out here.

Just got a new credit card, my first one in Australia, as it's easier than paying for things in USD, having them converted to my Canadian dollar credit card and then paying it off in the Australian dollars I get cheques converted to.

Anyways, the only two companies I've given the number to are FB ads and MySpace ads. Haven't used the card to buy anything here in Australia.

I have three transactions showing up as "Payment Authorization". One is for $39.14 (around $30 USD?), one for $1.58 and one now for $73.74.

One appeared on the morning of the 2nd, so almost 2 days ago now here, and the other this morning.

Is it normal for MS or Facebook to make these charges to make sure I have credit and then get rid of them in a few days, or should I be worried about CC theft and call the bank in the morning?

Thanks!
 


Facebook never pre-authorized my card for any amount, but that was a while ago. In general, pre-authorizations are usually even amounts. I guess you'd have to do the conversion math to figure that out. I would wait a couple days before worrying (unless more charges pop up).
 
Thanks for letting me know... what I find even weirder about it, and that I probably should have mentioned in the OP, is that those two accounts have spent virtually no money. Maybe $30 on facebook, and I know nothing on MS as they're not giving me impressions.
 
In my experience facebook usually billed me pretty much whenever the hell they wanted, but usually within 72hrs most of the time. Myspace probably just hit you with some BS pre-authorization charge. It should fall off soon.
 
Thanks, I think I'll wait until Friday and if they're not gone then I'll call up the bank. My immediate suspicion was MySpace too... seems like some shit they'd do.
 
The $1.58 sounds like Facebook's $1USD "check if it's real" fee. Remember, we're back down to about $0.65US now.

The $30 does sound like MySpace preloading your account for not using a US card (because technically, non-American people aren't even allowed to advertise yet)

Not a fucking clue what the $73 is though... Have you run that much in ads yet?
The FB charges on my card don't resolve for a couple of days, so there's an amount there, but it doesn't say who from.
 
Good, thanks for the info! I just checked Facebook and their billing screen has added that they did charge me around $50, which would be where that $73 came from, it just hadn't been put up on their site when I posted this thread.

MySpace better give me some fucking impressions sometime soon, as I don't want to pay them for nothing...

Anyways, cheers for the help guys, it's a relief to know they were legit charges :)
 
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