PORTLAND, Ore. – Many consumers believe they have some level of security if someone breaks into their mailbox, steals their new credit card and tries to rack up charges before the consumer has personally called to activate the card.

However, the little activation sticker on the front of a new credit card may not be enough to stand in the way of someone stealing the card and accumulating purchases.

“Now that’s kind of scary,” said a shopper. “Really it is.”

We were a little surprised to hear this, so we decided to test it for ourselves. Our experiment took us to Portland’s NW 23rd Ave., where we found several vendors willing to work with us.

At Blush Beauty Bar, a cosmetics shop, a KATU producer tried to purchase $37 worth of perfume and eyeliner with a Bank of America debit card that had not yet been activated.

A temporary sticker on the debit card had a stop sign telling her to activate it by going to the nearest Bank of America ATM or by calling the 888 number on the front. The transaction was declined.

Then she tried a Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card which also was not activated. This time, the transaction did go through.

KATU’s sister station in Seattle, KOMO News, did a similar story in May and was told by Bank of America that the company does have various internal security measures in place to catch fraud but some purchases can go through because they are small and low-risk.

Later, our KATU producer took the same Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card and went to high-end children’s clothing store Duck Duck Goose, which has a new woman’s section.

She was able to buy two dresses, spending $192 and sending her total purchases on the Bank of America credit card to $230.

Using a third inactivated card from a different company, a MasterCard from Citigroup, she was able to buy lunch for four people at the restaurant 23Hoyt for $36.

 This card also had a sticker that read “Urgent!” and that it could not be used until the consumer called to activate it.

“I think that’s kind of wild,” said a shopper at Blush Beauty Bar. “Why would they make you activate your card if it’s not necessary in the first place?”

One possible answer could be that activation stickers might be the vehicle for a sales pitch.

When the 800 number was called to activate the cards, both Bank of America and Citigroup tried to sell services using live operators. 

Bank of America tried to sell credit protection against 17 different life events. Katie, the operator for Bank of America, said the card would not be able to be used unless the activation call was made, although the transactions on the card were approved the day before.

But Betty Riess, Bank of America’s Senior Vice President, said the activation process was not for the purpose of selling a service.

Although some transactions could bypass the card’s activation, Riess claimed security measures were still in place.

“We may allow certain transactions to occur with out activation, but would not allow unlimited transactions,” said Riess.

She said they would not give out the cut-off amount for a non-activated credit card for security reasons but said the company does take into account other factors when watching for fraud, such as where the purchase is made and merchant risk.

For 7 minutes and 42 seconds, Citigroup operator Melissa pitched Citigroup’s rewards program, a credit monitoring program and a credit protector.

Samuel Wang, Vice President of Public Affairs for Citi, would not comment on the record.

Identification experts said to not expect the credit card companies to change their policies in the near future. They advise consumers to get a locked mailbox for peace of mind and to keep their credit cards safe.

Still, some consumers remain wary.

“Because you never know, someone could get it from your mailbox,” said a concerned shopper. “Even though it’s in an undefined white envelope, everybody knows it’s in a white envelope, so they can start sifting through it, feeling it around, and there’s a credit card.”