Stolen Credit Card

[tkcomer]

OK now. I have a credit card that I use strictly for online purchases. It is used for nothing else. And I don’t store the number on the ‘puter. Somehow, somebody got their mitts on my number. Credit Card Company called me and said they noticed some unusual activity. After a short discussion, they closed the account and said they would send an affidavit for me to sign and send back in. A statement came in the next day with a purchase on it. I called the company and informed them of the trouble and they gave me a name, address, and even the E-mail address the guy used to place the order. The perp used my name and address with my phone number and had it sent to him in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is just one of the purchases. I called the Credit Card Company back up with this information and they act like they didn’t care. “Sir, we are sending you an affidavit. Just sign it and get it notarized and send it back in.” I told them that I do not keep the number on the computer, so how could this happen? I’m thinking this guy has broke into a business’s computer and maybe has other numbers. “Don’t know how he did it. Your account has been canceled so he won’t be charging anymore stuff to you.” Well, for one, I’d like to know how he got it. Or where he got it. And yesterday, I got a package from a place in Texas. The shipping info has my card number and the date I ordered it. I wasn’t home that day! I guess it was a gift from him. Called the Credit Card Company again. “Sir, just send the package back. We are sending you an affidavit.” Has anybody else had this happen? And did your Credit Card Company act like they didn’t care? How can I prevent this from happening again if they won’t give me any info? Jeeze.

[acoolmom777]

I did...many many moons ago..someone charged 52.00 for books (back then alot of money)...they tracked it and found out it was a P.O. box, and that they couldn't get any other info, because of that.( they were real snotty credit card ppl) I refused to pay for it (carbon copies back then) and they turned me over to trans union…nice ppl… . I wrote a letter explaining everything, took about 4 months but got it off my credit report.
So now I have something special I put in my siggy, different for each of my credit card company..and if it is not there, they call and question it. Works at the bank too.

Good luck..this can, can be a major pain to try and fix...

[mark]

..................this is a case where a "secured site" is meaningless. I don't trust any "secured" site. If they don't have a 800# where I can call them, I won't do business with them. The culprit could have hacked into a 'puter, but I bet he knows someone on the receiving end of a business you've given your card # to & bought or swindled the info from them.

There are going to be people who take credit card #'s regardless of what you do about it.
On another topic....

Here's a future suggestion to remember:

If you receive an unwanted or unknown package from a business, DO NOT open it. Just get a marker & write "refused" on it across your address. Then USPS ( not sure about UPS ) will pick it back up & return it to the sender. THEY will pay postage to get it back.

That usually gets their attention.

Good luck getting it straightened out my friend.............see ya Mark

[Jeremy]

This is a great topic for the holiday shopping season. I'm sorry that it had to come up the hard way. I make nearly all of my major purchases online and credit card security is very important to me, and I'd like to think of myself as pretty savvy when it comes to keeping it safe. Still, about once a year, I have to cancel my card and get another one. For me, it's just the price of a lifestyle on the Net. I don't even get upset anymore.

There's a million ways someone could have gotten your number, but here's most likely what happened:

You made a purchase on a reputable web site. By reputable, I mean that the seller actually sent you the item and didn't use your card number for anything else. However, your card information was stored in the database of that company's web site. The entire transaction was secure, but by some hole in the server's security a hacker was able to get in and steal your information. Quite possibly, the company didn't even know it happened. There's a million other ways your card number could have been compromised, but the above is quite common.

Most e-commerce web sites are moving away from actually storing credit card information on the server. I design and host several web sites myself, but there is no credit card information anywhere on my server. It's not necessary, even when running a large shopping cart web site.

The good news is that credit card fraud defaults to the customer. Your not liable for any of the purchases made. You can even claim fraud on purchases you do make and the loss will be to the merchant. That part is sad, but it's just the way of business.

Here's two recommendations for shopping safely online from someone who does a lot of it:

1. Purchase a disposable credit card. There's many places to get them, but locally you can buy one from RiteAid. Disposable cards are used the same as any other credit card and even carry the MasterCard logo, but the difference is that the credit line is only the amount you put on the card. For example, if you put $50 on the card, you have a usable credit of $50. Someone steals the card and they won't ruin your credit, deplete your bank account, etc. At most, you're out $50.

2. Use PayPal.com. Many merchants accept PayPal and if a web site doesn't, a few searches on Google and you'll find one that does. PayPal always protects your card information and the merchant never actually sees it. They simply receive an email saying you paid for the item. After using PayPal for four years or more to both sell items and buy items, I can tell you personally that they always side with the customer versus the merchant. If a customer says they didn't receive the item, the merchant can dispute it, but it doesn't come out of the customer's pocket. The customer gets a refund.

If I only used the two methods above, I would never have to worry about credit card fraud. Alas, I do not. One more suggestion. Never buy anything from Russia. Grrrr.

[acoolmom777]

I love pay pal...I buy on ebay and that or a cashiers check is the only way I go...I tend to now have store cards, like sears, penny's or credit accounts, and only pay monthly bills by check, I use cash as much as possible and only have a business credit card and one emergency credit card..for if I need to be some where in a hurry and also cover 3 months worth of bills, if I am not around to pay them and that is set up through the bank. Also like I said before I have a special siggy for each card..it can be a pain in the butt but a little more paper work is worth the security...my CPA at tax time tells me I am driving him crazy...lol...oh well that’s what I pay him for..

[kcredden]

Good posts, folks. This is a major problem, and only getting worse. One thing I always find irritating, is the idea of storing CC#s on servers attached to the internet. They solved the transfer of CC#s to the company, but saving them on servers is just asking for problems.

I like the idea of the disposible card, Jeremy. Thanks for where you can get them. I'll be looking for them. I've bought a few things over the internet. usually only from good companies, like www.abebooks.com, and never had a problem (yet). One thing I've used a lot also is a debit card. LIke the disposal card, it only has a few dollars in it, so no one can get much more than $10 (I transfer just enough into it via e-banking) to cover a purchase. But still, it's a pain in the rump :\

Paypal is also excellent. I'm buying more and more off e-bay, and I'm glad that they take e-bay for it.

Lets hope we can educate others on how to buy safely on the internet. It's something needed.

[kybikertrash]

While we're on the subject of Identity theft...

My sister went to the bank to make a deposit and noticed on her receipt that her account balance was about $700 less that what it should have been.

She alerted the bank and they put her in touch with a man at the bank who said there had been charges made on New Orleans and asks her if she had been there. She hadn't. Then he asked when she had lost her debit/credit card and why hadn't she reported it missing. She pulled it out of her purse and said she hadn't lost it and showed it to him.

Well after some checking into it he proceeded to read a list of businesses where there had had some issues with employees stealing credit card info and asked if she had used her card at any of these businesses. One of the first he read was the Newport Aquarium. She had been there a couple of months prior.

She also recalled that the clerk had made a hard copy of her card on the old fashioned machine even though the card was accepted on the electronic reader. This should only be done when the electronic reader cannot read your card. My Sister, being a clerk herself at an upscale boutique where she lives, questioned the clerk about the copy and the clerk said that the electronic reader had not been working properly and so the office personnel had instructed them to make a copy of all cards. My sister obliged and didn't give it another thought.

My sister was not able to find out whether the Aquarium clerk herself was stealing the info or if it was someone in the office.

Anyway, my sister told the man at the bank that if she was going to go to New Orleans she would probably eat in better restaurants than Popeye's Fried Chicken (would you like regular, extra crispy or blacken cajun recipe...wonder if they have gumbo there?) and she probably wouldn't be shopping at Wal Mart, (unless there is one in the French Quarter).

Moral to this story........don't let anyone make a hard copy of your card unless it absolutely won't work on the electronic reader and BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!!

Happy Holiday Shopping!!!!!!!

[tkcomer]

They “only” racked up about $250, but I still want to know where they got it. It has to be from some business site in my mind. And the fact that I have not been notified by that business probably means they don’t know it happened. A while back, an electronics place called Egghead got hacked. I got an E-mail telling me to cancel my card, which I did. But no charges went on to my card. And I haven’t used this card for about two months. I think the last order was from 4 Wheel Drive Hardware for Jeep parts. Since I don’t keep my statements, I don’t know for sure. And if I did know, I have no way of knowing if it got swiped from them. If it did get swiped from a business, they need to know. It’s bad enough that it happened. It’s worse not knowing how it happened.

[kcredden]

Here's one tip I use to keep an eye out. I have a debt/credit card though U.S. Bank. Their e-banking service has a feature where they'll e-mail you anytime a transaction of x amount of dollars takes place. I have mine set for $25 or more, and I usually get it within 24 hours.

Plus also, every morning, I look at my bank account. Takes only a few moments, and I make sure I have enough in the bank, and no one's taking advantage of me.

Wish I could help, TK. It's not easy figuring out where it went. You may wish to do a run of spybot, and ad-aware on yoru computer to make sure there isn't a backdoor, or keylogging program on your system. That's rare, but they exist.

A long time ago, I did a text check on my system where it goes though each file and looks for a specific line of text (Like 'Kevin C. Redden') Do you know it uncovered a file with my name and social security number in it? I have no idea how it got there, but it was buried deep in the Windows directory, where I wouldn't probably see it. It also looked like an .DLL file! I immediately deleted it, and never saw any problem like that again. Weird!