Credit card security breach

[enfield]

Today I got a call from my bank about some fraudulent activity with my credit card ( happened today ) and they put a stop on the card because it was a place I would not be dealing with. My last transactions were with places I have dealt with several times except one, a bullet mould maker. I don't want to name them because I don't know if they or an employee had anything to do with it. I'm just curious if anyone else has had anything similar happen.

[Artful]

Never had an issue w/ bullet mold maker but car rental place - yeah

[Rick Hodges]

Had an issue with a gas station pump reader once....and had the local Harbor Freight double charge me. Both got resolved with no charge to me. Really, anyplace that you used the card at could misuse it.

[wordsmith]

Had a similar situation about a month ago on a brand new replacement card that was near expiration. Got a call (while hunting actually) that there were suspicious charges in another part of the state, and sure enough there were two fraudulent charges. Had to shut it down and get a replacement. Between this and my IRS refund getting defrauded, I'm beginning to believe our digital lives are completely out of control.

[JWT]

My business card was compromised at the processor no the vendor. Just got my replacement today.

[bangerjim]

Wife had one of her cards "stolen" by bogus scanner at a grocery store and we were hit with $12K of charges. Card covered everything! People that made the bogus cards were on several store videos, FBI got them, and they are now serving lots of years in the big house. It was a group of illegals from Mexico. Gotta love those open borders liberals.

Just watch your accounts to catch stuff like that early. They gave us LifeLock for free. And I have 2 different cc protection plans now.

[Mal Paso]

The card companies are running software to catch unauthorized charges. For me they ramped it up about this time last year and I had my Thanksgiving Dinner declined by both Visa And Mastercard. It wasn't a problem as I has cash to cover but I don't depend on cards anymore. That happened in Phoenix where I go several times a year but since they just started tracking....... It's happened several times since where my card was declined. I had them attach my cell number to the account and I get an automated call a half hour later asking about charges. PITA but I'm what the card companies call a Dead Beat, pay off the card in full and take the 1% cash back. Hard to complain about Free.

[Skipper]

It's possible that someone used an RFID scanner on your card while it was in your wallet.

[bangerjim]

I have my two main cards set up with minimums that trigger an email and text to me if a purchase exceeds that amount. Before I can get my card back in my wallet after a store scan, my phone is going off!!!!!! Works great if your card offers that.

I also pay off all 3 cards every month and get that 3% or so cash! NICE! Do auto pay for all your monthly bills with a cc and get tons of money back every year!

There IS more than one way to catch a thief! And get FREE money!!!!

[dragon813gt]

Did you ask what the fraudulent charges were? You have the right to know. I don't sweat this type of thing anymore. The only inconvenience is waiting for a new card.

I was hit due to the Target breach. But it was months after it happened. Someone placed a few small purchases at a convenience store. And then tried to buy $5k in plane tickets. The bank shut my card down immediately which prevented me from buying lunch that day. I had a new card three days later. I check my balances a few times a week to reconcile all the accounts so I catch any unauthorized charges they don't.

[bangerjim]

I knew EXACTLY what the charges were and where they occurred within a few hours. Card company was very cooperative, as well as local & county law enforcement, and the FBI. Had a new card within 24 hours by FEDEX.

[enfield]

You won't believe it but they stopped the card when it was used on ....... Christian Mingle .com, kind of funny if it wasn't so annoying. And it was only for $2 then $46 I'm thinking it wasn't "organized crime" .

[Ickisrulz]

Credit cards are the most secure way to buy anything. Much better than cash. Lose a credit card, won't cost you a thing. Lose cash, it is gone. You can dispute charges with credit cards, can't do this with anything else. I love them. Of course I don't misuse them or carry a balance.

[MrWolf]

Walmart was hacked a few times and they got my info. Walmart refused to have law enforcement involved. Thief tried to pick up a few Ipads, etc.. They knew the time he was scheduled to pick them up and refused to contact authorities. I don't use Walmart.com anymore.

[dragon813gt]

You won't believe it but they stopped the card when it was used on ....... Christian Mingle .com, kind of funny if it wasn't so annoying. And it was only for $2 then $46 I'm thinking it wasn't "organized crime" .

They usually make a few small charges first. Each one is progressively higher. Then they usually make a large purchase. May not be an organized group but could be someone that was testing the waters.

[winchester85]

i had someone use my DL for renting tools in Los Angeles Home Depot, they did not return the tools. Funny, when I was in mexico a few months earlier the cops there refused to give me my DL back after a traffic stop.

[bosterr]

One morning last week about 6 AM I checked my email. At 4:51 AM I was sent an email from Amazon confirming I changed my email address. NOT! At 4:52 AM Amazon had sent another email confirming I changed my password. NOT!
I went to Amazon and my greeting was changed from Hello:Robert, it said Hello: Lmao. I called customer service and they said they would freeze my account. Before that happened, 2 different sets of goofy pajamas showed up in my cart, along with a matching pair of goofy slippers along with the 3 cordless drills I had placed there so I could compare them. I was using the same password I opened my Amazon account with years ago. Amazon rep said even if the thief would have tried to make the order, Amazon would not have permitted shipment. Lesson learned: Change passwords often and make them more intricate.

[kfarm]

Last year my Cabellas card was hit, they called me and the transaction was halted and the card cancelled. Great deal, but what I didn't think about was all the direct deposit form the card like Direct TV cut off service, insurance cancelled. No problem cause they were nice and took my excuse that the card was cancelled and I'd not made arrangements with them with the new card. All the folks like MidwayUSA, Amazon to name a few had to be contacted. Be sure that if your card is cancelled call the direct deposit folks and change the number with your companies, all understood but it sure made me look and feel bad.

[Frank46]

When we filed our last income tax last year when our book keeper tried to file it, it would not work. Seems someone sent in a fake income tax form and got back 8k and had received a refund. We went to the IRS and they were very helpful in sorting this out. Frank

[xs11jack]

My wife and I were told that now that the major credit card people have these little chips embedded, our cards would be much safer. So my wife contacts USAA about a new Master Card. They sent us one with the chip AND a strip just like the old one. So someone can ignore the chip and read the strip. Really intelligent thinking on their part.
OleJack

[dragon813gt]

My wife and I were told that now that the major credit card people have these little chips embedded, our cards would be much safer. So my wife contacts USAA about a new Master Card. They sent us one with the chip AND a strip just like the old one. So someone can ignore the chip and read the strip. Really intelligent thinking on their part.
OleJack

Most of the terminals aren't set up to read the chip anyway. They have the slot for them but aren't activated. Walmart is the only one around me that has it turned on. It won't accept swiping the card. Until everyone switches over you're going to need both. It will be years until this is complete.

[ole 5 hole group]

Don't believe anything that the credit card companies tell you about security. That chip doesn't make you a bit safer than before - it's all smoke & mirrors. Credit card companies make huge profits from people protecting their credit cards and identity from theft by using different paid programs costing anywhere from 8 to 15 bucks a month.

The vast majority of thefts occur when your retailer's credit records are hacked. When the big retailers get hacked with a whole lot of your personal information - well, then you stand a chance of having your identity stolen. Right now your chances for identity theft are relatively insignificant because when a hacker gets into 200,000 files - only a small percentage gets used for identity theft but if you are part of that tiny percentage - well, it sucks to be you.

The readers and store clerks are but a very tiny portion of the theft problem - it's the big retail entities and other business type hackers who sell the information files gained through their activities that are the real problem and the credit card companies and the big retailers really don't care at this point. Look at the OPM theft - they are blaming China but they are only 90% certain and in Government speak, that means they don't have a clue. There's a couple class action suits on that theft of information and a couple others. When enough class-action suits are brought against these entities that really don't secure their information properly - only then will they start to take the appropriate security measures. Hell, even Europe has better safety practices than our country.

[Taylor]

Was just informed by the IRS that someone tried to file a return using my SSN.

[mjwcaster]

My issue with the CC fraud protection came in when I was working regularly in NYC.
I would call the CC companies and tell them to allow charges in NYC and New Jersey, make it permanent on my account.
Never worked.
I needed to carry 3-4 cards to stay active.
Get into town, start charging on one card until it was shut down, switch to another until it got shut off and continue my shopping spree.
Get back to condo and call everyone up to have them reactivated.
It was a pain because I would arrive in town and use the first day to get stocked up, subway passes for the crew, food/essentials/bedding/tools/electronics for living for the next few months.
Then work 7 days a week until the job was done and I could go home.
So there were thousands of dollars of purchases at the start of every trip.

Funny thing was every time I called after a CC was shut off the first thing I was told was
'if you tell us to allow charges in that area in advance, this won't happen'

Funny, I tell you every year, look in my account info, yep the note was there, never made any difference, I got flagged.

I think that was really the only thing that really could upset me, not that it happened, but to be told every time I could have prevented it.

Even calling and reminding them right before a trip made no difference.

[TXGunNut]

I think CC companies have accepted a certain level of fraud as a cost of doing business. I think the thieves are well aware of this as well. I don't know where this leaves us as consumers but when I leave town I have two good cards, my cell phone and a stack of good old folding green.

[Kent Fowler]

Bought a pistol at the Austin gun show (before gun shows were banned in Travis County Center) from a dealer who claimed her credit card processor was down and said she had to relay the card info to her husband, who was supposedly manning their gun shop. About a week later, Visa calls me asking if I made a 400.00 internet purchase in Arizona. Can't prove it, but I know they had something to do with it. I did see this dealer at another show a few months later and told a guy who was looking at one of their guns not to give them a credit card.

[captain-03]

Credit cards are the most secure way to buy anything. Much better than cash. Lose a credit card, won't cost you a thing. Lose cash, it is gone. You can dispute charges with credit cards, can't do this with anything else. I love them. Of course I don't misuse them or carry a balance.

^^^ This ^^^

[.45Cole]

I've had mine used a couple times. Usually they will get your number from a reader inverted over a real reader (gas stations are favs). Then a couple weeks later they were used for large purchases back to back in Cali. You always get your money back and it usually isn't a big deal. Be wary of a swipe that just doesn't seem to go through.

[opos]

We had a very strange one..sort of a lengthy read but may be worth knowing about.
I was reconciling my bank statement and there was a charge for something like $32. It did not have a check number associated with it..but a different kind of number. I contacted the bank and they said "it is a sight draft"..I asked who would draw a draft and it turned out to be a credit card company (not affiliated with my bank) where I have a card..I do not carry balances (pay off each month). I write a check to the credit card company and as many of the bigger places do ...they do an electronic debit to my checking account and the payment is indicated on my statememt as an electronic transaction but it does show my check number.

I called the security dept of the credit card company and asked why they had drawn a draft on my bank for the little $32 amount? (my balance at that time was something like $200)...the security guy said he needed to get his supervisor...talked to him and suddenly they were very interested...they said they were shutting down my card and wanted me to cancel and re open my checking account (I had a sizable balance there).

Turns out that the credit card company had a group of "internal" thieves that had been making minor drafts against known bank accounts and were getting ready to make "major hits" on those accounts...the small transactions were to test the process...next move would have been major sight drafts to clean out the accounts.

I had never heard about this but the card company said it's the "latest" scheme...he said many folks don't pay attention to small charges on their checking account statement and if they do the fact that the fraudulent charge was from someone they normally do business with they just ignore it...got to be very cautious...I no longer keep sizable amounts in any checking account...