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Anyone else had credit card info stolen recently?

Gonz

Gonz

Ultra Runner
Joined
Mar 18, 2005
Messages
4,842
Location
St. Paul
My credit card company was contacted recently by an online vendor (they won't tell me who) to say that my info had been stolen off their website, so as a precaution they cancelled my old credit card number and issued me a brand new one. Well, I just got my statement and there's over $3500 worth of bogus charges on there, which will get disputed and I won't have to pay, luckily.

So I'm trying to research to find out how this happened, and an online cigar merchant could very well be the culprit, since I've used quite a few.

Has anyone else here had this happen recently? If so, then perhaps we can narrow it down to a handful of cigar merchants and contact them individually to see WTF happened.

Thanks!



PS - Damn fraud prevention team at Citibank sucks. At least once a month they turn off my card (and embarass me in line when it doesn't work) because of questionable charges, for example a gas station over 100 miles from my house, or large purchases at our local Home Depot or Target. So where the hell were they when some joker charged $2800 at a Home Depot in fricken Phoenix? Or a string of gas stations in AZ and southern CA?
 
Damn bro, that sucks. I can't say I've had any issues (knock on wood). I check my online statement daily for this reason, but I guess there's only so much you can do.

Hope it works out and maybe some other BOTLs have some info for ya.
 
Well Gonz, i just had this happen to me as well. Somehow I have $231 charged twice to my CC. It looks like it maybe taken care of but it makes no sense because I hadnt used this card on a online vendor before. So maybe I will get a little more information as well. Luckily the charges exceeded my CC limit so all it did was lock the card down and whoever did it screwed up. :laugh: And the ironic thing was the card was used while I was at home between Aug 1 and the 3rd. Which I know I didnt use it.
 
I always keep my CC's MAX'd - just so no one can run up charges! :D


(good luck with the disputed charges!)
 
Hey Gonz...that sux man. Curious about the charges..when it happened to me, the charges were all done online. How do you buy gas or shop at HD unless you actually have the credit card?

My ATM/Debit/Credit was automatically replaced earlier this year. When I questioned the bank about it, they gave me some song-n-dance about "precautionary security measures"... Eventually, after waiting a week or two and Googling what details I did have (the bank name, cc company, etc), I discovered an article about how Office Max had been capturing debit card PIN numbers and keeping them (even though they aren't supposed to...) and then their system got hacked.

In the end, I didn't have to pay anything, the fraud folks shut down all the illegal stuff and no bogus charges even showed up on my bill.

Hope it works out for you...

Cheers,
Joe
 
Gonz said:
PS - Damn fraud prevention team at Citibank sucks. At least once a month they turn off my card (and embarass me in line when it doesn't work) because of questionable charges
Click to expand...

Heh I had a bank were there fraud protection kept declining my card. I had a full size pickup so 50-60$ in gas was standard. You go on a 4-5 hour trip and you have to fill up again. Well after 120$ in gas in one day they kept kicking my card out. Finally switched and haven’t had a problem since. Good luck with the bogus charges. There usually pretty good about it.
 
A few years back my daughter had her purse stolen along with her driver's license, credit cards, etc. Must have been pros, as they rang up over 5k in charges in a few days, even though she reported the card stolen and cancelled it the day it happened. They kept all the charges under $50, just made a bunch of them. Took her several months to get it straightened out.

Good luck, hope it goes smoother for you!
 
All clear here so far. Discover has a Profile Protect service that I've taken advantage of since my info was stolen from the university.

Wilkey
 
I had my cc #'s stolen twice in a two month period. MBNA noticed right away as the first bogus charges were used at places out of my state. Needless to say the took care of me right away with replacement cards the very next day!
 
It was recent but my bank card info was once compromised but I got it all cleared up with my bank and a couple of the individual vendors.

More recently, my federal government purchase card was compromised and the yahoos went hog wild...charges for domain hosting, PC/hardware purchases, several airline tickets, and even an attempt to purchase a ~$50,000 car. The latter was blocked in a nanosecond since my card doesn't cover that large a purchase, nor one at that type of vendor. Still, it was a pain in the ass even though it wasn't my personal card.

OfficeMax is on my shibit list, too. They kept my govt card info on file and charged another office's purchases to it...several times. Took weeks to sort out and now they don't get my business.
 
PetersCreek said:
It was recent but my bank card info was once compromised but I got it all cleared up with my bank and a couple of the individual vendors.

More recently, my federal government purchase card was compromised and the yahoos went hog wild...charges for domain hosting, PC/hardware purchases, several airline tickets, and even an attempt to purchase a ~$50,000 car. The latter was blocked in a nanosecond since my card doesn't cover that large a purchase, nor one at that type of vendor. Still, it was a pain in the ass even though it wasn't my personal card.

OfficeMax is on my shibit list, too. They kept my govt card info on file and charged another office's purchases to it...several times. Took weeks to sort out and now they don't get my business.
Click to expand...


By chance - were they one way airline tickets on a major carrier (Northwest/Delta/American/United) - to/from major cities (i.e. Atlanta to/from Chicago/Detroit/LA. Chicago to/from Detroit/LA, etc)??? If so, I have a funny feeling I know the group that's doing it... And I kinda/sorta know how it was done... :whistling:
 
jgohlke said:
Curious about the charges..when it happened to me, the charges were all done online. How do you buy gas or shop at HD unless you actually have the credit card?
Click to expand...


I'm wondering if there's a way to program the basics, such as your name, card number, expiration date and three-digit security code onto a magnetic strip, on a phony blank card.

I would think the data on a magnetic strip is no different than a computer program, so if they know the basic code, then steal my specifics, they could program a fake card and use it at self-service type places, like gas pumps, or the self-checkout line at home depot.

Otherwise I have no idea how they did it. Well, is there a way to call in an order for something big at at Home Depot store, give them your CC info over the phone, then go pick it up?
 
I know it can be a pain, but MBNA does have a virtual card you can use for on-line purchases. You set the limit and expiration date and they issue you a temporary CC number.

I have done it a couple of times.

Then it doesn't matter if anybody gets that number, they wouldn't be able to charge anything else to it.
 
I've learned (and I hate to be a wet blanket) the only way to avoid being the victim of an identity theft would be to buy a cabin in Montana, cut off all contact with the outside world and pay cash for everything...

Seriously, though - the identity thieves go where the information is. They steal the information in any number of ways. You can guess till the cows come him, but chances are you'll never know where it was compromised.

I've seen "card cloning", where the card is swiped through a card reader and later downloaded onto a computer. Another card is then encoded with the information from the original card. I used to see this typically at restaurants, but I've now been seeing it at other places such as hotels and gas stations.

Anytime you're credit card information is "on file" you're susceptible. You make an electronic transaction, you're information is "on file". You call in, you do an internet transaction, - hell, you swipe the card at a retailer it's on file...

Thieves pay cleaning people at banks money for bags of printouts. Thieves take jobs at banks and other financial institutions in order to have access to the info. They also take jobs at places that handle a ton of credit card transactions in order to have access to the information....

Now the next scary thing most don't know - you name, dob, ssn, address/phone numbers are out there all over the place as well. Another place for the thieves to get use your reputation to make money.

Also, any time you issue a check you give the recipient (and anyone else with prying eyes) your routing code and account number...

Best things to do:
  • Shred all credit card offers, old checks, bills, bank statements, etc.
  • Regularly monitor your credit report.
  • Carefully check your bank and credit card statements. You'd be surprised at how many times I've called victim's and they had no idea their information had been compromised - even months later.
  • Very quickly correct any problems you find (they'll reimburse you if you do it quickly).
  • Shut down accounts that have been compromised.
 
Gonz said:
PS - Damn fraud prevention team at Citibank sucks. At least once a month they turn off my card (and embarass me in line when it doesn't work) because of questionable charges, for example a gas station over 100 miles from my house, or large purchases at our local Home Depot or Target. So where the hell were they when some joker charged $2800 at a Home Depot in fricken Phoenix? Or a string of gas stations in AZ and southern CA?
Click to expand...

Citibank is almost as bad as American Express. I had their Paltinum card with no limit, not like their regular card with 'no pre-set spending limit' but no limit. Everytime I turn around it was getting declined. And always for the little shit like dinner or something. I would be extremely embarrased. I eventually told them to shove their card up their rear. Nothing worse than a waitress looking at you like you are a bum because your card just got declined for $50.
 
ggiese said:
By chance - were they one way airline tickets on a major carrier (Northwest/Delta/American/United) ...
Click to expand...
I seem to remember that the carrier was Air Canada but I never had any itinerary information because I didn't call the airline about those particular charges. By that time, I'd turned the matter over to fraud abatement.

But ya got me curious about the means. It happened to someone else in our office, too.
 
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