Damn credit card thieves

[NobodySpecific]

So somehow somebody got ahold of my credit card information and tried to make a shit ton of purchases (netflix.com, thecollagenstore.com (really? whatever), etc). My credit card company (Chase) flagged all of these purchases and called me this morning. I told them that those were all fraudelent and they cancelled the card and issued me a new #. I figured that was the end of it.

But no. I just got a call from 866-252-4796, and they wanted to talk about the "How to make money using Google" e-book that I bought at 3:42 this morning. So I tell them that my card info was stolen and I didn't make that purchase, so they say they will cancel the account. It then dawns on me that whoever ordered this had my phone number...

So now I'm kind of paranoid. I enable the 90 fraud alerts on my credit report (is it true that if I go through Experien they will notify the other bureaus?) and I always watch my bank accounts/credit cards very closely anyway. Is there anything else I can do to help prevent this from becoming a major issue?

[scorp7]

I wouldn't rely on Experian to do that. I'd contact TransUnion and Equifax personally.

Good luck

[s a x m a n]

Neal (SilverDragon) just had this same shit happen to him

[SilverDragon]

I also got a call at some point around 11pm one night about the same make money using google BS. It wasn't fun, but I'll tell ya, they actually shipped a bunch of bull shit to my house too.. like Hoodia weight loss pills, some cosmetic face cream, i havent opened any and have it all queued up ready to send back but its all still under investigation by my small town bank.

The only places I've ordered from recently that arent large (like amazon) are ebatteriestogo.com to get a battery for my R6, and also Pelicanparts.com which I've ordered from plenty already for parts for my old bmw, and it seems more legit than the battery site. Out of morbid curiousity, where have you ordered from recently?

[scorp7]

It just hapened to a friend of mine. $400 at Stop&Shop??? About $50 at Blockbuster. I told him to ask if maybe they got it on security cam. He figured the cops would take care of it.

[SilverDragon]

i didnt lose the actual card, but it was definitely from an online thing because they had name, address, phone. no social or DOB, and the only reason I am confident they dont have it is because one of the services they ordered was one of the credit protection services that required it.. I called and complained and verified last 3 of social and year of birth was incorrect as well. ugh the stress.

[gregp]

I just had the same thing happen to me last week! I received my monthly statement and saw a charge from a cable company in Kentucky for $120. I called my card company immediately and they recognized that I had been a faithful cardholder with them in MA for over 25 years and had never had so much as a late payment. They told me that this sort of thing (fraud) was escalating very fast and that they in no way doubted my word. They cancelled my cards right then and there, issued me new ones, and told me not to pay the charged amount.
I still have no idea how my card # got out! I have made some on-line purchases from small relatively unknown businesses in the past, but from now on, I will only deal with large, well established businesses on-line, or just buy locally.
Scary stuff!

[scorp7]

Yeah, my friend forgot his bank card at a ATM drive thru

[NobodySpecific]

I booked a hotel on hotels.com for a trip to Salt Lake City last Thursday, and I had to give them my phone number. I worry that my friend's computer wasn't secure and something may have happened then. I ordered from monoprice.com and lenovo.com about a month ago. Everything else was a local purchase like gas, food, etc. I recently replaced the card because the old one was getting worn out, but I chopped the shit out of that card, plus they have my phone number so it must have been an online thing.

[ChrisNoF4i]

My cousin dropped his checkbook at Ocean State Job Lot!

[ScottyGixxer]

The less people swipe plastic, the better.

You are more likely to get ripped off by your financial institution and identity thieves than mugged on the street.

[NobodySpecific]

The less people swipe plastic, the better.

You are more likely to get ripped off by your financial institution and identity thieves than mugged on the street.

Except I was protected by my credit card company. I don't have to pay a dime, I don't have to do anything to prove they were fraudulent. I didn't even have to wait for the charges to show up on my statement, they called me proactively. And how else would I have been able to book a hotel ahead of time?

[Slyder]

Keep your anti-virus updated and run the anti spyware apps often. Sad thing is, there's so many people who don't know what spyware even is. Hell some people don't bother using antivirus apps even though the pc comes with a year subscription most of the time.

[ScottyGixxer]

Except I was protected by my credit card company. I don't have to pay a dime, I don't have to do anything to prove they were fraudulent. I didn't even have to wait for the charges to show up on my statement, they called me proactively. And how else would I have been able to book a hotel ahead of time?

Then how come you're paranoid about getting the word out to the other reporting agencies? Then you get a phone call... The BS is already starting, I truly HOPE you won't have to spend countless hours trying to clear this mess up.

I agree though, sometimes you just have to use a CC to function. Aside from things like you're saying, I use cash when I can, try to isolate my risk. That's all I'm really saying. I actually go to the bank and withdraw cash every pay day, and use a separate card to pay bills too inconvenient to pay in cash.

[scorp7]

Malawarebytes from download.com is a must. Works great. Finds things your anti-virus doesn't.

[NobodySpecific]

Keep your anti-virus updated and run the anti spyware apps often. Sad thing is, there's so many people who don't know what spyware even is. Hell some people don't bother using antivirus apps even though the pc comes with a year subscription most of the time.

I do, but the computer i used for this one purchase was my friend's macbook. Since it's a mac he believes the hype that they are immune. I hope he isn't infected, but I don't think he is even going to check.

[Billy]

Back in 2006 someone in Georgia ordered $200 worth of pizzas at a pizza shop using my credit card info. I was like wtf. They canceled my card and gave me a new one.

+1 on malware and viruses. I scan my computer once a week for that crap.

[Degsy]

So somehow somebody got ahold of my credit card information and tried to make a shit ton of purchases (netflix.com, thecollagenstore.com (really? whatever), etc). My credit card company (Chase) flagged all of these purchases and called me this morning. I told them that those were all fraudelent and they cancelled the card and issued me a new #. I figured that was the end of it.

But no. I just got a call from 866-252-4796, and they wanted to talk about the "How to make money using Google" e-book that I bought at 3:42 this morning. So I tell them that my card info was stolen and I didn't make that purchase, so they say they will cancel the account. It then dawns on me that whoever ordered this had my phone number...

So now I'm kind of paranoid. I enable the 90 fraud alerts on my credit report (is it true that if I go through Experien they will notify the other bureaus?) and I always watch my bank accounts/credit cards very closely anyway. Is there anything else I can do to help prevent this from becoming a major issue?

You didn't get the letter from chase last week?

Yeah, they had millions of people card and personal info stolen from a reatailer here in the us (could not say who). Notified my wife by mail. said they were keeping an eye on the accounts and would notify people of anything fraudulent they saw.

bullshit i say.

[NobodySpecific]

You didn't get the letter from chase last week?

Yeah, they had millions of people card and personal info stolen from a reatailer here in the us (could not say who). Notified my wife by mail. said they were keeping an eye on the accounts and would notify people of anything fraudulent they saw.

bullshit i say.

oooh, now that you mention it. I think I just tossed the letter. Damn, I should pay better attention to my mail haha.

[Billy]

You didn't get the letter from chase last week?

Yeah, they had millions of people card and personal info stolen from a reatailer here in the us (could not say who). Notified my wife by mail. said they were keeping an eye on the accounts and would notify people of anything fraudulent they saw.

bullshit i say.

Hmmm I never got a letter. Possible I might have and thought it was junk mail and threw it out. I really wish I could live with out a credit card because all this credit card info theft is getting crazy.

[DuncanMoto]

You have to watch out for links in emails too.
There was a recent worm that would infect the user's computer and record keystrokes for passwords and usernames.
I use Norton 360 now on all my machines.

[2v2Ducati]

I have a citicard and about 2 months ago they canceled my card and mailed me a new one cause some retailer (they wouldn't say) lost card numbers. My guess would be like a clothing store or gas station since I don't use my card anywhere else.

[The Snowman]

Two weeks ago, I got calls on back to back days that someone tried charging first against my personal Capital One card and then the second day against my business travel Capital One card.

Their fraud protection picked up both fraudulent charges.