Credit Card ID Stolen

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Yesterday I paid AT&T, Centurylink and State Farm online.

Not long afterwards our credit card was used in the Atlanta, GA area.

I am getting around to fly to FL, and our CC has been cancelled.

bummer

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Did the CC card company catch it or did you ?

[puppymommo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close puppymommo]

Our credit card was hacked, too, to buy one way plane tickets. We didn't know about it until the airline confirmations came in the mail!

Fortunately the credit card company removed the charges.

But what a disaster for OP! Hard to travel these days without a credit card. Can they overnight you a new one? I've had that done with replacement cards.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

Yeah, that sucks. I had an American Express number lifted and several very expensive plane tickets were charged - a few thousand dollars. American Express took care of it, but that didn't stop me from being pissed and wanting to go after the thief on my own.

I have seen a couple different Credit Card companies who will issue masks for online shopping. I can't remember who does that. Discover may be one. There is another like Chase or Citibank... I should look into that. They give you a fake credit card number for online shopping so it can't be lifted.

[vinolover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vinolover]

Our Citi credit card was hacked this year too. It was used to purchased some on-line stuff (less that $100 worth) that was sent to us, not to whoever stole the card number. I filed with the CC company to get the charges removed which they did but then the card was used again the next month to buy a credit report! That really scared me and I canceled the card. I check my credit card statements on-line almost weekly so I catch anything that looks weird pretty quickly.

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

My CitiBank CC was hacked this year too. The person actually had a card in hand and swiped it at a Super walmart in North Carolina for about $550 worth of stuff. Then someone tried to use it in San Francisco the same day and were not successful.

I got a call from fraud alert. I had all cards issed on the account in my possession, so someone hacked the account and actually made cards!

Citi gave me a new number an took care of the charges. It really is frightening to have that happen.

Joy

[TonyG74 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TonyG74]

You have to be so damn careful these days... Everyone is always looking to screw over someone else...

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

You have to be so damn careful these days... Everyone is always looking to screw over someone else...

TonyG, so true.

Joy

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

There is little you can do---if someone has a skimmer installed anywhere you use the card, your number is compromised. One can also quite easily manufacture a new card out of "blanks" that encode the same information as can be found on the magstripe, embossed etc. There is a whole criminal ecosystem built around this; Planet Money did a nice piece on it just last week:

The FBI Agent Who Became A Black-Market Mogul : Planet Money : NPR

As a consumer, the only thing you can do is keep an eye on your charges, and make sure they all make sense. I don't check weekly, but I do check more than once a month. It is also worth having (and traveling with) more than one card, just in case you have to cancel one. Been there, done that, more than once. As long as you (or, more often, your bank) catch(es) the fraudulent charges quickly, you won't be held liable for them.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

There might be less of this going on if the CC companies and law enforcement actually tried to catch these crooks. In my experience, I found out information that could have caught the crooks but the CC company (HSBC) fraud department was uninterested. They lost a lot of my business as a result.

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

Had this happen to us several years ago. We we going on a trip and didn't have a card to use. That is why I now have at least 2 credit cards.

Nancy

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

There might be less of this going on if the CC companies and law enforcement actually tried to catch these crooks.

I can't speak to law enforcement. But, as I understand it, the banks generally consider the current rate of fraud to be less expensive than actually pursuing the issue. Large "businesses" that resell card numbers in bulk do attraction the attention of LE, but individual small-time crooks probably aren't worth the effort. HSBC was in no way unusual, I'm guessing.

Not saying it's right, but just that it's the way it is. In other words, crime can pay, as long as it doesn't pay well...

[TonyG74 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TonyG74]

I can't speak to law enforcement. But, as I understand it, the banks generally consider the current rate of fraud to be less expensive than actually pursuing the issue. Large "businesses" that resell card numbers in bulk do attraction the attention of LE, but individual small-time crooks probably aren't worth the effort. HSBC was in no way unusual, I'm guessing.

Not saying it's right, but just that it's the way it is. In other words, crime can pay, as long as it doesn't pay well...

You are correct... It cost way too much to them in legal fees if they go after someone and spend the money on an investigator. They like to sit and wait for the big fish to come along and recoup all their losses with on big fish!

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

You are correct... It cost way too much to them in legal fees if they go after someone and spend the money on an investigator. They like to sit and wait for the big fish to come along and recoup all their losses with on big fish!

If only i could convince my local police that's the way to go with speeders too! Wait for the guys going 100mph in the 30mph zone and leave us 45mph guys alone!

[Fern Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fern]

Ouch! I've been in a similar situation with an ATM card being cancelled before a vacation, and that was sad...

Do you pay by credit card on each of those websites, I guess? I think a lot of people do because they want/need/like getting the points. Since I don't fly much, doesn't matter to me. I make it a practice to either autopay through my bank or else pay my bills online through my bank, not the payer's website. Less exposure that way, and more accountability.

Someone else asked about using phony credit card numbers. I think what they meant was ShopSafe, which is a service of Bank of America (maybe others too, I don't know). You can request a one time credit card number which is linked to your number, and roughly the amount you will be charging. It is good only for a stated number of times and perhaps a month. It links back to your "real" number. I know it works, that is how I pay Dikhololo.

Fern

Yesterday I paid AT&T, Centurylink and State Farm online.

Not long afterwards our credit card was used in the Atlanta, GA area.

I am getting around to fly to FL, and our CC has been cancelled.

bummer