So I am on a gun website and see where someone posted a pretty good deal for CCI .22ammo.

Did not need any, but ordered some from Brownells.

Deal has changed now by the way.

Less than 48 hours later, we have 5 charges to our card that we did not make.

Wife calls CC company and they remove charges and cancel our Card. Waiting for new card.

Not sure how this type thing happens, but then I do not have a devious mind.
It just about has to be someone from where you use the card...right??

The CC company said they thought they could catch this person because they had some stuff they ordered online from Wal Mart sent to their address?

It could be from anywhere. My company amex gets hijacked twice a year. Amex takes care of it but it sure is a PITA getting a new card etc.

Now, on all my cards i have text alerting setup where i get a notification whenever my card is used.

That sounds good.

Not sure yet how my wife found out ours got used. We do have Life Lock.

Could be them, could be coincidence, could be aliens.

Anybody who has a CC should expect this to happen regularly, and use it as reinforcement of why you never us a debit card unless necessary. I'm way beyond sweating trying to detective out who/why/where it originated and just get a new card and move on.

The text alerts are great, and having them on for my card give instant visibility into any actual charges posted. Of course many "hacks" are caught by the issuer and never even end up as pending item, but that's fine with me too.

quote:

it sure is a PITA getting a new card etc.

Last year I had three cards hacked. I have switched to cash for all local purchases & only one credit card for online purchases.

I either use cash or a CC and pay it off.

I cancel and replace my CC every 6 months.

We had it done just once before and they made one purchase for under $200.

I do not own a debit card.

My son had his hacked someone ordered a $500 desk..but they had it sent to his house instead of theirs.

quote:

My son had his hacked someone ordered a $500 desk..but they had it sent to his house instead of theirs.

That's called drunk-shopping on Amazon.

Happened to me last month. Cleared it up in a weekend-picked up a replacement card on Monday, incident was on Friday.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:

The CC company said they thought they could catch this person because they had some stuff they ordered online from Wal Mart sent to their address?

Not if they send it to a random address down the street from theirs, or a vacant house and they can swing by once its dropped off.

I have my cards set up to where they text me and email me immediately once a charge has been placed within seconds of the transaction.

As an FYI

Many card numbers today are stolen via scanning while you are in public. Your card can be in your wallet/pocket and still be scanned.

Get an RFID blocker. (just remember that it will blank out your hotel room key )

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
As an FYI

Many card numbers today are stolen via scanning while you are in public. Your card can be in your wallet/pocket and still be scanned.

Get an RFID blocker. (just remember that it will blank out your hotel room key )

Not only scanning, but I've seen it many times at the checkout line where the customer holds or places their card right where you can see the numbers. It only takes someone in line with a phone to zoom in and record the card numbers.

a dishonest worker at a fast food drive through can copy your card numbers with a piece of receipt paper in 2 seconds by placing the paper over the card and pressing down, getting an impression on the paper from the raised numbers, and all he would have to remember is the 3 digit code on the back of the card.

If your credit card issuer offers this feature, Virtual Cards for online purchases can reduce your exposure.

I use a virtual card for every online payment that I make.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:
Not sure how this type thing happens, but then I do not have a devious mind.
It just about has to be someone from where you use the card...right??

I don't think anyone can attribute CC use at a particular vendor necessarily to that vendor. Lists of CC numbers are traded/sold on the Dark Web, and it could be weeks or months before yours is used from such a list. It could simply be coincidence that it happened right after using it with a particular vendor, or it could really be attributed to that vendor being hacked. I don't think the CC security departments can always attribute it either. Best course is not to worry about it, get your new card and move on. It will eventually happen to the new card, too.
 

I guess I have led a sheltered life. I knew about the scanning, my wife carries her card in a device to keep from that.

I rarely get very close to people I do not know, I tend to stay at least 6ft. from them.
I guess it still could have happened.

All but one of the purchases were done at a store in person. Maybe it was sold.

I do remember a place that has our data recently got hacked, so maybe that was it.

All purchases were done on the same day.

I guess that is what raised the red flag.

My Cabelas card was hacked last week too. Spotted a .99 charge to iTunes. I'm guessing it was a test for a future larger purchase.


Minor beef w/ Capital One (new owners of the Cabelas card) - I reported the issue on Friday morning. It's Tuesday and I haven't received the replacement card yet. When Cabelas was running the show and the card was compromised, they overnighted a new card.

I don't get bothered by this stuff anymore. Happens too often. Usually the bank fixes and sends me a new card without me even knowing I had a problem.

Only once was I ever stuck with a bill I didn't charge. I never even received the card and had documentation that I was 250 miles from where the charge was made at the time it was made. As an 19 y/o they bullied me into paying for half of the charges.

I found out, that the CC company called my wife as the charges were unusual and in another state.

I have 2-3 cards a year get hacked. It is not so much where you used the card as the vulnerability between the merchant and their card processor.

CC processing can involve up to four separate parties in the transaction process.

Any on of those can be compromised.

Best things one can do, based on feasibility are:

-have a single credit card for on-line only type purchases.

-have a single card for "in person" charges, where the card never leaves your presence.

-have a single card for verified/known re-occurring charges.

Tie all cards to "cell phone/email" alerts. Most of these will send you notification within seconds or minutes of a transaction.

In addition, lock your credit so that no changes can be made, no new credit or changes to existing credit can be made.

Monitor all charges as often as you can.

And never give the credit card companies, your bank or anyone else involved in your credit any crap for looking out for you, and denying a charge or calling/questioning any activity. They are your friends.

It's your money/credit/reputation, make it your responsibility to manage and care for it.