My bank account was hacked > $4000

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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:47 am

I got an email from the bank this morning. At first I thought it was a phishing email.
I looked closer and there was no links or anything untoward. Just the banks fraud department asking me to call them. I then tried to log into online banking only to get a message your account is suspended.
Please call the bank.
So I did.
The up shot of it was some one in three seperate withdrawals took over $4000 aussie dollars. They also transferred a furthe 3k between the accounts.
It appears that the transfers where last night and early this morning and where transferred to the same bank company.
This was all detected before the banks would be open so the accounts it was transferred to should have been frozen before anything is withdrawn.
I hope Shocked

My passwords and info are only kept in my head. I've rescaned everything with AVG and Ewido and found nothing other than that my 17 year old has been erm researching how to make babies. His birthday was going to be in a few days Evil or Very Mad

Apart from that I had a loverly day as my girlfriend bought me a lesson at the local flying club for my birthday. Weather was perfect and the scenery was great.

I'm pretty sure this is a result of the new cheque mule scam except there are no checks involved. Just internet transfers. It's cheaper for the scammer as they don't have to make anything or post anything. Just find a trusting chump to do your dirtywork.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:00 am

Man that sucks, sorry to hear it. Luckily I have so little money in my bank account it wouldn't be worth the time or effort to hack mine. I'd go crazy if that happened to me.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:03 am

Once upon a time I had quite a lot of money in the bank, and you know what, it actually caused me sleepless nights!

Now that I am happily broke once again, I sleep like a baby. Having money sucks.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:10 am

Happened to me three years ago, just before Christmas.

The thing that annoyed me most, was that the bank informed me that it was their money that had been stolen and not mine (as I would get mine back).
So why was it me wasting a day and a half waiting to be seen at the local nick and filling out the crime forms? Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:41 am

The money was transferred to another account?
Was it your account or one belonging to the scammer?

If it's the latter, the bank has the records and should reimburse you immediately. If the former, you can still push the bank for a refund - there have been cases where account details have been stolen from the bank (ie: an employee loses a laptop with your account details on it). Some banks don't even use security software to guard their PCs.

I don't know how it works in Australia, but in the UK a bank must give a full refund if the customer has acted with reasonable care. The problem you've got is that the bank might see you as having left yourself open by being involved in baitiing.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:58 am

harrya wrote:

I'm pretty sure this is a result of the new cheque mule scam except there are no checks involved.

Just out of interest ..... what makes you think that; how do you make a connection ?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:13 am

Spot there has been a lot of cheque mule scams that seem to taget Australia, New Zealand amonst otheres. I tried baiting a few and the outcome was always "we want a bank account to transfer funds" rather than an address.

I started a thread about it awhile back. At the time no one seemed to understand.
And now I'm a victim Confused

second party victim I guess.
I'll be re thinking my banking arrangements very very soon.

Cheers all.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:30 am

@Harrya

Are you saying you gave out RL bank info? How else could the lads have made a connection?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:15 pm

@ Nick No way.

This has nothing to do with my baits.

It's just a good hacker and I became the vic.

Lock up your daughters and your bank accounts.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:09 pm

That really sucks. I hope you will be able to recover the $$$

I keep a large amount of $ in the hourse $ 100.00 and the only one
hack this money is me Laughing

*** BANNED *** Joined: 19 Jul 2004 Posts: 140

How can anyone take money from your bank account without you giving them any info? I don't believe this story at all.

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:14 am

^^^ A machine compromised by a keystroke logger is the culprit in many instances.

Also, "skimming" stored information on debit cards at ATM's or by unscrupulous merchants and passing the information to members of OC networks for "card cloning" still remains a significant problem. Easier to argue your way out of if the suspect transactions occurred at location X and you're at location H.

EDIT: If you receive phishing emails, DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS. You could unknowingly allow a rogue site the opportunity to install a keystroke logger script or other malicious code.

The computer security gurus amongst us may wish to provide input.

EDIT #2: The following excerpt from the OP may hold the key:

harrya wrote:

......My passwords and info are only kept in my head. I've rescaned everything with AVG and Ewido and found nothing other than that my 17 year old has been erm researching how to make babies. His birthday was going to be in a few days......

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:36 am

Damn Harrya, that sucks. Will the money be reimbursed in some way? Or did you loose the 4,000 once and for all?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:51 am

Franc28 wrote:

How can anyone take money from your bank account without you giving them any info? I don't believe this story at all.

Are you serious, Franc? 7/9 nailed it perfectly! Keyloggers, malware, skimming, fake ATMs, crooked merchants, or picking through your trash for "credit card" offers; there's any number of ways for your bank account/ personal info to be hijacked without you doing a damned thing wrong. I'm rather surprised that, having been here rather longer than I have, you don't know that Confused

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:09 am

This seems rather strange to me. Most likely your card has been copied in some store or with a fake ATM. Keylogger is the other possibility. Check again with Windows Defender, Free AV and Ad-Aware SE. Ewido is a good program which I sometimes use myself.

Caveat: If you suspect that your computer will be used as evidence, I would seek professional legal and IT help, depending on your local jurisdiction. PC forensic analysis should only be done by experts with proper equipment and legal framework.

I doubt that your computer is the attack vector, though.

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 3:27 pm

Gee that really sucks. I've been afraid of online banking. I do direct deposit and use my credit card for a few payments. This is to limit liabilities. I've heard that debit cards do not have the same protections as CCs.

Sounds like your flying lesson went well. Practice your stall recoveries on your next lessons. Work towards the solo. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:27 pm

All they would need is your checking account # and the banks routing # for accounts here in the US. And that information is printed on the bottom of every check a person cashes. It surprises me that there is not more fraud using those numbers than there is.

scampette

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:47 pm

Tricia wrote:

This seems rather strange to me. Most likely your card has been copied in some store or with a fake ATM. Keylogger is the other possibility. Check again with Windows Defender, Free AV and Ad-Aware SE. Ewido is a good program which I sometimes use myself.

Caveat: If you suspect that your computer will be used as evidence, I would seek professional legal and IT help, depending on your local jurisdiction. PC forensic analysis should only be done by experts with proper equipment and legal framework.

I doubt that your computer is the attack vector, though.

None of those programs will work against any decent keylogger.
The latest loggers work at kernel level and dont appear on any process lists.
Use a rootkit revealer if you are concerned about this.

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:53 pm

about how they got the info:
just recently I had my cheque card cancelled by my bank with a friendly letter:

"one of the ATM's you have used recently has been tampered with. We will be providing you with your new card in a few days"

thaks to mum for helping me out with cash for a week.

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:08 pm

As Sherlock Holmes says - always look for the most logical explanation. Therefore, I would say that this event and a 17yr old's recent 'research' activities are not coincidental. Are you absolutely sure he didn't give out any bank/card information in order to gain access to the 'good stuff'?

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

*Nods at Gnasher...* ^^^^

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:30 pm

Harrya, that sucks. I had my credit card used overnight recently to the tune of almost $Aus5000 and was notified by the bank early the following morning. They were really great and reversed all fraudulent purchases and even the two extra that only showed up a week later.
Hope that everything works out for you, and good luck witht he flying lessons.

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:37 am

There is no way anyone could have my banking detials as they are not recorded. The only answer I can come up with is that a key logger was loaded. I cant find anything now but that may be the nature of the beast.
The bank contacted me before any money before trading commenced so I doubt I will have any trouble getting the money back.
I hope.
It's been the weekend so hope to get details tomorrow.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 25

Someone in another country (I forget which at the moment) tried hacking our check card account a few months ago with a $1500 charge. Luckily, our check card company doesn't allow charges above $300/day and refused the transaction immediately.

They shut down our card and it took two weeks to get another but the inconvenience was well worth it.

Often when we go on spending sprees (even below our $300 limit), the card company will phone us to confirm the transactions. It's annoying to have the limit but it's worth it in the long run.

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:43 am

moved here. because I can. Cool

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