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05/29/15

Hard to admit … But I've been had.

Or rather my bank debit card has been had – to the tune of $700 bucks American since late February.

Brian, of course, is out on the road, and called me late Saturday. He keeps a fairly accurate running tally of our checking account in his head. He had gone to the ATM for cash, and the balance on the slip showed a negative number! So he asked me to check the bank account real quick. When I did, I started seeing a bunch of really, really ugly stuff … Because I had no idea what had been hacked – the account itself, or one of the debit cards, I immediately cancelled both our cards.

It was too late to call the bank for anything other than cancelling the cards on Saturday. I called the three entities in question yesterday (Sunday). Starbucks, Amazon and Score-Sense all denied seeing either of our card numbers associated with those transaction dates. (Of course, they don't want to give me my money back, either.) Then I spent 9 hours yesterday researching this mess.

Today (Monday) I called the bank. I was told to come down to the branch and fill out a complaint form. Fortunately I had written down every single transaction, so I was able to grab those sheets to work from and run on downtown.

The guy at the bank – Damon -- was completely cool and very nice to me. He assured me that he could at least get back the money that was bilked over the last 60 days. He is going to seek permission to “pursue” the rest of the charges as well, even though they're over 60 days old and the bank isn't liable for them. So I'll get back about $490, which is very good, methinks. He was also kind enough to say, “Try not to feel so bad – this happens to so many people. It happened to me, too – for $2000.” So I did feel a little better.

There are 16 transactions reloading a Starbucks (yuck) card, of all things, in Washington State ( ??? ), and you all know that I live in New effing England. There are four $15.00 transactions, two for $35.00 each, and 10 for $50.00 each, for a grand effing total of $530.00 in coffee cash. These charges came mostly two at a time, so I suspect the dirtbag has two different Starbucks cards.

And this one – rather ironic, really – three monthly payments of $29.95 to (wait for it): ScoreSense – an identity protection outfit !!! This creep has stolen my card details and is using ***MY*** money to pay to protect his/her own itentity!!!

Then there's this oddball – 10 charges of $.15 each, and 10 charges of $4.80 each – to Amazon – in CHINA !!!

How does that happen, you query? Well, I queried it also.

Oh, and by the bye, I just so happen to have THE CARD right here in my hand! Which tells me that someone has stolen the details in some underhanded criminal manner. Was it skimmed at an ATM? (I only VERY seldom use them.) Was it skimmed at my bank's very own ATM? Was it skimmed at the grocery store, one of the liquor stores, Panera, Family Dollar, the pet store, one of the drug stores, one of the convenience stores or one of the Walmarts? (Don't ask – I never Never NEVER pay at the pump with my card.)

Or was it someone who briefly held my card in his/her hand, long enough to copy the details off the card (like the commercial on TV), or even run it through one of those itsy bitsy teeny weeny li'l hand-held skimmers? Let's see … that could have been … the doctor's office, the pizza take-out, the optometrist's office, the lunch counter, the Petco groomer, the kid at the McDonald's drive-up, or the waitress who walked away with the card tucked tastefully inside the black folder at that really nice restaurant.

OK, so what about online? Yes, I do tons of business and banking online. I pay for my cable and my truck insurance online. I make purchases from legitimate companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Hanes, Sears, eBay, tons from Amazon and there are occasionally others.

So, now you're supposed to ask, “Are you careful?”
LOL, yes, I'm silly-paranoid-careful.
Do I have good antivirus?
Yes, I have McAfee's top-shelf Total Protection package – the guy at Microsoft recommended it highly.
Does anyone else in the household use the computer?
Brian does, but has no idea how to even get to our bank's website or make an online purchase.
Do you have financial apps downloaded to your phones?
No – mine is not app-able. Brian isn't permitted to EVER make a purchase on that d@mn phone of his.

So ….. where did I go wrong?

I have to say that though I have only glanced quickly over my bank statements for the past several months, I haven't been scrutinizing them line by line. Meh … I do that now, however – every day, as a matter of fact.

IN CONCLUSION
We may never know how someone got ahold of my card details. As you can see, it could have occurred at any of literally dozens of encounters, online or bricks-and-mortar. No matter how careful you are, you are STILL vulnerable.
Moral of the story: CHECK YOUR ACCOUNTS – OFTEN !!!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/credit-card-thieves-target-gas-pumps-atms-restaurants/story?id=24624967

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

That sucks.

Glad that you are at least getting some of it back.

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 4:31 am

That does indeed suck. All I can say as a general word of advice is to be diligent about checking bank statements and credit card bills to catch any irregular postings as soon as possible.

My ATM has never been compromised but I have had to change my Visa number at least 6 times, and in every instance I had done nothing to directly compromise the number. Any one of the many scenarios (scenarii?) you mentioned could have been the cause, but even though the CC company covered me it was still a huge hassle to redo all of my automatic payments.

Being careful is one thing, staying on top of statements is another part of the picture. Anyone can get hit, even those of us who are very scam-savvy.

05/29/15

@ Tsnerd -- Thank you. Yes, at least that's something; I know that I am more fortunate than most are in similar situations.

@ Juan -- Thanks, Juan ... six times on your credit card? Wow, then you REALLY know what a PITA this is! Sorry to read of your misfortune, as well Sad

Yes, apparently something as small as keeping an eye on your stuff is all we really have going for us!

ETA: I forgot to mention that as soon as I got the cards cancelled and so forth, I called Microsoft and had them run a 3-hour deep scan virus-removal, just in case.
(I have a subscription with them, and this incident alone pays for that.) Then I changed all my passwords. *sigh*

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 4:45 am

I tried to reload my SB card the other day (don't judge me please, I'm in a 10 step program to try to get off the overpriced caffeine) & was unable to as the system was undergoing some maintenance. I went to my main Source on All Things Caffeinated (Twitter) and saw that this is going on:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/05/15/starbucks-gift-card-hack/27370491/

You probably did nothing wrong. I had an email the other day from a tech vendor, promising me a coffee card if I filled out their survey, which I did. I'm now wondering if they have a something evil in place (me being uber paranoid, of course) except I used a work VPN that has no relationship to any accounts, so it's likely they wouldn't have captured anything. (I haven't given up hope that they'll send me a coffee card, but if they ask me to log in and register it, I'm throwing it out.)

Sympathy and hugs. I've been there too, and it had to do with a fake app that I signed up for the first week I got my first iPad in early 2012. I didn't know enough to recognize the phishing attempt. I watched in horror as thieves rapidly charged $2500 to my credit cards and charged $400 to my PayPal account (both attached to my iTunes account), but the bank was awesome and was able to stop the carnage quickly and refund my money. I hope for a really good outcome for you as well!!

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 4:47 am

That's crappie news Kiss, but as you say, it can happen to anyone and shows why you need to at the very least properly check your bank statements each month.

On the bright side, at least your Starbucks addiction is out in the open now. Very Happy

05/29/15

/\/\/\ Thank you, B8er -- yes, it really makes you feel dumb and ... so violated!
"Starbucks Addition" -- LOL, thanks LOADS for the light side laughs, B8er!!! Laughing

@ Kitty -- Ohhhh, Kitty, how absolutely horrible for you!!! That sounds so much worse than our ordeal – I'm so glad that your bank took such good care of you!
Thanks for the hugs Very Happy

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 2:40 pm

Ouch. These kinds of things always suck but it's even worse when it happens to one of our own...

A couple of years ago, one of my buddies started seeing a number of fraudulent charges on his Visa card. Like you, he still had control of his card and couldn't imagine how someone got his numbers. After an investigation, it turns out that he ate at a restaurant and, when he paid with his credit card, the server quickly wrote down his credit card number and the CVV code.

The guy doing the investigation says it happens a lot more frequently than you would think and most people don't even realize that when they pay with a credit card, they are actually handing over all of their critical information to a complete stranger.

Good luck on the recovery and try to look on the bright side -- at least you caught the breach before it hit four figures.

05/29/15

/\/\/\ Thank you, TLH -- I'm feeling much better now.

I talked to the nice guy at the bank today, who had good news and bad news. The bad news is that TPTB won't allow him to pursue charges any further back than 60 days. But the good news really is pretty good. They definitely will get $440 back for me because that amount was stolen within the last 60 days, and we should see that restored within 10 business days. Additionally, they have surprised me – they've already reversed $126 in ISFs that resulted from the thievery. So all in all, we're coming out of the ordeal scathed but not devastated – we are indeed very fortunate!

You know, I've found that many folks come to Eater because they've either suffered at the hands of these lowlifes, or someone that they love has be harmed. I am among that second group. Suddenly my very elderly mother (who lives with us) began receiving scammy calls to her cell phone, which alarmed me to the Nth degree. I have taught her that she is NEVER to answer that phone unless the caller is someone in her phone's address book. She has been a very good girl – she has me look at each rogue call that comes in. Sadly, 85% of the calls are scams Evil or Very Mad

Honestly, I ended up here with vengeance on my mind after my Mom's VISA card got popped for several small charges. I WAS LIVID – How ***DARE*** they mess with my Mama ??? That's when it went from only personal to ***VERY PERSONAL*** … and I will NEVER forgive them Evil or Very Mad

Meh – I am quite sure that may have influenced me strongly to gravitate to the CC lads as I do – they are definitely my favorite baits!!! NOW … I'll just betcha that if I can find one of said dirtbags to slap around some more, I'll feel REALLY optimistic … I've already smacked BaconBoi a couple of times today Twisted Evil

Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 1:26 am

That does suck Kiss and so sorry that it happen. Sad

Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 1:50 am

Amazon can be sneaky. They kept taking payments out of my bank account for an Amazon Prime package that I didn't want, need or ask for. I spent 5 days pursuing it with them until they finally gave me a full refund. I only found out when I checked my bank statement and found I was overdrawn and they keep trying to get to download their android app, to me its no better than malware.

Its almost as bad as that horrible U2 virus that Apple forced into my iTunes playlist.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 3:19 am

Amazon doesn't scam. If you read their terms and abide by them they are completely above board. If there's any problem, they are extremely quick to respond. You may not like their app but you are not obliged to download it even if they try to promote it.

And I seriously doubt that Apple is knowingly spreading a virus.

In any event this has nothing to do with overt CC scamming.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:01 am

Scary stuff and I'm sorry you guys got caught up in it. I hope your bank is able to chase those criminals down and get your money back.

We had a scare a while back when Home Depot's transactional records got hacked. I bought a rose bush several months earlier there and paid by debit card. Our bank was on the ball and immediately canceled every card of theirs on the list they received. Unfortunately, they failed to inform us even though they were supposed to contact customers affected. It's embarrassing to find out your card's no longer valid while trying to buy groceries, but that's better than the alternative.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1123

^ Guess that makes two of us Rowan. I was hit in the same compromise.

Sorry to hear about it KOD but don't kick yourself. Aside from skimmers there are computer hackers that go after both PC's and payment processing areas. Your PC, your responsibility. Payment processing centers though? Not a thing you can do about it. CC hacks are just apart of life these days.

05/29/15

Thanks Corona, FM, Juan and Rowan -- having the support of all my Eater friends means a lot to me, and I don't feel so alone.

Joker, thank you! I pretty much came to the realization that except for not watching my account as closely as I SHOULD have been (and will ALWAYS do in the future),
there truly *IS NOT* much else that any of us can do about this kind of crime! It because painfully clear to me when my poor mother said, "But what can we do
about it?" and I had to be truthful and say, "You watch your account like a hawk -- that's the best any of us can do in our own defense."

Does that make anyone else feel like a sitting duck ??? Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 10:16 am

Here you are KOD how to be a sitting duck in song (I have heared another version of this one).

http://www.songdrops.com/bryant-oden-song-lyrics-words/the-duck-song-lyrics.html

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1123

Just a quick funny, I got a notice from my bank that my card just got hit yesterday. It's my business card, probably got hit at a payment processor online who didn't secure their database well enough and TBH not the biggest deal in the world since it isn't a debit/it has been set up in such a manner as to provide as much insulation against card fraud due to how much I travel for my line of work.

Now normally this wouldn't be funny except for the fact that the carders got it last month RIGHT as my card expired. So now my bank has all these charges that, while they went through, they will not pay. I am getting notices from privacy protection and other companies saying "you need to update your CC."

Both myself and my bank are looking at these folks and we both have the same expression for them regarding payment: (NSFW) http://m.memegen.com/r8ql1w.jpg

Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 3:43 pm

I'm sorry that happened to you KOD - I'm glad you were able to recover some of it though!

I have to say that I've been fortunate with our bank. We get text alerts if there's a charge placed on one of our cards that's out of the ordinary or if there's multiple charges at one place on the same day and things like that. It automatically locks our cards and we have to reply to the text in order for them to unlock our cards. It happened to us once when Christmas shopping when we kept "forgetting things" and it locked the card on the 3rd charge - hubby about dropped dead at the checkout LOL

That being said I know a lot of people who've had their cards compromised by something as simple as eating at a restaurant or shopping at a mom-and-pop-antique=shop. It happens more than our banks would like us to think.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:20 pm

Sorry to hear about this. I had something like this happen to me and I really lucked out by noticing the charges right away.

This can happen to anybody. It doesn't matter how careful you are. In my case a website got hacked and my personal information was stolen. Thankfully I received restitution from the bank after spending 15 minutes of my time.

So I'm glad to hear that you aren't fully on the hook for these charges. I'm hoping that I get to read a post saying that you have recovered it all.

05/29/15

@ Fo'andles – LOLOLOL thanks for that, Fo – really, really quite and funny, waddle waddle!!!

@ Joker – Now THAT really ***IS*** funny – joke is on the dirtbags this time! You got 'em good Wink

@ metamit – Well, I sure wish our bank had such a cool feature … even Paypal does something like you describe. They shut me down while Christmas shopping with my debit card one year!

@ Ser Davos – Thank you! Well, as I mentioned before the bank will restore about $440, for which I am grateful. A happy little surprise was that they have already credited my account for $124 in ISF fees that resulted from the fraud.

And yes, everyone – I am checking that account every single day!!!

I want to thank each one of you from the bottom of my heart for your empathy, support, encouragement and kind words. You are all soooooooooooo awesome!!!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2015 3:52 pm

I hate to jump on the me too wagon.. but the wife has had issues with her spending habits.

(Since corrected)

She called a florist, giving CC number to purchase roses for her sick Auntie.

Later that day, she discovered she had also purchased train tickets in Spain.

Used the ATM card for a car wash, only to discover she also had a years subscription to an over priced pr0n site. Rolling Eyes

These days she reviews the bank AND credit card charges at least every two or three days. (Well under the charge back window)

I've not been hit yet, but as they say, "The Days Not Over".

Posted: Sat May 23, 2015 4:05 pm

I've lost count of how many times my Credit cards have been compromised but as luck would have it the CC Companies shut them down when they realized what was happening and then credited the money back to me without any arguments.

One time after a brief encounter with some Latvian...well I'll tell that part of the story another time...my card was shuttered. Since I had more cards and I was going home in a few days time, I didn't look into it right away. After a brief chat with a Customer Care sort all charges were reversed and the resulting bill had FRAUD written next to every purchase. Being a somewhat honest sort I brought it to their attention but since it was in the hands of their insurance company they basically told me to Hush Up.

Yes Master Card rules as they paid for about $7,000 of my Vacation that year.

Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 3:13 am

I had a cardiac moment a couple of months ago when I got a call from the bank who handled one of my credit cards. The cheery female voice told me they would honor my request for a $15,000 cash advance and transfer it to some small town bank in Kansas, just like I asked. Shocked

I was speechless for five full seconds before I could say that I have never, ever asked for a cash advance on a credit card in my life. She immediately transferred me to the fraud department and the transaction was stopped. I have no idea how or where they got my information. I no longer have that card.

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