Foo - Stolen Credit Card #

Finally happened to us last night. I knew it was a matter of time. We use our credit card for basically every single purchase we make. (and then pay it off at end of month) So I figured some day it would get jacked. Last night we got an automated call from the credit card company alerting us to suspicious activity. We quickly called them back and they said somebody had tried to buy something at www.allack.co.uk.

They didn't have the expiration date apparently. Regardless the account was closed and new cards have been mailed. But still it makes you wonder who got it, and how. I know it wouldn't be hard. Funny thing was the guy at the CC company told my wife on the phone that you should never use a CC to buy things online.

I told my wife, that I bet Chase Bank would really appreciate him telling people that. :D

I think it's paypal that offers single use credit card number for use in online transactions.

I only use regular old paypal for most of my stuff, and it pulls from an acct i keep only for this, which is in a separate bank from my main accts.

It makes it hard for thieves to do any serious damage.

Those people who steal like that must have no integrity or morals. Taking this false image of happiness at someone elses expense.

Thats why I love Citibank, I get a new number for ever online purchase I make.

They are also great at calling, I got gas in the Uk the same day as the wife got gas in Miami, they where on the phone straight away.

I would ratehr they call when I go crazy with the card make me feel that they are watching.

Credit card numbers aren't hard to get. Anyone in food service or retail sees them all day. I'm just a lowly network engineer and I have access to hundreds of thousands of them. I hand my card over hundreds of times a year, trusting that they aren't making a quick imprint to use later. Fortunately most credit card companies have really good fraud protection. While it may be a pain to go through, you won't likely be footing the bill if you keep an eye on your charges.

Well when im older Im using cash:D

Been there myself Portis. I wonder if anyone gets caught doing this?

Funny thing was the guy at the CC company told my wife on the phone that you should never use a CC to buy things online.

Been there, done that.

The thing about not using a card online applies specifically to a debit card. The reasoning behind this is that it hits your bank account vs a bill you have to pay later. Sure, you'll eventually get the money back, but until you do, you have no cash on hand!

I don't use my debit card online, at restaurants or anywhere I lose sight of the card.

Lately with all the reported PIN storage violations, I'm not using it at the grocery store, either!

Citibank called me once, late at night, about an hour after I made very diverse purchases online on the order of several hundred dollars. I had them read the list of vendors, and assured them it had been I who made the purchases.

My husband's checking account got jacked once: he was overseas, and I didn't notice until the statement came. Someone had evidently had checks printed up with all his info, and had used about eight of them to the tune of about $2000. We filed a police report, and the bank covered the loss. Closed that account and opened a new one, tying overdraft to a very small account. They never caught the thief that I know of.

Most banks have a feature called "Virtual accounts". Citibank's is literally called that.

You generate a random account # tied to your account where you can set account limits and expiration dates for.

Actually, I properly constructed online purchase will be set up so no human ever has access to your number.

I have had several CCs stolen. The bank has always noticed before I have-- like buying a ton of car stereo gear in a seedy part of town.... or buying five cartons of cigs at a shady gas station. Not my usual purchasing patterns.

This has happened to my dad before. All he did was call the credit card company, tell them to block that account number and credit card. They then figured out who it was and then they just sent him a new credit card with a new account number. I order many things online using my dads credit card, i then of course pay him back. He just monitors every little penny we spend, so a slight miscalculation he will get on the case. That is also a good reason to keep receipts and such.

I wonder if anyone has stolen a CC and used it to donate money to a charity.

Pre-paid credit cards are what i use...that way if someone gets ahold of the number all they get is a couple hundred bucks,the rest is in my savings acct,and I dont have a checking acct ( my employer offers direct deposit) so I have to recharge the card about once a month. I pay my bills by money order,OldSchool, but secure!!

Had the same happen to me................almost $2500 in fradulent activity. They called me to say that it looked suspicious and I told them that while thta was something I would buy, it wasn't me. They took the charges off.

same thing happend to us a couple weeks ago Portis, I had a call of suspicious activities, turned out someone was buying tons of money 's worth of electronical toys.
We got it taken care of as well. Pain in the butt though.

I need to see about Paypal's virtual credit card numbers, but one thing I like that Paypal/eBay does is offer a hardware key that generates a random six digit number every 30 seconds (or when you hit the little button on it.) You use that with your usual username and password.

I just wish more banks and credit card companies offered this. Even AOL offers to its users SecurID tokens.

turned out someone was buying tons of money 's worth of electronical toys.
haha that's phantomcow for ya:p

My bank suspected weird activity because I only use my checking account to pay rent ($500/month) and buy groceries ($10-20 purchases every week or two).

My wallet was stolen at the gym several years ago and it was miserable. When I went downstairs to report it, the staff offered me the use of their phone to call the cc companies, but I didn't know the numbers so I had to go home and pull out the statements before I could make the cancellation calls.

They hit me for about $600 in about 45 minutes. First, they went to a gas station, presumably to see if the card worked, and then went to the mall. Thank goodness they didn't use the American Express, which has a pretty unlimited amount that can be charged.

I filed a police report and did all the correct things but my cc company was sold to another cc company and it was a nightmare. I called, e-mailed, and wrote, but in the end it cost me about $400 out of pocket.

A few days later I got an envelope in the mailbox with my wallet in it. Seems it had been put in a mailbox somewhere and the post office delivered it to me. The wallet also had a house key and car key in it but they were in the wallet when it was returned, making me concerned they had made copies of the keys but nothing ever happened.

FWIW, the Social Security Administration did not issue me a new number, just a new card. Concerned me for quite a while.

Maybe there is something to cutting off the right hand of a thief.

Maybe there is something to cutting off the right hand of a thief.

The only problem them with that is they will then want disability.

flyingscotsman,

How true..................

My wallet was stolen at the gym several years ago and it was miserable. When I went downstairs to report it, the staff offered me the use of their phone to call the cc companies, but I didn't know the numbers so I had to go home and pull out the statements before I could make the cancellation calls.

They hit me for about $600 in about 45 minutes. First, they went to a gas station, presumably to see if the card worked, and then went to the mall. Thank goodness they didn't use the American Express, which has a pretty unlimited amount that can be charged.

I filed a police report and did all the correct things but my cc company was sold to another cc company and it was a nightmare. I called, e-mailed, and wrote, but in the end it cost me about $400 out of pocket.

A few days later I got an envelope in the mailbox with my wallet in it. Seems it had been put in a mailbox somewhere and the post office delivered it to me. The wallet also had a house key and car key in it but they were in the wallet when it was returned, making me concerned they had made copies of the keys but nothing ever happened.

FWIW, the Social Security Administration did not issue me a new number, just a new card. Concerned me for quite a while.

Maybe there is something to cutting off the right hand of a thief.
On a proper credit card, I believe all that you as cardholder are liable for is $50 per card. $400 = 8 cards??? That's a lot o' cards in your wallet, son!

randya,

I'm sure you are probably right, but as I said, my cc company was sold to another cc company and I think that was the problem. Either that or they simply didn't adhere to federal statute. I kept saying that the charge was made, it just wasn't made by me. My exhortations fell on deaf ears.....only some of which spoke English as a first language.

Thank goodness I only had two credit cards.

same thing happend to us a couple weeks ago Portis, I had a call of suspicious activities, turned out someone was buying tons of money 's worth of electronical toys.
We got it taken care of as well. Pain in the butt though.

Literally................and by that I assume the electrical toys were, well, you know. Yeah, some a$$ purchased like $2500 in sex videos and toys with mine. While not opposed..............it just wasn't me and if I am going to get charged for it I expect to be able to see the videos.:D