Credit Card Fraud...

[BUSA_CHeMiST]

So, I get to thinkin about my credit card statement/balance yesterday and decide I just need to see how much I have spent over the last month. I know alot of people don't believe in credit cards, but the only reason I use them is for the airline miles and kickbacks. I never let one lapse and accrue interest.

Anyway, so I notice a few random charges on my card, some that made no sense like Foreign Transaction Charge and charge a Internet Domain/Registry Site and one from some company over in Florida called SEASPECS.

Automatically i know something is Fishy so i decide to call SEASPECS and got one ineresting response....

SEASPECS: Yes sir, can I help you?
ME: Sir, I noticed a random charge on my credit card and i think someone might have used it fraudulently.
SEASPECS: Oh yes sir, I've been waiting on your call. I figured this was gonna happen...

So, he proceeded to tell me that someone made an online transaction with my CC number, 3-digit security code on back AND billing information. But, the suspect was asking that the item be shipped to some location in Vietnam. When the guy asked to confirm a local address AND phone # here in the sates, he provided the local address but couldn't provide a #. So, the SEASPECS sales guy never sent the item and was basically waiting on me to call and confirm his suspicions.

So, then I spent the next 45 min on the phone with the CC company going thru all the proper channels to dispute the charges and get the card cancelled. So far we are totalling approx $480+ in charges before the card was cancelled, and I will be signing up for LIFE-LOCK sometime this weekend and checking my credit report to see if this guy has attempted to open anything in my name since.

I'm scratching my head wondering HOW this guy got my entire credit card #, billing address AND the 3-digit security code? I have ordered a few things from online vendors over the last few weeks BUT i am always careful to order thru what seems to be secure websites. Unless someone in VISA has leaked, or someone has hacked VISA, then I dont know.

Just wanted to tell the story to everyone here, ya'll be careful out there. I will have to be even more untrusting now, kinda sucks to go thru! Oh, and the CC company told me that they are sending me the affidavit to fill out and i need to get my statement, circle the fraudulent charges, mail it back and they will open up the investigation and POTENTIALLY give me the money back. Guess we'll see!

Chemist!

 

[SAMBUSA]

That sux. Stupid theives

So why did SEASPECS charge your card?

 

[pbghost]

glad you caught it.

thieves

 

[BUSA_CHeMiST]

That sux.  Stupid theives

 

So why did SEASPECS charge your card?

Not sure SAM, the order was placed online, so I dont know if it goes thru automatically or if they have to process it themselves. That did seem kind of leary to me as well, and honestly I dont think SEASPECS will even refund the $$$ since I've already cancelled the card and filed the complaint.

They seemed very nice on the phone, offered to fax me any paperwork they could, and i WILL be calling them monday to find out what shipping address this guy was using.

ANY board members over in Vietnam? Wanna pay this guy a visit?

 

[SAMBUSA]

That sux.  Stupid theives

 

So why did SEASPECS charge your card?

Not sure SAM, the order was placed online, so I dont know if it goes thru automatically or if they have to process it themselves.  That did seem kind of leary to me as well, and honestly I dont think SEASPECS will even refund the $$$ since I've already cancelled the card and filed the complaint.

They seemed very nice on the phone, offered to fax me any paperwork they could, and i WILL be calling them monday to find out what shipping address this guy was using.

ANY board members over in Vietnam?  Wanna pay this guy a visit?

What kinda company are they? Top Google results show sunglasses companies. Just seemed kinda shadey to me.(no pun intended)

 

[Wag]

You got off cheap.

Lifelock doesn't do anything you can't do for yourself. Don't waste your money. Just call the three credit bureaus and ask them to put a fraud alert on your credit reports and you're good to go.

Also, bear in mind, that LifeLock would not have helped you in this situation.

Another way thieves get your credit card number is if you use it in a store or restaurant. With all of the camera phones out there, it's easy to snap a photo of the front and rear AND your signature. It can then be sold for XX amount of $$.

Glad you caught it when you did.

--Wag--

 

[Dan]

That friggin sucks! Glad you caught it early.

 

[BUSA_CHeMiST]

Yeah Wag, i thought about that the other day when I was sittin at Sonic... Tried to swipe my card at the new CC slots they have at the drive-up bays, and it never went thru. So when the little 16yr old came out with my food, i told her "Hey, it never asked me to swipe my card" she said, "oh, yeah, most of them arent working, let me try it here..."

She then walked to the next terminal, with her back to me, pulled out what I assume was a master security access card and proceeded to run my card there.

I had those THOUGHTS about her snapping a pic of my card, and the only way i know it wasn't her is because according to my statement, the fraudulent charges began just a few days before I went to Sonic.

 

[BUSA_CHeMiST]

That sux.  Stupid theives

 

So why did SEASPECS charge your card?

Not sure SAM, the order was placed online, so I dont know if it goes thru automatically or if they have to process it themselves.  That did seem kind of leary to me as well, and honestly I dont think SEASPECS will even refund the $$$ since I've already cancelled the card and filed the complaint.

They seemed very nice on the phone, offered to fax me any paperwork they could, and i WILL be calling them monday to find out what shipping address this guy was using.

ANY board members over in Vietnam?  Wanna pay this guy a visit?

What kinda company are they?  Top Google results show sunglasses companies.  Just seemed kinda shadey to me.(no pun intended)  

Yeah Sam, I googled the SEASPECS name and their number 305-899-9198 and it also shows they are in Florida on my CC statement...

SEASPECS

 

[05 Busa LE]

Since you didn't mention it, I assume you also called the credit card company to report the fraudulent charge, as well as the three credit bureaus. I hate to hear about these things ... good luck and keep us posted.

 

[BUSA_CHeMiST]

So, then I spent the next 45 min on the phone with the CC company going thru all the proper channels to dispute the charges and get the card cancelled.  So far we are totalling approx $480+ in charges before the card was cancelled, and I will be signing up for LIFE-LOCK sometime this weekend and checking my credit report to see if this guy has attempted to open anything in my name since.

Yeah 05, I called them. Also looked up my online credit report, nothing as of this monring looks fraudulent.

As both yiu and Wag recommended, I will be calling the 3 credit companies and have an alert put on my report in case any fraudulent activity were to come up.

The only reason I was going to sign up for LIFE-LOCK was because I was worried this guy might try to sign up for things using the info he already has. But I will just stick with the credit companies for now and see what happens

Thanks for the replys everyone!

 

[HRHDi]

I always get a touch nervous when my card leaves my sight. Granted there isn't anything one can do about people photographing your card, but...the restaurant company I work for is looking into table-side card readers for our servers so the cards never leave the table.

 

[TruWrecks]

Putting a fraud alert will require someone to physically sign a credit app to open a new account. The bank granting the credit will be asked to contact you to confirm your identity.

This was a case of credit card fraud. If they had you security code it was from a purchase somewhere that asked for it. They can't get that info without physical access to the card, or you supplying the code during a purchase. Most likely you made a purchase on a website where the thief works, or they know someone that works there. They then used the information to make other purchases to take advantage of the new found free money.

Cancelling the card is the only option now. Get a new card number, and by carefull where you use it.

 

[el stumpo]

Lifelock doesn't do anything you can't do for yourself. Don't waste your money. Just call the three credit bureaus and ask them to put a fraud alert on your credit reports and you're good to go.

Actually a fraud alert doesn't do much good and wouldn't help in this situation. Better to request a credit freeze so they can't open up credit lines in your name.

If they stole your CC number, there is not much you can do except to cancel the card. What's a little scary is they have your billing address. As long as they do not have your SSN, you aren't in too bad a shape.

Oh, the credit freeze is free when you provide a police report (you did file a police report right?). Otherwise it's $10.

 

[Aceshigh]

I'm scratching my head wondering HOW this guy got my entire credit card #, billing address AND the 3-digit security code? I have ordered a few things from online vendors over the last few weeks BUT i am always careful to order thru what seems to be secure websites. Unless someone in VISA has leaked, or someone has hacked VISA, then I dont know.

It's very simple dude.....it's called globalization of the information age.

Depends on whom you have a Credit Card through and if they have off shore facilities
like in India for instance. Using Bank of America as my example because I hate that
company (no personal experience). They sold out all the American workers for foreign
workers, and India has had QUITE a few cases of identity thefts in the range of small
to large 25,000 accounts information sold illegally.

So you can thank Globalization for your incessant security woes in the present and future.
And guess what else??? YOU as a consumer have to find ways to protect yourself from these
leeches stealing your information, AND fight the 3 Credit Bureaus to remove items when
they are placed there for collections. Nice bright American globalization picture isn't it??

Welcome to the information globalization age where there is no oversight to protect the consumer.
Now you might be motivated to deal exclusively with banks here in America only.

Once your current address and SSN is compromised.....you're really in a TARFU situation
You can thank information sharing between companies as well. You know those CC companies
that sell all your information to third party associates in the fine print of your contract.

 

[skoti]

That happened to me before, this was before the 3 digit security code.

I was a student at the time (i.e. very broke) and I noticed a $150 charge one month from a site that I did not recognize.

So I call VISA, and they look up the site. She says "oh... did you... um... purchase any male enhancement products last month?"

I say "NO!!?!?"

I thought it was kinda funny. But they were really good about it. I had to send a letter to them and they refunded my money fairly quickly. Overall, I was happy how quickly it was resolved. Hopefully, you have the same experience.

 

[captain]

Guys this is what I do for a living, credit cards and security is a huge part of my day ask Professor and Omslaw I whine about the overwhelming task all the time.... Online transactions are actually one of the safest places to use your card, its what happens to the data that causes the problems...

At TJ Max where one of the largest security breaches has occured they were using WEP encryption on their wireless network that allowed their register terminals to talk to the server in the back. A group of folks had a wireless computer in the parking lot and they just sniffed the packets with all the stripe data from the credit cards and then used them to make purchases.... I can tell you about restaurants that the waiters carried portable card scanners that recorded your card information onto a mobile device while they took your card to process your bill. At the end of the shift they would give the cards to someone outside that paid them a couple thousand bucks to do the dirty work... Many companies record the CVV or CVV2 number that is on your card and that is a complete violation from all the credit card companies (combined they call themselves PCI or Payment Card Industry). At the end of the day the best thing you can do is get a card with two factor authentication or a rotating pin, they are coming out soon trust me....  Until then keep your CVV number close and dont think for a second that your card is safer when you hand it to someone.... Here is a link to a couple of videos that talk about it if your really serious about educating yourself.

<embed src="http://www.cbs.com/thunder/swf/rcpHolderCbs-prod.swf" width="370" height="361"allowFullScreen="true" FlashVars="link=http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3538299n&releaseURL=http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=JqklmhP_gz6Mo8CYdaSKBIHO-X9Epky4&partner=newsembed&autoPlayVid=false&prevImg=http://thumbnails.cbsig.net/CBS_Production_News/572/448/60min_stahl_1125_480x360.jpg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" />

 

[Shanling]

Hey Cap, I clicked on your video and got a Sprint/Nextel commercial. Thanks anyway but my cell phone is through AT&T and I am happy. Plus, Sprint doesn't carry the iPhone.

 

[Shanling]

Hahaha...just kidding. I watched the entire video. Is that the same lady that does Turbo Tax? Her voice sounds just like it!

Great vid and thanks for sharing.

 

[BlueHaya]

Happened to me also. A while back...right after using WalMart.Com Had about 5 purchases and numerous attempts after my cc company kicked in the protection. Charges from Shoe stores in Italy...food places in Korea. Was all in all about $1,000 made it through, but stopped over $5,000 in attempts from foriegn jewlery stores. Got it all cleared and owed nothing.

Wife had her s.s.# stolen and someone set up 6 cell phones in her name in Houston a couple of years ago.

Rat bastids.