When your credit card is hacked - GENERAL DISCUSSION

[Pendraia]

I will need to activate my new card as I had to get it replaced as it was hacked. The bank was telling me that they can autogenerate the numbers somehow...I thought it might have been through rendo as that was where I did the most recent purchasing but they said it can happen without a store being hacked, which rather surprised me.

 

[Alisa]

oh, yes indeed - they can actually GUESS numbers and come up with yours... I had a credit card that we had to replace where they think this happened

 

[Pendraia]

Yeah...that's what the bank said.

 

[Miss B]

I will need to activate my new card first as I had to get it replaced as it was hacked. The bank was telling me that they can autogenerate the numbers somehow...I thought it might have been through rendo as that was where I did the most recent purchasing but they said it can happen without a store being hacked, which rather surprised me.

Yes, I've been watching the thread on their forums about that, but I just got my CC monthly invoice in the mail today, and nothing untoward, but I usually use PayPal near the end of each month to keep my monthly CC bill a reasonable amount, so I didn't get caught.

The thought of them being able to auto-generate account numbers is a bit upsetting, but I can only hope they don't get to mine. It seems all the hackers come out of the woodwork this time of year. ~shakes head~

 

[Pendraia]

Was there something posted on their forums? I just mentioned them as they were the last purchase made on the card before it happened.

 

[JOdel]

Both my cards got hacked a day apart. I suspect that there was a connection. The debit card got an obviously fake query which the security caught, and a day later the credit card got a transaction which I never made -- and they *didn't* catch that one. It turned up in the pending list when I was checking for something else. I called cardholder services, and am now waiting for the fraud claim that I need to fill out and a new card.

Not what I wanted for Christmas.

 

[Varnayrah]

huh, it seems I've been very lucky with credit card so far - but I do mainly use paypal anyway....

 

[Sunfire]

Two of my cards were hit, both were caught, by the card companies. One was my debit, I'm still not sure how they got the numbers. One card company asked me if I had charged 250 dollars to UBER while I was in bed asleep! The other card, I could use it last Saturday, then sometime Saturday night there was a 50ish dollar attempt at Pizza Hut I think they said, and a 500ish dollar attempt somewhere else. The second card was my debit card! The bank caught it and stopped them and Sunday my card didn't work when I went to the store.

 

[Alisa]

FYI - this started as a comment in a CA Product thread and many people wanted to comment on this so I've edited some things and moved the CC stuff here for people to discuss general frustration with the issue, which I'm sure we all have faced at one time or another. Pleases don't use this as a "OMG FREAKOUT I heard from Susie Jones's sisters aunt's brother that this site was hacked and your credit cards will all blow up" thread .

That said, at least those in the US - while it is an inconvenience to have a card hacked, you are NOT legally responsible for credit card fraud. If you're lucky (I have been so far) the credit card company will catch the issue and contact you.

IMPORTANT: if you get a call or email from someone claiming to be your cc company telling you things have been hacked - DO NOT give them any information or reply to that email or any link in it. Instead, find the official phone number (best in my opinion) or email address of the company and contact them that way.

 

[Miss B]

IMPORTANT: if you get a call or email from someone claiming to be your cc company telling you things have been hacked - DO NOT give them any information or reply to that email or any link in it. Instead, find the official phone number (best in my opinion) or email address of the company and contact them that way.

Very good advice, and not just with respect to your CC info. I saw an article recently about an IRS scam where they call and state you owe the IRS a huge amount of money, and you need to send the money to them immediately, if not sooner. Supposedly 60 scammers were caught and arrested, both here in the US, and in India, but that's no assurance that it won't keep happening.

This particular scam's been going on for quite a while, as I got just such a phone call back in April or May, but I don't answer my home phone unless I know the person calling, so I listened to the demanding voicemail, and then called back the telephone number left in the message. I had waited a while, and instead of getting the caller on the phone, it sounded like an older woman whose command of the English language wasn't all that good, so I ended the call. When the original caller called back, I acted all innocent until she finished her spiel, and when I said "What?", she responded with "You don't know what I'm talking about?". My response was, "I haven't a clue what the F**** you're talking about!" She hung up at that point.

I called my accountant to alert him about this, and he said I'm not the first of his long-time clients to call about it. So be careful of that as well.

 

[Alisa]

Absolutely - I don't EVER call a phone number of someone who's sent me an email if what I need to give them is personal information. Nor do I reply with that type of info to an email, or give personal info to someone who calles ME on the phone. I'll ask for their name and info, find the company's phone number, and call that number. If I can't talk to them and have to talk to someone else, too bad..

I do try to have fun with people like the one who called you (we get a lot of "this is Microsoft Tech support calling about your computer"). My favorite replies I give: "I don't speak English" "I don't have a computer" (repeat that no matter what they say/ask). I sometimes add "Computers are evil" (not far from the truth at times), "I've heard that awful people call you and try to get money from you if you have a computer!" Or, almost more fun:"Wait, I'll go turn on my computer". Put the phone down and go about my work, talking to hubby loudly, etc...I eventually hear from the phone "Hello?" "Ma'am" "Are you there?" and eventually they hang up . Sometimes, I'm not quite so nice though.....and darned if I know why they keep calling when clearly I'm not giving them any money or info

 

[Stezza]

even a trip down to the local shops and using the hole in the wall can be dangerous..

always check for scanners and cover the keypad with your other hand when entering your pin number..

 

[Miss B]

always check for scanners and cover the keypad with your other hand when entering your pin number..

ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS! I do that every time I use my debit card at the at the ATM at my bank after banking hours. I NEVER let anyone see what I'm typing in. You could be alone, and they'll get it from a mirror hidden where you don't see it, so ALWAYS cover the keypad. That's an absolute must!!

 

[Miss B]

Nor do I reply with that type of info to an email...

If any questionable email comes to me without being addressed to me personally (like emails from my cellphone provider, etc.), I always hover over any links in the email without clicking them, because 9 times out of 10, they aren't what they say they are. A lot of phisers haven't a clue how to hide the real link. I delete those emails immediately.

 

[Alisa]

Yep - all good advice! If you don't know stuff like this, it can be easy to get trapped by scammers...

 

[Miss B]

The real shocker with the IRS scam was, my accountant told me he had one long-time client who got caught up in it, but didn't lose anything because when she brought her package to Fed Ex, the guy working there just looked at her and said "Don't bother, it's a scam".

What the shocker was, this lady is an attorney. You would think someone with that kind of education would know better than to fall for that sort of scam. I was stunned when he told me that. Why didn't she just call him immediately to ask him to help her? If it were me, that's exactly what I would've done. I could see if she did her own taxes and didn't know anyone to call, but she had someone a phone call away that could've set her straight immediately. ~shakes head~

 

[Alisa]

Yes, even smart and/or educated people can fall for scammers. They're (the scammers) often very convincing and good at what they do.

 

[Miss B]

Some, I'm sure, are very convincing, but if she was called by the same gal who called me . . . well, she was crude and nasty. She certainly didn't "sound" like someone from the IRS, who I'm sure would've been more authoritative than obnoxious. Of course, there's no way to know who originally called her, so she may have been called by someone who sounded legit. I still would've done some checking before sending anyone money.

 

[eclark1894]

Add me to the list of hacked cards. Haven't been able to use mine for over a week now.

 

[Alisa]

Sorry to hear that, Earl