topic Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK! in Electronics

IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Q4u — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 18:55:53 GMT

We always thought that we did not have RFID chips in any of our cards. Did you know that when you get a new credit card, bank card or driver's license that you may have been issued a card with the chip in it? Our DS was hacked and his checking account was wiped out!! Everything he had. It can also happen through sloppy computer habits, like not cleaning your computer every so often, clearing cookies and re-loading programs. Not having the best security you can get....

This year everyone is getting an RFID wallet. That's the first thing. The second is that we've enrolled in LifeLock which has excellent reviews. (There is a lawsuit being generated, and hype about the CEO being hacked. You need to read it all before signing up... ).

Be careful out there, especially today, Cyber Monday....

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

chickenbutt — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:08:48 GMT

There is all kinds of weird theft going on this time around, so I hope people are being super careful.

A week or so ago I got an email from Walmart about an order for a high-cost electronic item. Well, I didn't order this. One good thing was that they caught it and deleted the order. One bad thing is that when I ordered something a while back from them online I did NOT make the choice to save payment info, yet they saved that card number anyway. As of now the account is deleted. But it was unsettling for a few reasons.

I recently got an email from Macy's to reset my password. I don't know if that was real or not.

Today I also got an email that was maybe (?) from QVC about an order being cancelled. I did not make this order but I don't know if it was from them, like that one a lot of us got a while back about a refund, or if it was a phishing or malware email.

Today I saw several more emails from a few places, I would imagine fake, about orders and shipments and other stuff. Sometimes they have your name right on them!

I've never had so many wrong emails as I have in the last couple of weeks.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Nuttmeg — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:54:06 GMT

On 12/1/2014 chickenbutt said:
There is all kinds of weird theft going on this time around, so I hope people are being super careful.

A week or so ago I got an email from Walmart about an order for a high-cost electronic item. Well, I didn't order this. One good thing was that they caught it and deleted the order. One bad thing is that when I ordered something a while back from them online I did NOT make the choice to save payment info, yet they saved that card number anyway. As of now the account is deleted. But it was unsettling for a few reasons.

I recently got an email from Macy's to reset my password. I don't know if that was real or not.

Today I also got an email that was maybe (?) from QVC about an order being cancelled. I did not make this order but I don't know if it was from them, like that one a lot of us got a while back about a refund, or if it was a phishing or malware email.

Today I saw several more emails from a few places, I would imagine fake, about orders and shipments and other stuff. Sometimes they have your name right on them!

I've never had so many wrong emails as I have in the last couple of weeks.

I have been getting a few more spam emails than normal. You should check the mail spam filter at the web site of your email provider.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

NickNack — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:05:59 GMT

On 12/1/2014 chickenbutt said:
There is all kinds of weird theft going on this time around, so I hope people are being super careful.

A week or so ago I got an email from Walmart about an order for a high-cost electronic item. Well, I didn't order this. One good thing was that they caught it and deleted the order. One bad thing is that when I ordered something a while back from them online I did NOT make the choice to save payment info, yet they saved that card number anyway. As of now the account is deleted. But it was unsettling for a few reasons.

I recently got an email from Macy's to reset my password. I don't know if that was real or not.

Today I also got an email that was maybe (?) from QVC about an order being cancelled. I did not make this order but I don't know if it was from them, like that one a lot of us got a while back about a refund, or if it was a phishing or malware email.

Today I saw several more emails from a few places, I would imagine fake, about orders and shipments and other stuff. Sometimes they have your name right on them!

I've never had so many wrong emails as I have in the last couple of weeks.

I got an e-mail from Walmarat recently, too, about an order I didn't place. The next e-mail I got was from them saying that they'd cancelled the order because the card didn't go through. At least that's the way I read it. I was very confused about what was going on.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Nightowlz — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:22:05 GMT

So sorry this happened to your DS. Hope he is able to get his money back that was stolen from his checking account. I heard it's harder to deal with that then it is to have credit issued back to credit cards. I have had someone use 1 card 3 times & another card once. I get online to check our credit cards a lot to make sure no funny business is going on. I also check out checking account almost daily. None of our cards or drivers license have a chip in them. We were issued credit back to the cards in each incident as we were still in possession of our cards. Someone was using the number. The credit card company issues us credit & charges it back to the store the purchase was made & they are the ones stuck without payments for goods being sold.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

HonnyBrown — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 21:17:41 GMT

Q4u, if he hasn't done so already, have your son contact his bank. They will issue a provisional credit for the whole amount while they do the investigation.

Also, just FYI, RFID chips are encrypted, unlike magnetic strips on credit cards. They are much harder to hack than credit cards.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

maryebrown_1 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 21:41:21 GMT

Fortunately our bank is "small" (8 branches) and they constantly monitor their customers' accounts. If there is anything suspicious, they notify us immediately, freeze the account until we contact them, and they do not pay the questionable charge(s). That's what I call personalized "service"!

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

ChynnaBlue — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:40:34 GMT

I've had my card compromised multiple times (only once where someone else used it) and my bank is very proactive about it. I noticed it when checking my transactions online the first time and the rest of the times the card was compromised, it was the bank that alerted me and it was because of a mass hack, like the Target hack, or when a brick and mortar store lost their receipts. The bank freezes and replaces those cards, even though the complete credit card numbers are not on the receipts.

They also have text banking, so I am able to send a simple text to check my balance whenever I want and I get a daily text with the amount in all my accounts. (The daily amount is a snapshot and not a live balance, so it's ballpark, but not 100% accurate. I can text for a live update at any time and it usually reflects purchases I made minutes before.) If they note suspicious activity on my card, they lock my card and send me a text message. I can immediately unlock the card by replying to the text and confirming that it was my activity.

I'd like to move away from a big bank and switch to a credit union, but so far none of the credit unions offer that level of text banking.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

StylishLady — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:53:16 GMT

For al the horror stories there are ones where the ending is more acceptable. Our bank card was "skimmed" one time a few years ago. DH thinks it was done at a gas station where the thieves had inserted a reader into the gas pump card reader. He checks our BOA account on a regular basis and noted charges to Netlix and a coupon booklet that we had not made. Notified the bank immediately and got it stopped. Fortunately the total was only around $80, which we did not have to pay. Being alert is the first line of defense.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

chickenbutt — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 23:27:33 GMT

On 12/1/2014 StylishLady said:
For al the horror stories there are ones where the ending is more acceptable. Our bank card was "skimmed" one time a few years ago. DH thinks it was done at a gas station where the thieves had inserted a reader into the gas pump card reader. He checks our BOA account on a regular basis and noted charges to Netlix and a coupon booklet that we had not made. Notified the bank immediately and got it stopped. Fortunately the total was only around $80, which we did not have to pay. Being alert is the first line of defense.

(bolded by me) This!!

While none of us deserve to be ripped off, I still think it is absolutely our responsibility to know what is going on with all of our accounts. I keep quite a bit of money in my checking account (it's just a savings account I keep and write it off my regular balance, keeping track of it in the back of the book) and I look at my account online at least a couple of times a week.

Same goes for credit cards - know what your balances should be and make sure you can validate any charges posted.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

HonnyBrown — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 00:43:55 GMT

On 12/1/2014 chickenbutt said:
On 12/1/2014 StylishLady said:
For al the horror stories there are ones where the ending is more acceptable. Our bank card was "skimmed" one time a few years ago. DH thinks it was done at a gas station where the thieves had inserted a reader into the gas pump card reader. He checks our BOA account on a regular basis and noted charges to Netlix and a coupon booklet that we had not made. Notified the bank immediately and got it stopped. Fortunately the total was only around $80, which we did not have to pay. Being alert is the first line of defense.

(bolded by me) This!!

While none of us deserve to be ripped off, I still think it is absolutely our responsibility to know what is going on with all of our accounts. I keep quite a bit of money in my checking account (it's just a savings account I keep and write it off my regular balance, keeping track of it in the back of the book) and I look at my account online at least a couple of times a week.

Same goes for credit cards - know what your balances should be and make sure you can validate any charges posted.

VERY good advice!!!!!!

Credit and debit cards are easy to hack because the ones without the RFID chips are not encrypted. The new card readers (in places with the data breaches like Target, USPS, Michaels, etc.) encrypt the data from the magnetic strips.

Looking at your account activity and reporting anything abnormal to your bank will protect you.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Lynnj — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 07:32:46 GMT

On 12/1/2014 HonnyBrown said:
On 12/1/2014 chickenbutt said:
On 12/1/2014 StylishLady said:
For al the horror stories there are ones where the ending is more acceptable. Our bank card was "skimmed" one time a few years ago. DH thinks it was done at a gas station where the thieves had inserted a reader into the gas pump card reader. He checks our BOA account on a regular basis and noted charges to Netlix and a coupon booklet that we had not made. Notified the bank immediately and got it stopped. Fortunately the total was only around $80, which we did not have to pay. Being alert is the first line of defense.

(bolded by me) This!!

While none of us deserve to be ripped off, I still think it is absolutely our responsibility to know what is going on with all of our accounts. I keep quite a bit of money in my checking account (it's just a savings account I keep and write it off my regular balance, keeping track of it in the back of the book) and I look at my account online at least a couple of times a week.

Same goes for credit cards - know what your balances should be and make sure you can validate any charges posted.

VERY good advice!!!!!!

Credit and debit cards are easy to hack because the ones without the RFID chips are not encrypted. The new card readers (in places with the data breaches like Target, USPS, Michaels, etc.) encrypt the data from the magnetic strips.

Looking at your account activity and reporting anything abnormal to your bank will protect you.

I also agree 100%. And honestly, it doesn't really matter what kind of chip, or whether credit or debit card....even paper checks have security issues. It is on us to take responsibility for our accounts. If you have a comouter, and most people these days do,,there is no reason you are not logging on to all of your financial accounts several,times a week to check balances and activity. It takes 1-2 minutes, per account to login and check activity and balance.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

HonnyBrown — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 21:27:35 GMT

Q4u, how is your son doing?

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Q4u — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 23:30:25 GMT

Regarding credit cards, yes, knowing what is going on is prudent and something my son does (we all do it)... but the damage can be great with 30 days in between statements... but it's the hacking of your savings/checking account that is something that you don't "catch" until it's over and the bank calls you and asks if taking all this money is something "you've done". Nope... rarely is.... and then it's too late.

You can get hacked (easily) when the ATM machine is hacked and the ones doing so get your debit card information~!! You don't know that this has happened until it's over as well. Doesn't matter if your info is encrypted when you use your card because the hackers get into the machine itself (remotely) and have all the information they need.

BTW, everyone should understand that FDIC does not insure the individual saver. We found that out as well. No refunds or credit coming from the bank. FDIC insures the bank.

We are a small town here. The bank we frequent is a large enough bank but there aren't many to choose from. We're in the process of deciding whether or not to change banks.

So.... no one in this family will be using a debit card anymore. No one will be paying bills on line directly from our bank on line. We will have a first line of defense using RFID wallets and we're all now members of LIFELOCK. We are impressed with what we've already experienced with them. You all are right about being on top of things. The problem is being ABLE to be on top of things! This will enable us to be as on top of things as possible. Believe me, there are many, many ways for the scumbags to take our money and our identities....

For the one who kindly asked how DS is doing. He's still extremely angry. He works incredibly hard and the helplessness he experienced was horrible. He doesn't make much money either and to have it taken from him (especially at this time of year) didn't help. He'll be ok....

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Q4u — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 23:35:41 GMT

If you have a comouter, and most people these days do,,there is no reason you are not logging on to all of your financial accounts several,times a week to check balances and activity. It takes 1-2 minutes, per account to login and check activity and balance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I mentioned 30 days between statements and I agree about checking your account on-line. But when the money is there one minute and gone the next there still ISN'T MUCH YOU CAN DO AFTER THE FACT. If the money is gone... it's GONE! There are no protections as there are with credit cards when someone uses your card. The bank does not put the money back. As I mentioned upthread, FDIC insures the BANK, not the individual saver. This information was imparted by the FBI agent that spoke with us. The money is gone.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

NickNack — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:03:14 GMT

On 12/2/2014 Q4u said:
If you have a comouter, and most people these days do,,there is no reason you are not logging on to all of your financial accounts several,times a week to check balances and activity. It takes 1-2 minutes, per account to login and check activity and balance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I mentioned 30 days between statements and I agree about checking your account on-line. But when the money is there one minute and gone the next there still ISN'T MUCH YOU CAN DO AFTER THE FACT. If the money is gone... it's GONE! There are no protections as there are with credit cards when someone uses your card. The bank does not put the money back. As I mentioned upthread, FDIC insures the BANK, not the individual saver. This information was imparted by the FBI agent that spoke with us. The money is gone.

I had someone make $200 worth of charges on my debit card, and the bank refunded my money. It took about ten days. I wasn't sure they would refund it, but the manager said they always did. They cancelled my debit card immediately and issued me a new one.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

chickenbutt — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:12:18 GMT

I also had the same hack as NickNack and it was handled the same way. I didn't suffer any financial loss. I only wish that they would pursue the thieves instead of just writing it off. That's my one peeve about the whole thing.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Iambeezer — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:23:43 GMT

On 12/2/2014 chickenbutt said:
I also had the same hack as NickNack and it was handled the same way. I didn't suffer any financial loss. I only wish that they would pursue the thieves instead of just writing it off. That's my one peeve about the whole thing.

You can't. The internet is the wild west. How do you think hacker groups like anonymous can overtake twitter accounts among-st other things and nothing is done about it? The money and resources it takes to try and track people who do this stuff is far more costly than a 3,000 dollar tv.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

elated — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:31:23 GMT

You should check your credit reports once a year on annual credit report.com. Also, place a freeze on your credit reports so no one can access the information. You should check your bank account on a regular basis. You can catch these thieves early. My bank called me when a charge came through that they knew was bogus. You have to be very alert when it comes to your accounts.

Re: IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Q4u — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 02:08:39 GMT

On 12/2/2014 NickNack said:
On 12/2/2014 Q4u said:
If you have a comouter, and most people these days do,,there is no reason you are not logging on to all of your financial accounts several,times a week to check balances and activity. It takes 1-2 minutes, per account to login and check activity and balance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I mentioned 30 days between statements and I agree about checking your account on-line. But when the money is there one minute and gone the next there still ISN'T MUCH YOU CAN DO AFTER THE FACT. If the money is gone... it's GONE! There are no protections as there are with credit cards when someone uses your card. The bank does not put the money back. As I mentioned upthread, FDIC insures the BANK, not the individual saver. This information was imparted by the FBI agent that spoke with us. The money is gone.

I had someone make $200 worth of charges on my debit card, and the bank refunded my money. It took about ten days. I wasn't sure they would refund it, but the manager said they always did. They cancelled my debit card immediately and issued me a new one.

I wasn't talking about hacking your debit card and the thief charging. Yes, those fees are returnable. I'm talking about the hacker hacking INTO the ATM itself and retrieving ALL THE INFORMATION it has on you!!! Once that occurs, you're dead in the water. NO REFUNDS. They consider this theft as though the guy physically took the money out of your pocket. There are no guarantees from the bank. It's totally different.