Community Chat

[PickyPicky3]

.....at least for me.

When I first turned on my computer this morning, I had a message from one of my credit cards that my online account had been locked due to multiple unsuccessful attempts to log in.

I called customer service and was told that there were 14 attempts to log in between 4:00 and 5:00 am using my correct user name but not the correct password. 

How did someone get my user name? This scammer or program did not have my credit card number and could not get that on the website. My name, address and phone number would have been available. Not my social security number. My charge history is shown.

I have 72 hours to create a new user name and password. 

Is this common? I've had scammers get my credit card numbers and use them, but not this.

[Carmie]

@PickyPicky3   That is scary.  These fraudsters are getting very good at their craft.

I got a call from the credit union that handles my friend's checking and savings account last Friday.

My friend has been in a senior care home for about four years.  She does not handle her finances...I am her POA and handle everything.  She is no longer able to make any decisions my herself.

The credit union called because my friend requested to wire $11,000 to another person for repairs.  The credit union is small and everyone who works there knows us personally.

They told me the transfer was made by my friend on a computer and gave me the name of the person the money was supposed to be wired to.

I have no idea who this person is.  My friend cannot see well, does not have access to a computer....never used one in her life.

The funny thing is, she only has a little more than $11,000 in her account.

So,someone accessed her banking, saw how much money she has and tried to wire it to themselves.  I have no idea how this happened.  I do all her banking in person, so there is no online banking attached to her account.

Thankfully, the credit union thought this looked suspicious and called me.  

I am wondering if it was an inside job.

I don't know how someone got your user name, but apparently these thieves are quite good.  It is getting scary.  

I guess we just need to keep on top of things all of the time checking accounts often.

[NEvans2]

@PickyPicky3  I'm sorry that this happened to you. Our younger son graduated from Penn State with a degree in IT. He told my husband and I a few years ago that nothing is hack proof. If someone has the time, the skills and the inclination, anyone can be hacked. That includes the government, hospitals, schools, anyone! He said the best we can do is be diligent and be careful how and where we put out our information.

[Janey2]

Did you call cs with the number on the back of your credit card or a number on the email? 

[Desertdi]

I was told by an IT expert that, in many cases,  it is SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU. 

 (Yeah, it happened to me....the bank froze my account, which resulted in my computer crashing.)

[PickyPicky3]

@Carmie   Your story is scary too. The person I spoke to at the bank told me bank employees there have access to user names but not passwords.

[NicksmomESQ]

 Unfortunately, most of us have been victims of identity theft in one form or another. DH & I have been more than once.We froze our credit with the credit bureaus, and also monitor our bank, investments & credit card accounts regularly.

 It's terrible to have to do all this but we have no choice. It's very stressful to have to always worry about protecting what's yours.The world has become a very scary place.I feel bad for the young people who have to deal with this for the next 50+ years!!

[PickyPicky3]

@Janey2    I called the number on my credit card. There's something else I haven't mentioned that makes this even stranger:

I never even opened the e-mail. I saw the heading and that's all I needed.

While I was looking at the e-mail heading, it disappeared. Gone! I didn't even have my hands on the computer. Not in Delete. Gone! 

[qvcfreak]

This happens with my SBCGLOBAL email account. Someone always trying to access my email in the wee hours of the morning. 

[chrystaltree]

Did you call customer service on the back of your credit card?  If you called the customer service number provided on your screen, you were calling the scammer.  Scammers are brilliant, smarter than you and me and they use very powerful computer systems.  No point in asking the whys and how when it comes to how they do what they do.  Something similar happened to me a few years ago.  I called my credit card company, the number on the card.  No attempts to access my card had been made.  But they canceled that card and issued me a new card anyway.