IDENTITY THEFT AND WIPING OUT YOUR CHECKBOOK!

Q4u · ‎03-17-2010

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.... ${#emotions_dlg.angry}$

*~"Never eat more than you can lift......" Miss Piggy~*

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

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.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

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.

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

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.

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

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.

HonnyBrown · ‎11-23-2013

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.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.

maryebrown_1 · ‎09-14-2012

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"! Wink

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

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.

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StylishLady · ‎03-11-2010

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.

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

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.