Credit Card Fraud

[Challenger]

Several days ago I made a check, on line ,of my Credit Card account and found $400 of charges that were not mine. The vendor was Swimoutlet.com in Calif. Called them and they intercepted one shipment in their warehouse with a Boynton Beach address. Called the bank and they removed charges. Cancelled my card and order a new one which just arrived on UPS. Driver mentioned that he had delivered hundreds of similar packages in TV in the past two months.

The charges were made to my wife's account . She uses her card very infrequently, but had charged a "new do" at a north end Hair salon the day before the first charge. May not be related, but wonder if there is a pattern here. Any ideas?

[angiefox10]

Several days ago I made a check, on line ,of my Credit Card account and found $400 of charges that were not mine. The vendor was Swimoutlet.com in Calif. Called them and they intercepted one shipment in their warehouse with a Boynton Beach address. Called the bank and they removed charges. Cancelled my card and order a new one which just arrived on UPS. Driver mentioned that he had delivered hundreds of similar packages in TV in the past two months.

The charges were made to my wife's account . She uses her card very infrequently, but had charged a "new do" at a north end Hair salon the day before the first charge. May not be related, but wonder if there is a pattern here. Any ideas?

Two of us ladies had our cards compromised on the same day. She happened to mention it at a gathering we were at. There was only one place that we had both used our cards and it was after a golf outing we all had lunch at one of the clubs. It was the only place we had both used our cards and we were the only ones of all the ladies who charged our lunch.

I called the club and told the manager what happened in case that was the link. I will PM you!

I stopped at LOWES today and used my card the young lady looked at the back that says "CHECK ID" and I told her my card had been compromised. She said it just happened to her mother as well.

Then.... When I was at water aerobics I was telling a girlfriend about it and she told me she had heard two other ladies in our hood who said their cards had been compromised as well!

[Villageshooter]

what CC were you scammed at,, this lets us know to beware ,, without knowing it is an indictment of all the CC's ,, obviously there is a non-honoralble person here. The real problem is a thief used to be in an alley and have pipe or gun and mug us. He would get what he could in a night.
Now you have a person setting at home with Pajamas on eating Oreos drinking chocolate milk, in front of his computer, financially raping our bank accounts. Rather than getting what we have in our billfolds,, he now goes gently and takes 40$ -60$ out of the accounts, only he does it with 500 accounts in a morning watching "OPRAH". we must all be vigilant with our cards... i wonder are these all debit cards? those seemed to be the target most of the time.
You know what they say,,, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!

[Barefoot]

Thanks so much for this reminder. I realize that we need to be more diligent about checking credit card charges and bank statements. I always think "it won't happen to me". This is a good wake-up call.

[angiefox10]

what CC were you scammed at,, this lets us know to beware ,, without knowing it is an indictment of all the CC's ,, obviously there is a non-honoralble person here. The real problem is a thief used to be in an alley and have pipe or gun and mug us. He would get what he could in a night.
Now you have a person setting at home with Pajamas on eating Oreos drinking chocolate milk, in front of his computer, financially raping our bank accounts. Rather than getting what we have in our billfolds,, he now goes gently and takes 40$ -60$ out of the accounts, only he does it with 500 accounts in a morning watching "OPRAH". we must all be vigilant with our cards... i wonder are these all debit cards? those seemed to be the target most of the time.
You know what they say,,, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!


This is why I didn't mention the club. We don't know that it happened there and until I know, I don't want to say anything.

What I said was that was the only place that we had both used out cards.

No.... It wasn't a debit card. But, they were both miles cards and they were both used for flights.... After they tested the cards to assure a charge would go through. So, you see, it could have been someone who works with the miles for these cards

I suggest we not be so quick to point a finger at a local business unless we know for sure.

[golf2140]

This is why I didn't mention the club. We don't know that it happened there and until I know, I don't want to say anything.

What I said was that was the only place that we had both used out cards.

No.... It wasn't a debit card. But, they were both miles cards and they were both used for flights.... After they tested the cards to assure a charge would go through. So, you see, it could have been someone who works with the miles for these cards

I suggest we not be so quick to point a finger at a local business unless we know for sure.

:agree:

[gmcneill]

One of the guys from the Villages Basketball Club emailed the following to us members today. I am passing along an edited version, FWIW...

Hole Under Door Lock

I approached my truck from the passenger side
to place my computer bag (aka my man purse) in the
front passenger seat. As I reached to open the door I noticed there was a hole
right under my door handle.

My first thought was, "someone has shot my truck!" I began to think about it and inspect it a little closer and the "light" slowly began to come on.

I phoned my friend who owns a body shop and asked if
he had any vehicles with damage to the doors that looked
like a bullet hole.

"Yes, I see it all the time. Thieves have a punch that they
place right under the door handle, knock a hole through,
reach in and unlock the door.

No alarms, broken glass, or anything. Like they had key.

I then reported the incident to my insurance agent. I told him that it was odd that they didn't take my GPS or other stuff. Here is where it gets scary!

He said that they want the break-in to be so subtle
that you don't even realize it. They'll check your GPS
to see where "home" is.

So, they know what you drive and where you live. They'll drive by someother time and if they don't see vehicle in the driveway or in the garage, they assume you aren't home so they and break in.
My agent said they will even leave a purse or wallet and only take one or two credit cards. By the time you realize there has been a theft, the bad guys usually have already had a couple of days or more to use them.

They often lock your doors behind them to keep the theft more clandestin.

Periodically, walk around your car, especially before leaving a shopping center or other large parking area. Immeditely notify the police if you see "bullet hole damage" to your door, and be even more vigilant about things being in plain sight around your home; take immediate action to safeguard your home and valuables.

[angiefox10]

One of the guys from the Villages Basketball Club emailed the following to us members today. I am passing along an edited version, FWIW...

Hole Under Door Lock

I approached my truck from the passenger side
to place my computer bag (aka my man purse) in the
front passenger seat. As I reached to open the door I noticed there was a hole
right under my door handle.

My first thought was, "someone has shot my truck!" I began to think about it and inspect it a little closer and the "light" slowly began to come on.

I phoned my friend who owns a body shop and asked if
he had any vehicles with damage to the doors that looked
like a bullet hole.

"Yes, I see it all the time. Thieves have a punch that they
place right under the door handle, knock a hole through,
reach in and unlock the door.

No alarms, broken glass, or anything. Like they had key.

I then reported the incident to my insurance agent. I told him that it was odd that they didn't take my GPS or other stuff. Here is where it gets scary!

He said that they want the break-in to be so subtle
that you don't even realize it. They'll check your GPS
to see where "home" is.

So, they know what you drive and where you live. They'll drive by someother time and if they don't see vehicle in the driveway or in the garage, they assume you aren't home so they and break in.
My agent said they will even leave a purse or wallet and only take one or two credit cards. By the time you realize there has been a theft, the bad guys usually have already had a couple of days or more to use them.

They often lock your doors behind them to keep the theft more clandestin.

Periodically, walk around your car, especially before leaving a shopping center or other large parking area. Immeditely notify the police if you see "bullet hole damage" to your door, and be even more vigilant about things being in plain sight around your home; take immediate action to safeguard your home and valuables.

snopes.com: Hole Punch Car Robbery (http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/handle.asp)

[gmcneill]

Now I see where he got his info. Like I said, FWIW. Thanks for getting the rest of the story, Angie.

[NotGolfer]

I'm so sorry this is happening here in T.V.! Nothing has been said about electronically stealing credit card information.....this "could be" the possibility! I've seen this on the news shows on t.v. where there's a device folks can carry and steal credit card information w/o pick/pocketing. Just another idea of what could have happened!!

[Dayzee]

We have had 3 different credit card accounts compromised during the past 2 years. On every occasion the credit card company contacted us to confirm what looked like suspicious charges. The first time occured when scammers in California were running random card numbers until they hit on ones that worked. A very small (under $1.00) experimental charge went through first - once they knew it worked then the BIG purchase was made - in our case, thousands of dollars. Thankfully, our credit card company was on top of it.
We never did figure out the other two incidents - but we were lucky - we caught them early. It's sure a hassle when this happens - especially with all the automatic payments one has set up through credit cards. My husband was on the phone ALL DAY last time it happened. We've learned to be very attentive and check our accounts on a regular basis.

[Bogie Shooter]

All these cards being compromised and no one mentioned they called the police??

[Figmo Bohica]

There is a computer generated program that randomly selects numbers and expiration dates and submits them to one of the credit bureau companies. If they get a good hit, then who ever did it will attempt to charge other items to that card number. Was at a CC last week when my card was denied. When I called this is what they told me. Said that lots of it is going on now, so it most likely is not any of the businesses that you actually used the card at. It is best if you check your account on line and if you see any charges you don't recognize call your CC company and have a new card issued.

[billethkid]

card compromised?
call the 800 number on the card and have the card shut down immediately. They will do it and overnight you a new card, new number.

btk

[jimbo2012]

About 3 weeks ago I get an email confirming a $450 charge at Walmarts online order site.
Had it stopped before it was shipped killed card.

I like the conformation emails this card uses.

Figured from the location when driving home from Fl to NY last month stopped for gas, card wouldn't work at the pump had to go inside, they swiped it.

So that clerk must have been the culprit, I read the same thing at restaurants & stores happen.
The clerk or waiter gets the info easily, it's a risk that's covered by the bank so nothing out of pocket.

[asianthree]

Only use American Ex when I travel. If there is a problem one call and you are done. They do the:boxing2:

[missypie]

In restaurants I am mostly a cash girl. I never liked the feeling of someone taking my credit card away from me. Besides, the waiters/ waitresses like the cash better.

[batman911]

I have my Chase credit card set up to send me an email notification every time a charge of more than $1.00 hits their system. The email is almost instantaneous. My wife, who uses one of my account cards, hates it.

[jimbo2012]

yes works like a charm, keeps the spending down I think:coolsmiley:

[asianthree]

You use my GPS to find my home it will take you to MI. :1rotfl:

[Ragman]

Just to be safe I program my GPS 'home address' to the nearest recreation center. I figure I can make it home from there.

[Schaumburger]

For your GPS, it is a good idea to program your "home" address to be the nearest rec center or to a landmark or intersection a block or two from your home.

My current Tom Tom GPS has a password that has to be entered before it will actually operate. How easy is it to bypass the password -- don't know I've never tried to bypass it. I'm getting a new Tom Tom GPS this week; hopefully it has the same password feature, or I will have to program "home" to be the intersection one block from my house.

Home Shopping Network called me last week to verify that I wanted to have the GPS shipped to my office instead of to my home billing address because of credit card fraud. I had to answer all kinds of strange questions to verify that I was indeed the person who ordered the GPS. Since it has been a long time since I have ordered from HSN, they told me it is routine on electronics purchases for HSN to verify shipping address with customers when the shipping address is different from the billing address.

[ssmith]

If they are in your car they can check your registration for address or so the rumor goes up north.

[Schaumburger]

If they are in your car they can check your registration for address or so the rumor goes up north.

True -- in Illinois I believe drivers are required to keep their registration card in the car, and of course the registration card has your home address on it. And my glove compartment does not lock :(. Got to think about that one.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

True -- in Illinois I believe drivers are required to keep their registration card in the car, and of course the registration card has your home address on it. And my glove compartment does not lock :(. Got to think about that one.

Ohio's license registrations used to have address info on them as well. A couple of years back, they started printing a 2-section form - one section with all the info (for your files) and a second section (to keep in your car) that omits your address.

Bill :)

[Schaumburger]

Ohio's license registrations used to have address info on them as well. A couple of years back, they started printing a 2-section form - one section with all the info (for your files) and a second section (to keep in your car) that omits your address.

Bill :)

That is an excellent idea -- I will suggest that to my state legislator. In Illinois we spend most of our time putting former governors in jail. At least Illinois stopped putting Social Security numbers on driver's licenses about 10 yrs. ago.

[memason]

How did we make the jump from Credit Card Fraud ----> GPS Units ????
:D

[Bill-n-Brillo]

How did we make the jump from Credit Card Fraud ----> GPS Units ????
:D

I didn't do it!!! :throwtomatoes: "Don't tase me, bro!" :1rotfl:

Bill :wave:

[Figmo Bohica]

I know the voices in my head are not real; But they have some really good ideas.

[shcisamax]

Yesterday I found out my credit card had been compromised. Today, I met another person whose card had been compromised. We both frequent restaurants in the area. There are very few places where your card is out of your sight but restaurants is one of them.

[jmm2760jmm]

Almost makes me want to go back to the old days of carrying cash!

[mert1506]

My debit card also was compromised 2 weeks ago. It was being used outside of Baltimore
The bank has refunded the money. I use it at the restaurants, grocery stores, & country clubs. I also used it once at the mailbox ATM. I am hoping the bank lets me know how this happened.