Credit Card number stolen
 

My credit card information was stolen from the Circle K gas station pump on March 30. This is the Circle K at 466a on the Lowes/Publix side of the road.

I used the "tap" feature - where you hold the card next to the black box with the tiny green lights that light up when your card communicates with the pump. Previously I thought this method was safer than inserting the card into a slot.

Thank goodness I get an alert every time the credit card is used. April 1 at 6:48am the card was used to charge $170 at Country Inn and Suites. This is clearly a fraudulent charge. I called the card issuer and canceled the card.

So be careful out there the crookes seem to be smarter every day.

If that’s your first time you’re fortunate. It has happened to us several times. Good luck.

I seriously doubt they got your card information there.

Contactless cards: How safe are they? (EMV security)

I agree. According to several articles on contactless cards:

"Contactless cards don’t transmit your name, card number, or three-digit security code."

The crooks got mine at the exact same place, but I did use the slider function.

Make sure when they reissue a new card, they give you a new number.

How do you determine where the card information was stolen? Do the police or the credit card company say, "yes, you are right, it was stolen from the Circle K?"

There are any number of ways the information can be stolen including anyplace you have used the card since the last time it was issued. Just because the fraud occurred today doesn't mean it was stolen yesterday or this morning.

We had card numbers "stolen" for cards that never left our wallets, it turns out the bad guys use random number generators and submit to websites when they get a hit, then they start using the number for purchases.

Thanks for sharing this resource.

My new credit/debit card has no information apart from name showing at all. Just a plain card.
Contactless is near bullet proof. Very hard to copy or duplicate. (Not impossible though!)

I prefer tap to pay using my iphone wherever possible. But I have found that gas stations often have do not have tap to pay enabled and only accept swipe. So I swipe. But I have email alerts setup for all card transactions … so i always am notified immediately when there is a fraudulent transaction, which seems to happen about twice per year. But I have never lost money … its just a hassle to call the bank and fix things.

There is also restaurants that like to take your card from you at your table and then disappear for 10 minutes to process payment. I scratched the 3 digit code off the back of my card so its impossible for the restaurant employee to obtain my 3 digit code. Of course, i need to store the 3 digit code somewhere else, so i have it when needed.

I’m thinking may need to go back to using cash again - especially at gas stations.

They try to use the card quickly, they get 1 or 2 charges. So it’s usually the last 1 or 2 days of places you used it.

Not sure why they used it at a country in and suites

Mine was my backup card (Discover) when I had left my main one (MasterCard) at home on the table after buying from Amazon. It was the one and only time I used that card in more than 6 months, and the next day phantom charge started piling up until the card issuer fraud system kicked in and called me.

Never a doubt as to where the number was stolen.

Think that's bad?

Someone at Chase Bank created their own Debit Card on my bank account and then ran up $4,000 in small charges at Amazon (apparently the only place that accepts an UNACTIVATED debit card with NO PIN).

How do I know it was someone at Chase? I don't. But who else would bother to make one small charge, wait 90 days (until the Chase liability window closed), and then start hitting Amazon three times a day for a year? Who else would have access to the account, to know that it was a small business account used almost exclusively for doing business as an Amazon seller, where they knew the charges would go unnoticed for months?

Chase even admitted that they paid the charges on a card that had NEVER BEEN ACTIVATED. They still refused to repay the $4,000 in fraudulent charges that they should never have allowed in the first place.

I had 133 Amazon order numbers against my card but Amazon refused to reveal the name or address of the thief to anyone except law enforcement. So I called the Marion County Sheriff. I had a Lieutenant literally refuse to even call to get the name, claiming it was out of their jurisdiction. I said I at least needed a police report for my identity theft policy. So two cops stood in my livingroom and acted like I was putting them out to write a police report; like it was my fault that someone created a fake debit card to steal my hard-earned cash. When I complained about their attitude, the head cop just closed his book and they walked out without even finishing the report. Then the identity theft policy company (Zander) reneged, claiming they didn't cover business accounts (which they didn't disclose or discover for months, until all other excuses for not paying ran out).

We live in a completely lawless society. You are at risk at all times. Nobody cares. I could also tell you about the time I found two burglars in the livingroom of my rental, stealing my TV. I called the Sumter County sheriff, and they refused to get involved because the burglars were the same people I'd just bought the place from, who used a key they were supposed to have turned in at the closing, to attempt to steal a TV clearly listed in the inventory.

I'm telling you, this isn't the same country we grew up in. Literally no one cares about crime anymore but the victims. The only thing saving any of us is that the ratio of crooks to citizens is still relatively low (unless you count all of your neighbors who scammed a free roof out of their insurance company, and thereby doubled your rate last year).

Fact check: True

fact checking guy

So true. We NEVER use our bank card anywhere but our bank to get cash (we don’t even go to other banks) and they still lifted our card numbers…BOTH OF THEM. Pay attention, folks.

Agree. I always thought the tap method was safe. Thanks for sharing.

Wow! That’s scary. Did you use your cards at the ATM in the lobby?

Sadly I agree with poster #15 and am somewhat glad I am in the flipside of life.

Back in the early 2000's I got a bill from a Discover card I'd not used in two years. I don't recall if I'd closed it or not but the card was only used for business purposes and the business had been closed. I called the CC to tell them and their loss department said they'd look into it. I asked who/how the card had been compromised, but of course they never tell you. I cancelled that card and haven't used Discover since. Whether anyone believes this or not---I think our culture is setting us up for a cashless society where we'll all have to have a chip or some such thing to do our business transactions. You only have to read headlines about banks going under etc. The one OP was correct in saying the world isn't what it used to be...tyranny, lawlessness and all the other "garbage" we're observing.

We stopped using Credit Card at restaurants and the number of fraudulent card use has gone down considerably.

This is why I have a second card, with a very low credit balance, which I use just for gas stations and restaurants. Restaurants, because the card goes out of my sight, and gas stations for obvious reasons. I get a text the second it's used, so I can call the CC company the second it's used by anyone except me. Why the second card? All my online stuff is on the first card, and it's a real pain to have to change the number everywhere.

I don't get it
 

I just had a fraudulent charge on my card on the 30th and getting a new card sent to me this Monday. I receive notices when charges are made over a certain amount. What I don't understand is what the charge was for. GOAUTO MANAGEMENT SERVICE, who and how does anyone think they can get away charging car insurance? Items I understand, but car insurance.
Does anyone have a clue how this scam would work?

Every time you make an online credit card purchase, you are providing the merchant with all the information needed to make fraudulent purchases on your card, or to sell the information. That is why I have a reloadable VISA debit card to use occasionally when doing business with an unknown merchant. I also use it for a streaming service that will only accept autopay. It is a "MyVanilla" VISA card that I got at Walgreens.

Yea & I think it’ll get more corrupt unless something gets done about real quick, the longer it goes on it’ll only get worse & it’ll get to a point that it’ll get so bad nothing will be able to stop it! Just my opinion, look at our economy now.

I had a reloaded VISA debit card which the numbers were stolen as I never actually used the card. purpose was for the same reason, thieves buying a company and getting a credit card validation machine testing out numbers is not preventable.. . however, the amount stolen was small, and i ignored the vendor emails questioning the card because I never used it. . my fault

Low max balances are the key, thieves can't make many transactions, especially if you keep a balance. . My 500 max cc was good for many years until recent inflation made it too easy to exceed the limit. . . on vacation i went over and it dinged my credit rating. . . so I laugh at the credit ratings formulas when i have zero loan balances across the board zero on a larger credit card, . . . and go over a $500 limit by $500 and paid off the next month. Zero context just pure math of total - limit. I also make weekly auto transfers from the checking account to the credit card so that I don't usually have a minimum monthly amount to pay each month

not a good cc holder as the bank doesn't make any interest on my card.

future former finance guy

There is no fraud protection when using any Debit card.
You are basically giving the scammer a cash payment.
Always pay with a CC, for any online purchase.

Question. If it is a debit card, I thought that it is not possible to exceed the amount on the card because the transaction would just be rejected. Not like a credit card.

Note that I used to use a non-reloadable debit card, but many online merchants will no longer accept them.

I totally agree, but, for some small purchases, like a monthly streaming service, I am not concerned about fraud. Also, I never load more than about $150 on the card.

ALWAYS pay cash.....or go inside to use your cc. How many times have people been warned about this? Do not feel sorry for you.

I just had unauthorized charges on my card and was notified by my credit card company. I just checked (because of this post) and Circle K was the last place I used it.

Thanks for the post.

How do you know it was from that store? Did you notify the store? Did you notify police?

Do you know how a auto-teller usually shows an image of you holding your hand over your PIN number? Crooks can easily insert unseen cameras into outdoor machines. Sounds unreal but I've seen films of how they do it. Cover your card and your PIN (if used) when using a machine.

How do you use a credit card inside to buy gas? Do you need to pay for a certain amount of gas without knowing how much it will take to fill up? Just curious.

When using a credit card, you can tap, swipe, or insert. Which is the most secure method?

That has been the case the few times I have been forced to go inside.

- Leave the card at the register then go back in to pay (generally not an option)
- Guess low and don't fill the tank
- Guess high and trust the charge that goes through will only be what you used and not the higher amount

Any of the three involve walking into the station and waiting in line. The first requires walking and waiting twice. Cash options must be similar though I haven't paid cash for gas in probably 25 years.

I remember in the old days when they had a guy walking around the pumps to take your cash. He always had a huge wad of cash in his pocket.

Tap.

Swipe reads the numbers off the swipe and allows for the possibility of skimming.

Insert uses a supposedly one-time encrypted token but since the card moves past the swipe reading heads there is still the possibility of skimming

Tap uses a supposedly one-time encrypted token with no chance of skimming.

Of course, any time your card is out of your wallet there is the possibility of a camera catching the numbers. Apple Pay (tap using your phone) or a card without numbers would avoid this.

Not exactly; many banks do offer liability protection on debit cards now. For example:
At Citizens Bank, we understand that you want peace of mind when you bank and shop online. Our Debit Card comes with Zero Liability coverage — this means if your debit card number is fraudulently used to make a purchase, you won't be responsible for that transaction.

I use Capital One for most of my cc purchases. Online purchases are always paid using "ENO" from Capital One, which is a virtual card and, thus, you are not providing your actual cc info to the vendor. It is activated in your browser

Fred