Author Topic: Dirty thieves! (Read 1803 times)

Marnoot · « **on:** July 15, 2006, 02:12:03 PM »

Well, I noted yesterday that my checking account was quite a bit closer to $0.00 than it should be a day after payday. I looked at the transactions and low and behold, two decent sized purchases made at two different pizzerias while I was at work on Tuesday, and miles from where I was at the time. I don't know how they got ahold of my credit card number, the bank said the transactions had been keyed-in manually, rather than with a card swipe. I can only assume that's why they used the stolen info to buy pizzas instead of something a bit better, as they could call in the credit card number. I always shred my receipts, so I'm guessing some lowlife got the number off of it in a fast-food drive-through or a restaurant.
I'm not happy at all, I now have no debit/credit card until they send me a new one. I can't even so much as use the ATM, since they cancelled my PIN as well. I have to submit a charge dispute form for each transaction I didn't make. Two fradulent ones had cleared as of yesterday when I got the card cancelled. Who knows how many more haven't cleared yet. I have several recurring transactions/bills on the old credit card number I'll have to get changed. I was expecting a credit to that card on an overcharge from an EOTech 512 I just bought, so now I have to contact the seller and get that figured out. And most aggravating is that I had a backordered order of 1000 rounds of .223 on that card. They don't charge until it actually ships, and the ammo price went up almost $50 since I ordered it, so if I have to cancel my order to change CC#'s I'll have to pony up an extra $50 to get the ammo. Hopefully the seller will be reasonable about that.
Anyone else here had to deal with this? I'm glad it happened around a payday at least, I tend to not even look at my account unless it's around pay day. Other than shredding receipts with the number on them, and making sure online transactions are secure, what other measures do you take to prevent theft of your credit card info? There doesn't seem to be much you can do in restaurants and fast-food drivethroughs to keep someone from doing a quick crayon rubbing of your card.

280plus · « **Reply #1 on:** July 15, 2006, 02:22:27 PM »

Well, the only thing I can offer is that I use only one card for everything. That way if someone DOES steal the number or my info I only have one to worry about. I DON'T use those automatic payment things more for the fact that they could accidentally make me go over my limit if I'm not paying attention but what you've told me here gives me yet another reaon to not do that. I don't like them attaching my bank / checking account either for the same reason. I might be low one week and the automatic withdrawal could overdraw me. Then the real fun starts when my other checks start bouncing. shocked

grislyatoms · « **Reply #2 on:** July 15, 2006, 02:54:49 PM »

Had my check book stolen out of my car a few years back. Dirtbag went to my bank branch and cashed $700 worth of checks! She used her real ID and real name!

Duh!

Took quite awhile to get it straightened out with the bank. Every time I would inquire, they would say "We're investigating". They did refund my money within a couple of weeks but they reported that I owed them $700 to the credit bureaus. When they refused to remove this from my credit, I chose another bank.

At the new bank, I set up my accounts and made deposits etc. etc.. About a week later I went to use my ATM card and was told "It has been declined." WTF? I've got over $2000 in that account! Seems new bank got a notice from old bank saying I owed them $700, so they froze my accounts.

Blood pressure was at an all time high.

I went to old bank and got them to write me a notarized statement on a bank letterhead stating that the whole fiasco was not my doing, then took it to new bank. New bank said "Ok, your account should be released within 24 hours."

No ma'am, you'll release it now! Talked to new bank manager, she said "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do." Talked to regional manager, he said "I'm sorry there's nothing I can do."

24 hours later they released my money, I promptly withdrew it, gave them a piece of my mind and opened an account at the credit union. (I had the BBB lean on the original bank, and they removed their notice on my credit report within 5 days. Good folks, the BBB.)

Dirtbag went and bought some stuff at convenience stores with my checks as well. They are still on my credit report and no amount of pleading, whining, screaming, or mountains of documentation have allowed me to get them removed.

Lesson learned: Keep your check book and other financial instruments under lock and key and know where they are at all times. I also check my balance every single flippin' day.

As far as I know, cops never went after dirtbag. I filed a police report with affidavits of forgery and still haven't heard anything.

Good luck fighting the red tape.

Guest · « **Reply #3 on:** July 15, 2006, 04:01:14 PM »

Quote

I don't know how they got ahold of my credit card number, the bank said the transactions had been keyed-in manually, rather than with a card swipe. I can only assume that's why they used the stolen info to buy pizzas instead of something a bit better

Those pizzas had to be delivered and signed for.

Marnoot · « **Reply #4 on:** July 15, 2006, 06:15:07 PM »

Quote from: "c_yeager"

Those pizzas had to be delivered and signed for.

That's what I figure, but from hearing other people's experiences, like grislyatoms', I've learned that it's usually impossible to get the police to do anything about crimes like this. Both purchases were in the same county, but about 20 miles apart, so at least one probably wasn't a delivery. But yeah, I'd be willing to bet there's a trail there to follow if the police actually cared.

Quote from: "280plus"

I DON'T use those automatic payment things more for the fact that they could accidentally make me go over my limit if I'm not paying attention but what you've told me here gives me yet another reaon to not do that.

Thankfully, I'll only have two of these to get changed. Yeah it's not my favorite payment method, but in both of the cases I'm paying that way I get a slight discount for using it. Maybe not worth it.

I don't think I'll have much trouble with getting the credit for the EOTech I got, the guy at JTacsupply.com's been helpful. We'll see how Sportmans Guide is with the pending ammo order on Monday I guess. Well things could certainly be much, much worse, a few charges on my card is a lot easier to deal with than full-on identity theft.

Sylvilagus Aquaticus · « **Reply #5 on:** July 15, 2006, 06:31:27 PM »

In March I discovered that a sizeable amount of money was missing from my checking account. There were a half dozen debits showing up online, all from my debit card. SWMBO caled the card sompany and their first sugestion was that if I was planning on travelling out of the country that I should consider using travelers checks or a different card.

Seems I'd made some purchases in Bahrain. Trouble was, I was in Texas at the time. Bought soe jewelry and a cellphone. SWMBO "be 'splain" this to the card company, who immediately changed their tune and asked for me to call them immediately. When we spoke, they told me that there had been several attempts to obtain cash advances and purchases in Manama, Bahrain over a 4 day period, some of which were approved, some declined. I contacted my bank, closed my account and reopened it under a new account number. Within 24 hours all the money missing was credited back to my new account. Filled out some fraud papers at the bank and for the card issuer and it was all taken care of.

In investigating, I recalled that in February I made a debit card/ PIN purchase at Office Max- bought some printer paper. Office Max got hacked. Office Max was recording and storing PIN numbers. Office Max has steadfastly denied this ocurred, but it has been widely reported. Office Max will never get any more of my business.

Google 'Office Max' and 'debit card'

Nevermind- did it for you.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Office+Max+debit+card

Regards,
Rabbit.

crt360 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 15, 2006, 07:49:47 PM »

Several years ago someone started putting unauthorized charges on one of our firm's credit cards. They were for really odd things - like $1000+ of flowers, hundreds of dollars of Dell support service. We were getting calls from places like flowers-r-us, flowers.com, etc. about our orders. I immediately contacted the bank and had the account cancelled. It took a long time to straighten everything out, but we caught it pretty quick, thanks to the flower merchants, and ended up having our account credited for the transactions. I suspect that the account info was pilfered from either the credit card company itself, or maybe Dell. It was used by us for very limited purchases of business equipment and supplies and only two of us were authorized to use it.

I'm all for upping the punishment on credit card/ID theft type crimes.

. . . maybe something involving a cattle prod.

AmbulanceDriver · « **Reply #7 on:** July 15, 2006, 10:58:11 PM »

Quote from: crt360

I'm all for upping the punishment on credit card/ID theft type crimes.

. . . maybe something involving a cattle prod.

Personally, I'd prefer to see it involve a cattle branding iron. Red hot, of course. Right across the forehead. "I AM A THIEF"

Guest · « **Reply #8 on:** July 16, 2006, 06:16:41 AM »

Quote from: Marnoot

Well, I noted yesterday that my checking account was quite a bit closer to $0.00 than it should be a day after payday. I looked at the transactions and low and behold, two decent sized purchases made at two different pizzerias while I was at work on Tuesday, and miles from where I was at the time. I don't know how they got ahold of my credit card number, ....

Clue me in on how credit card purchases are immediately taken out of your checking account.

Marnoot · « **Reply #9 on:** July 16, 2006, 06:24:17 AM »

Quote

Clue me in on how credit card purchases are immediately taken out of your checking account.

The card in question is technically a debit/checking card with a Visa symbol. If can be used as a credit card, and when used as such the purchases aren't taken out immediately. These transactions were made on Tuesday and cleared on Friday, which is when I saw them. When used as a debit card, the money is taken from my checking account immediately.

Guest · « **Reply #10 on:** July 16, 2006, 08:56:58 AM »

Quote from: Marnoot

Quote

Clue me in on how credit card purchases are immediately taken out of your checking account.

The card in question is technically a debit/checking card with a Visa symbol. If can be used as a credit card, and when used as such the purchases aren't taken out immediately. These transactions were made on Tuesday and cleared on Friday, which is when I saw them. When used as a debit card, the money is taken from my checking account immediately.

Ah, I see.

Quote

Other than shredding receipts with the number on them, and making sure online transactions are secure, what other measures do you take to prevent theft of your credit card info? There doesn't seem to be much you can do in restaurants and fast-food drivethroughs to keep someone from doing a quick crayon rubbing of your card.

For your consideration: I use credit cards sparingly. I carry only one; my wife carries one like mine...and one different one. I only use mine for groceries and gasoline. She uses hers for hotels, occasional large purchases and fine dining. We carry cash for all other purchases.

It boggles my mind that someone can waltz into (or call) a pizza joint, rattle off some numbers and stroll out with a pizza. What happened to signing and signature comparison? I didn't stop using cards for this reason; I stopped because they started asking me for picture ID, making the transaction insulting, less convenient and slower. I never worried that someone knew my number.

This new method of selling with only the numbers and no signature scares me even more. Of what use is a card which can be used by anyone that learns the numbers?

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #11 on:** July 16, 2006, 11:28:22 AM »

Several years ago some bizarre charges showed up on a Mastercard bill. They were for some online gambling sites.

At first I thought that my card number had been obtained when I was making an online transaction. Turns out that an employee of the bank that issued the card (Chase, or one of the other big ones) was jotting down card numbers and expiration dates as she processed new applications.

Pretty stupid, as the FBI found her quickly.

And the bank credited my account for all of the fraudulent charges.

These days I don't let my card out of my sight.

Marnoot · « **Reply #12 on:** July 16, 2006, 01:37:41 PM »

Quote

What happened to signing and signature comparison?

Few people check signatures these days, unfortunately. You all might find this an amusing read, where this guy tries to find out how far he can go with zany "signatures" on credit card receipts before a clerk calls him on it. If you haven't read it before take a few minutes and do so, it's a good read.

wmenorr67 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 17, 2006, 03:08:31 AM »

What is bothering me is that most places anymore don't require a signature if the charges are less than $25.

Third_Rail · « **Reply #14 on:** July 17, 2006, 06:28:14 AM »

wmenorr67 - that's one of my main gripes too.

Telperion · « **Reply #15 on:** July 17, 2006, 06:59:59 AM »

Quote from: mercedesrules

I didn't stop using cards for this reason; I stopped because they started asking me for picture ID, making the transaction insulting, less convenient and slower.

Security and convenience are often times opposing concepts.

BTW, you can talk to your bank and they can issue you a card that is only an ATM card. Several people I know have done this.

charby · « **Reply #16 on:** July 17, 2006, 07:34:21 AM »

Quote from: Marnoot

Quote

What happened to signing and signature comparison?

Few people check signatures these days, unfortunately. You all might find this an amusing read, where this guy tries to find out how far he can go with zany "signatures" on credit card receipts before a clerk calls him on it. If you haven't read it before take a few minutes and do so, it's a good read.

When I have to sign a screen I usually just put a smiley face, no one has called me on it yet.

-C

client32 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 17, 2006, 08:25:29 AM »

We had a "phantom" charge on our bank account through the debit/credit card once. The bank was really good about it. We just told them that we didn't know what that was for, and that we didn't ever use that card for online transactions. The bank cancelled the card right then and got a new one on order. Called the place that the charge had been made (California, I've never even been there) and got the amount creditted back. The bank also said they would flag any transaction that was made out of the area.

I was extremely impressed with how they handled it. That bank is now gone, sold to another bank. I haven't had any problems with the new bank, but I doubt I would get that good of response.

Guest · « **Reply #18 on:** July 18, 2006, 09:27:18 AM »

Quote from: Telperion

Quote from: mercedesrules

I didn't stop using cards for this reason; I stopped because they started asking me for picture ID, making the transaction insulting, less convenient and slower.

Security and convenience are often times opposing concepts.

BTW, you can talk to your bank and they can issue you a card that is only an ATM card. Several people I know have done this.

They insult by claiming that they are asking for ID "to protect you" but if you are holding your friggin' card in your hand it is obvious that they don't believe you are the card-holder and they are doing it to protect some interest of theirs - but their money is never at risk! They are just hassling you for no good reason and lying to boot. One manager said to me, in front of other shoppers, "It's people like you that make it easy for criminals." (when I wouldn't show ID).

Also, I got the card for clout and convenience, period. If it is not powerful and convenient, I don't want it no matter how secure it is.

I always go into the bank; I don't use an ATM card.

News:

Author Topic: Dirty thieves! (Read 1803 times)

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