HELP! Confidential Information Compromised

Started by Jarhead0331, February 27, 2012, 07:04:28 PM

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Arctic Blast

Ugh, that sucks JH. I had my Gmail account hacked a couple of months ago (or I briefly signed up to pimp Viagra to friends in my sleep. It's probably 50/50...). Such a colossal pain in the ass. And I had some weirdness with my bank account a few years back, but I changes my card and numbers immediately and cut it off before it got really bad.

Keunert

on a related note: if you use Firefox you can download the add on Collusion. it shows all of the cookies activity and is kind of depressing to watch.
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.
Oscar Wilde

Special K has too much class.
Windigo

bayonetbrant

I was at Home Depot the other night, and had placed an order for about $1900 in custom cabinets.  The card was declined, and about 5 minutes later, my phone rang.  It was the CC company's fraud detection department wondering if my card had been stolen b/c they saw a large and unusual purchase attempt on my acc't.


Jarhead - any update on the resolution on this?
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Shelldrake

At least USAA acted quickly and saved you from a pile of fraudulent charges. I wish all banks were prompt in acting.

Last year my corporate credit card was used to make over $6000 in fraudulent charges (all in Malaysian dollars and Euros) over a 1 month period before BMO put a hold on the card. Fortunately BMO reimbursed me because I am ultimately responsible for all charges on the card. In any case I cancelled the card and refused a new one because I had no confidence that this would not happen again. In fact a colleague has had the same thing happen several times with his corporate card. Clearly BMO just doesn't care!
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

bayonetbrant

#19
Quote from: Shelldrake on March 13, 2012, 07:53:46 AM
At least USAA acted quickly and saved you from a pile of fraudulent charges. I wish all banks were prompt in acting.

Actually, it was Capital One.  I thought they spent all their extra dollars on marketing/advertising and college bowl games, but apparently they have an on-top-of-it fraud department :)


late edit: just realized the USAA comment was probably directed at Jarhead.  Yes, I'm a dolt.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Gusington

Sorry I didn't see this until now. Same thing happened to me years ago and there was a total of 500.00 charged on my account, also to iTunes and similar stuff.

The fraud detection unit of my credit union was able to recover 480.00. How did the 16 year old girls get my info? At the gas station.

Turns out it was a village wide scam and the two teenage girls were arrested in a mini sting a few months later. Be careful at the gas station. The only reason these girls were caught is because I live in a small village and it happened to enough people at once for the police to actually do something.

LB is right above...it probably happened at some public sort of place. You can't trust anyone. I try to use cash at places I don't know well.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

LongBlade

The way I figure it - if it can happen, it will happen in NY. Simple as that.

I've seen these TV segments about how your personal info can be stolen by all sorts of ways. 2+2=4 here, at least to me.

Jarhead is probably frequenting places like coffee shops near the courthouse where folks are likely to be successful and therefor worth targeting to criminals. If it's going to happen anywhere it'll happen in NY.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Jack Nastyface

Welcome to the club.  The smoking lounge is located in the back.  Lads only, please.
I would humbly suggest that the two events were coincidental, and not consequential.  Every now and then, some carpet-bagging email huckster will either compromise or buy a list of thousands of hotmail email addresses (just the name, mind you, not the account) and use them to spam every mother-loving person with an email.  Less frequently, someone will temporarily compromise an email account and spam all your contacts.  Microsoft is actually pretty good about identifying this kind of activity, and they will automatically shut-down your hotmail account as soon as an out-going email threshold is passed.  Next time you login, there will be a "your account may have been compromised" message that will force you to re-verify and reset your password, etc.  It's a hassle, but basically harmless.

Credit card and debit card fraud are increasing problems everywhere.  My parents had their account compromised and they NEVER use their account in non-face-to-face transactions (web, phone, etc).  My debit card was skimmed by someone who placed a chip-reader into the POS machine at a Whole Foods Market - hardly the place I would put on my "suspect places" list.

Point is...if you have a credit card and you USE your credit card, there are any number of ways and places it can be compromised.  I change the PIN on my credit card and debit card every month (does some good at preventing hacking my debit card, but probably won't stop credit card fraud).  BTW...if you go on vacation somewhere, make sure you tell your credit card company about the upcoming trip.  Nothing like going to Florida, buying some luggage / golf clubs / etc on the credit card, then having it rejected at the restaurant that night because the bank noticed some uncharacteristic spending trends.

regards,

Jack Nastyface
Now, the problem is, how to divide five Afghans from three mules and have two Englishmen left over.

Jarhead0331

Thanks for all the feedback guys.  So far, knock on wood, there have been no further compromises.  I received my new USAA MCA card and all is well and good.  I changed my password and security question on my hotmail account and that seems to have stopped the spam.

I'm, of course, remaining vigilant. 
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Gusington

^Excellent. One more thing I forgot to add and this may sound wonky:

When you receive deliveries (USPS, UPS, FedEx) and are ready to recycle/throw away the packaging, remove the tracking and address stickers.

I have heard horror stories of how people have had their personal info compromised by leaving these stickers intact and put them out at the curb where anyone can come by, scan them and gain sensitive information.

On every package I get (and I get a lot from Amazon, for the kids, The Wife, etc) I remove every sticker with a serial bar code/scanner code, just in case. Most packages have 2-4.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

LongBlade

Quote from: Gusington on March 14, 2012, 09:20:29 AM
^Excellent. One more thing I forgot to add and this may sound wonky:

When you receive deliveries (USPS, UPS, FedEx) and are ready to recycle/throw away the packaging, remove the tracking and address stickers.

I have heard horror stories of how people have had their personal info compromised by leaving these stickers intact and put them out at the curb where anyone can come by, scan them and gain sensitive information.

On every package I get (and I get a lot from Amazon, for the kids, The Wife, etc) I remove every sticker with a serial bar code/scanner code, just in case. Most packages have 2-4.

Never heard of that, but it sounds like a good ideal. Thanks.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Gusington

I can't remember where I read that but I've been doing it for at least 7-8 years. If you think about it, it really does make sense as any goober with a scanner can come by and lift your info from in tact stickers. In theory. So why give them the opportunity if it is indeed possible, you know?


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

bayonetbrant

Quote from: Gusington on March 14, 2012, 09:43:27 AMI can't remember where I read that but I've been doing it for at least 7-8 years.

I think you're being overly paranoid Mr Gus Gusington of 7734 Pitchfork Lane, West Point, NY.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Gusington

Well like I said I don't remember where I read it. I'm only overly paranoid until my scratch gets compromised by some goober with a scanner! It makes sense to me...why leave it to chance? I was already compromised by the goober at the village gas station.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Windigo

Quote from: Epee1 on February 28, 2012, 07:43:05 PM
So are companies like Lifelock worthwhile, or a waste of time?

up here in Canada we have zilch liability for credit card fraud ...
My doctor wrote me a prescription for daily sex.

My wife insists that it says dyslexia but what does she know.