credit card warning

[Dustytuu]

This happened to son about a week ago. He and a client went out to dinner. He paid with his business credit card. This week he found someone had used his credit card number to pay a speeding ticket, two car payments, car insurance, rent, payments on a credit card and some other purchases. This rat took over $2,000. He has been at his bank to get this mess straightened out. The bank said they would put the money back in his business account.
Can you believe this guy that stole his number used his own name when he paid the speeding ticket and some other things. Son is going to press charges and let the authorities handle it.
All of these charges were made without an actual card in hand. So this rat just used the number and the little 3 digit number on the back of the card.
Don't let your credit card leave your sight when paying for anything!

[richfaa]

The above is really good advise. There were several cases of that happening in Resturants back home. We have not let our credit card out of our sight for some time. These are hard times and they require extra precautions.

[bncinwv]

Same thing happened in an adjacent town, billings started showing up on several cards used at a restaurant. Billings were out of Mexico. While we don't have credit cards, we do use a debit card, new methodology is we get cash at ATM machine before going to any restaurant now and pay in cash. Better safe than sorry. Seems to be a problem for sure, thanks for the heads up for others who may want to watch closer.
Bingo

[Dustytuu]

Son knows now to never ever let his credit card out of his sight. The bank is putting the money back in his business account.
This punk that did this is in a lot of trouble. He is getting arrested if not already arrested.
The punk is 22 years old. Lives with his parents. Works at the restaurant where they ate. Has a "my space" account. He made two car payments, paid 2 cell phone bills,paid someone's water bill,purchased several other things too. Only used the numbers and the secure number on the back of card. He stole well over $2,000 out of the account.
This is nothing new. Have told people before to not let credit cards out of sight about 10 years ago. I don't think it is any worse now than ever. People will steal if they think they can get away with it.

[Waynem]

So you don't let it out of your site. Scenario. Credit card machine is in front of you. The card is scanned by the waiter/attendent/ or whatever. After he scans it he turns it over and, how easy is it to remember 3 digits. This will work if he uses the numbers on-line or by telephone.

I try to use the "in person," approach when using my credit card so that it is not out of site, but there are times in restaurants, as you described, that the card is taken back to the register for processing.

Using the card in the way that individual did is just .... Well let's put it this way. There are 3 types of crooks. Smart, average, and dumb. The smart ones have a lot of money and you seldom see them getting caught. The average ones get caught once in a while. What you see in the jails are the dumb ones.

Stolen credit cards can be used in stores, gas stations, etc., by anyone who has the card in their possession. Department stores have a limit on how much can be charged before identification verification needs to be acquired. The knowledgeable thief will know what that limit is, $150, $200, $300, etc. As an example, say that Wal-Mart has a $150 limit. The thief can go into Wally World as many times as he wishes and use the card below the $150 limit.

Most places will check to see if the card is signed. What I put in that space is, "SEE ID." That forces them to ask for an ID when the card is used.

More and more places are now automatically asking for ID, which may seem like a pain in the butt. It is just a protection for you. Just say thank you to the check out person for asking for ID.

Now, just to throw a wrench into the system, consider this. Card writers are cheap. Many cards, like the door opener cards in motels, can be used over by reprogramming. A thief has my credit card number, and sever others. He checks in to the motel, goes to his room, changes the code on the magnetic strip, goes to the department store or gas station, swipes the card (they are never looked at at the self check-out card readers), goes back to the motel and tells the clerk that they lost their card, get another door opener room card, spend the night getting a good nights sleep and move on to the next scenario.

Troubling, isn't it.

There is no absolute protection on credit card usage. All one can do is the best that they can to protect what they have. Awareness is the key factor to being safe. This post is nothing more than an awareness as to what is happening in the world. I gave a 45 minute security awareness presentation at NASA, Johnson Space Center on Identity Theft. The above is based on the research for that presentation - and there was a lot, lot more to it.

Oh! My title? Information Security Specialist.

Here is some good information from the Federal Trade Commission on Identity Theft.

You can also Google search: Identity Theft
For more good information.

[DarMar]

Apparently we have new Visa cards coming out as we speak that have an electronic chip embedded into the card. In order to use this card it has to be inserted into a card reader and the owner then has to enter his PIN # just like using your debit card. Hopefully this will deter the average and dumb types of crooks described above. Of course the smart crooks will have scanners of some type that will enable them to retrieve your PIN #.

[Bob & Lee]

Our new card has a photo, might help. I to put see ID in the signature line on the card, the other day I went to the UMB and wanted 50 1$ bills so I couldnt use the ATM the bank would not accept the card because it was not signed.. I had to go out and get the cash and come back in to have it changed to 50 1$ bills a pain but they have ther rules.

Bob

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

all good advice

if you want to use your credit card at the US postal service offices, it must be signed, none of that see ID stuff for them. Or, at least it was that way the last time I checked.

I have signed and put SEE ID in large letters on my cards.

I LOVE clerks that ask for the ID! they are doing their job, and I always commend them on such.

Eateries are a problem tho, and seem to be where I hear of troubles. One of my gal friends had same type of thing happen to her, as happened to Dusty's son. She is a researcher and tracked this guy down, the police said they had never seen anything like the information she gave them. He was eventually arrested.

[Dustytuu]

This was a business debit card he used. He also found this guy and gave the information to the police. They thanked him and said now they can now arrest him quickly.
This thief was very stupid to use his own name and address for some of the bills he paid. Easy to find him for sure!

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by Bob & Lee

Our new card has a photo, might help. I to put see ID in the signature line on the card, the other day I went to the UMB and wanted 50 1$ bills so I couldnt use the ATM the bank would not accept the card because it was not signed.. I had to go out and get the cash and come back in to have it changed to 50 1$ bills a pain but they have ther rules.

Bob

Our Mastercard not only has our picture but also our signatures right on the front of the card. This doesn't affect card readers, but does prohibit use in front of a live cashier (if she/he makes the attempt to look at the card.

Fortunately, now the Flying J in Thousand Palms, CA requires you to enter your zip code after accepting your card. This is a help in deterring misuse.

Orv

[MacDR50]

Card issuers factor losses due to fraud into the charges they apply to retailers etc. when you use your card. In the end therefore we all pay the cost. While newer technology allows for more security, it also provides a means to track your purchases more easily so you can be target marketed. I read an interesting article on Radio Frequency Identification Chips usage in credit cards (Pay Pass) and other identification documents. As these would uniquely identify the carrier they have some potentially onerous privacy/freedom issues associated with them. Yes they can and have been implanted in humans. One futurist even suggested that eventually everyone will have one in their palm that can be programed for everything from your driver's license, passport and purchase card to linkages to your medical records. Some consider this would be the mark of the "beast".

[Debbie Asher]

We had a call from our bank last weekend to verify some charges being done. Of course none of them were ours. Someone has been using our credit card in Texas, we're in California never been to Texas. They charged about $349.00 at three gas stations and $249.00 of electronics. So we cancelled our account and hopefully every thing will be straighten out shortly. One thing I did find out, this happened to me about 27 years ago before I even had passion of a credit card, someone stole it from my mail box. But when the bank wrote it off as a bad debt, it kept showing up on my credit report. I'm going to be watching this one to make sure it doesn't show up that way.

[KathyandDave]

Two comments:
Canadian Tire, a big chain here, has line below the signature line for your phone number, but I don't fill it in because I resent telemarketing and these companies rampantly sell their customer lists, which are regarded as saleable assets. I think I like the idea of filling in the zip or postal code, although maybe that could lead to bad guys showing up on your street (postal codes are much more specific than zip codes, though).

All the rocket science and pictures won't prevent a bad guy from reading the security code and buying on the internet, though. Having the signature on the front does help, I suppose.

THanks for the reminder to get off my well-padded butt and walk my card to the cashier!

[cdaniels]

If you have not read in another thread we just had someone use my hubbys soc. # and apply for a credit card, on line, got a credit limit of $18,000.00... maxed it out before we knew it. (Chrysler lost a box of infro with employees social's) So by the time we got notified and checked we where already $18,000.00 hit. We filed charges and no one will make an arrest. Our Maryland State Police pushed it to the County Police (Kent) where we live, and the Kent Co Police push it to Cecil County where the thief lives, and it goes back and forth no one will make an arrest. They say it is the other counties responsibility. So.... as far as we know the thief is scott free! Frustrating! We called Chase bank and wanted to know how they can send a credit card without verification to another address and they informed us that there are no laws concerning internet applications. We closed that fake account and guess what. Last weekend we got a credit card from Chase with the same account number and a new limit this time $12,000.00. I thought my husband would blow a gasket. We called again, may I say, not very nice and they told us it was an over sight. We are calling on a weekly basis to make sure it stays closed. You wonder why the banks are going bankrupt and criminals never learn. If you don't have to pay the price for crimes why would you ever change???

[Bill-N-Donna]

Not a very smart thing for anyone to try and do. We’ve been very trusting in the past with allowing employees to take the debit card at restaurants. I can’t help but think about how easily something like this can happen. We haven’t had any problems to speak of at this time except… We did have a couple of charges show up on a debit card once where someone made a phone call from a Middle Eastern country to New York. This wasn’t a cheap call either. I didn’t even catch it until I seen where one of the calls had been credited back to my account. I had to get a police report and an affidavit sworn out just to have them remove the other one. I have no idea how that could have happened. I got the run around as to where to file the police report since I lived in one state and my account was through an establishment in another state. I finally got it taken care of.

It certainly isn’t a pleasant experience when it does happen. It pretty much ruins your day! I have in the past and on occasion just simply made a request for a new card changing it and having new ones issued. When asked why I told them it had been used a lot and thought it was time to change it. Thanks for the heads up!

[cdaniels]

Gee ... never thought about paying your bill to the waitress. Thanks a lot. Since we have had issues we are so careful. We don't use credit cards out but do use our debit, we will be walking it up to the cashier in the future.

[rving2us]

I try to watch everyone dealing with by credit/debit card. I just love it the banking system has sold us on using this plastic money and now the gangsters are starting to pick us off like sitting ducks. I slso like the deal if pay cash like at a fuel stop it is cheaper than using your card, a few years ago when traveling out west you could hardly not find anyone that would take money they nearly demanded the use of a card. Makes me just want to scream, maybe it is about time someone does something. Jon

[PartyCrashers]

Any advice on what to do when you do pay at a restaurant, and they need to take your card from the table to make the transaction? (Besdies using cash, LOL!)

This is the only time we let our card get out of site, and we only do this because we don't know of another way to complete the transaction when paying for by card.

Too bad they couldn't have a little table computer that the hostess can bring.

Just the other day I paid for a dinner at the pick up only window.....the hostess was bent out of shape because I did not wait at my table....I ended up spending more time dealing with this then if I had just waited for my waitress.

About on the back of the card "CHECK ID"....Oh My! Kevin has written this on everyone of his cards for the last four years and today he has to still draw the attention to the cashier to ask. Hmmm.

[old turbo]

Wife and I went back to the old way, remember when you would pay by cash? I can finally take all of that plastic out of my wallet and stuff it with gee, money, green backs. Legal tender. We did this because of a little blip on the tube on how the bad guys can rig up a lap top and drive in close to stores and pick up all credit card transactions and get your card number. Stores, restraunts and and fuel stops all places that take credit cards are suppose to have this high tech anti theft system to take care of this problem but most do not bother to have it installed or change old theft systems to new ones.

[sgtpp214]

I check our credit card accounts on line on a daily basis to confirm charges and to watch for any charges I or the DW didn't make. Takes only a few minutes for peace of mind.