Posted by SueW/Tn on 3/30/12 12:40pm
Msg #416617

Visa/Mastercard alert

Not really sure where to put this so I'm throwing it up here. March 15 I became a "victim" of the Visa/Mastercard global "break in" of account numbers. My credit union called and asked me if I had made a recent purchase of $1700 and change to a company in Spain. After I picked myself up off the floor the fraud rep told me that they were calling customers who have had this type of activity. He said a tiny charge ($1 or less) first appears and then a big one. After alot of questions and answers he told me not to worry about it now that they knew this was unauthorized, they would block my account and cancel my debit card.

I check my account online twice a day, first thing in the a.m. and the last thing at night and had not seen anything like this but after getting off the phone I checked and sure enough a charge posted at 9 a.m. but showed it was NOT honored. Here's the rub, two days later the money was deducted from my account! Since there wasn't enough in checking to cover the account AND since there was enough in my savings AND since I had overdraft protection....you guessed it, the balance was deducted from my savings!!! I nearly had a heart attack, went straight to the credit union and was told they were now out of the loop, it was between me and the fraud division. OMG!

Called fraud, told me it wasn't considered fraud until the funds were actually transferred to the merchant and I would get my money back in 10 working days. Meantime I've got checks bouncing, getting ISF notices and charges from the credit union and all in all I was fit to be tied. I stayed on top of it and thankfully the credit union agreed to refund me all the monies within a few days but I learned alot of lessons the hard way. I will never again have overdraft protection...that is what enabled this entire thing on my end. The fraud expert told me this happens one of three ways, either the thief hacks into a company's account and steals and then sells blocks of numbers that are recreated on debit cards and then used as charges. Sometimes crooks put readers on scanners (gas stations are their favorite hits) and they get your info that way. Crooks have random generators that pick numbers out of the air and that's the reason for the initial small charge, if that goes through they know that number is active. He told me if I purchased gas to go inside and have them slide the card, to be careful of online purchases and to cancel overdraft protection immediately.

I hope this will help everyone else, I got all my money back and the credit union is issuing letters to the vendors where my checks went back. One was my house and car insurance which automatically triggered a rate increase! Be vigiliant especially now that this has come out in the news! Consumers have to be proactive in this day and age, for me this was almost more than I could handle but it was small potatoes compared to what could have happened.

Reply by ikando on 3/30/12 12:46pm
Msg #416619

Just out of curiosity, about how long did all this transpire? Was it days, weeks, months?

Reply by SueW/Tn on 3/30/12 12:58pm
Msg #416624

Fraud division called me on March 15, the day of the transaction. It took me until March 20 to get my money back etc. Initially fraud told me it would take 10 business days but that no later than the 30th of the month. I had to fill out an aff for them in order to "prosecute" but they told me they SELDOM catch the guys. Aff also states that I did not know the person, it was done without my consent etc. and credit union notary witnessed my sig. He told me if this happened to him and he had to wait 10 working days he'd go crazy so I'm thinking maybe he had a hand in speeding this up. Fraud guy told me crooks sometimes sit on these numbers for 6 months before they begin moving them.

I was worried that maybe they got my information from because I do all my banking online but fraud told me this wasn't the case this time. Here's a link to the article that appeared this a.m.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/30/visa-mastercard-warn-massive-security-breach-report-says/

Reply by ikando on 3/30/12 2:59pm
Msg #416635

That was fast. Both my husband and I have had our accounts compromised and it took about 3 weeks for each of us to get things squared away. We now religiously watch for odd amounts in our accounts.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 3/30/12 12:49pm
Msg #416621

This was the right place .... especially since we were discussing electronic online journals below. Everything on a computer is subject to hacking.

Everyone might check with their credit card issuer to see if their account can be set up to send a text to your cell phone the minute a charge hits your card. That way, you can react immediately.

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 3/30/12 2:43pm
Msg #416633

I'm in CA & the fraud unit of my bank contacted me

A purchase was made at an electronics store in the UK totalling $700.00, plus an international charge of $60.00.
I was given instructions on submitting a claim.
The entire $$$ amount on the transaction was back in my account within 5 days.

Bank Debit Card with MasterCard use available.

***The messed up thing is I got my money back, but the crooks were never caught.

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 3/30/12 2:45pm
Msg #416634

It was an unusual transaction for me to have made... n/m

Reply by Linda Juenger on 3/30/12 3:01pm
Msg #416636

Re: It was an unusual transaction for me to have made...

This is not unusual. My Visa has been compromised twice in the last year. They start out with a small amt. Mine was $5 at a taco bell in CA. Then it went bigger and bigger. I caught it the 2nd day online and immediately got it stopped. I was reimbursed by my bank the total amt. My daughter uses a credit union and she too has been compromised twice in the last year. Eventually its gonna happen to everyone somewhere along the line. I watch my acct online everyday now. Anything at all suspicious, I call my bank.

Reply by LKT/CA on 3/30/12 3:42pm
Msg #416644

Chase has text alerts

I signed up for Chase Mobile. The text alerts are for atm and teller services: withdrawals, deposits, purchases, point of sales, low balance alert - the customer sets the dollar amounts for each. I check my balance by text....there's a few other features but I haven't utilized them yet. I'm sure the other major banks have the same service (or something similar). Hope others chime in.

Reply by Karla/OR on 3/30/12 3:11pm
Msg #416639

Sue, thank you so much for posting this information!! A real eye-opener to say the least.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 3/30/12 4:35pm
Msg #416651

This is one reason why I never use debit cards. (There are several others.) With a debit card, it's easier for merchants to get their hands in your pocket and you have less control over your funds than with a credit card - and less protection. (With credit cards, though, it's a good idea to be sure you pay off the balance in full every month... ) I think with most of my credit cards, I have a maximum liability of $50 - and if there's an incident, it doesn't affect my checking account balance in any way.

Personally, I'd keep the overdraft protection and get rid of the debit card.

Reply by Carolyn Breckenridge on 3/30/12 4:53pm
Msg #416653

This happened to me several months ago. I had gone out of town for a couple of days and the bank fraud investigator thought that perhaps it was a gas pump skimmer.

Gas station attendants are supposed to periodially check the pumps for skimmers. I never go to a pump that can not be seen from the inside and it has to be lit up. I even have covered the key pad so that my pin can't be recorded. I also keep a eye on my account, but honestly I do and the bank called immediately when the charges hit. They knew what my spending habits are. At least that is what he said and I was thankful.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 3/30/12 6:20pm
Msg #416663

"I think with most of my credit cards, I have a maximum liability of $50"

Although Federal law limits your liability to $50, both MasterCard and Visa waive that for both their branded credit and debit cards as long as you report the problem within the window the law allows (I think it's 30 days). Debit cards take a bit longer to recover from fraud, because they're basically the same as using cash, and the banks are not gonna give you your cash back until they have a chance to investigate...

Reply by MikeC/TX on 3/30/12 6:09pm
Msg #416660

One of the dangers of using a debit card...

... and also one of the reasons some people refuse to use them. With a debit card, the money is deducted from your account immediately. Worse yet, if you've got savings linked with checking, the bad guys can drain both accounts before you know it's happened.

Crooks DO NOT have "random number generators that pick numbers out of the air". I used to work as a retail systems programmer; I know the math required to validate a credit card number, and I also know what other information is required for the transaction to be accepted by the bank. These guys are not pulling numbers at random and suddenly stumbling on yours- if they've got your card number, it came from a list of stolen card numbers that includes just about everything they need to pretend they are you with merchants who don't have the proper security in place. That initial $1 charge is a "ping" to make sure the card is still valid - once the bad guys know it's still good, they'll go for bigger bucks.

Your best bet to protect yourself is to sign up for whatever email notices your card account will provide. For instance, all of my card providers will send an email alert immediately whenever there's a "card not present" transaction (something ordered over the phone or Internet). I have even had American Express decline a legitimate transaction and call me seconds later (a human, not a recording) to check whether it was me attempting to make the transaction. Annoying, but I'd rather they err on the side of caution...

BTW, when I get those types of calls, I never provide any information to confirm my identity - they're calling me, so everything they need to know should be sitting on the screen in front of them. If they ask me to provide ANYTHING, my standard reply is "you called me, so tell me what you have and I'll tell you if it's right."

Sorry you had to go through all that nonsense with your accounts... If your bank or credit union don't offer these instant alerts, maybe you should consider making a change..

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 3/30/12 7:48pm
Msg #416673

Re: One of the dangers of using a debit card...

I work in the Wealth Management unit of Union Bank; I resorted to getting a Visa card, because yes, my account was connected to my savings.
All is well.
The fraud unit at Union Bank is very structured and they catch fraudulent activity often.
Thank you for your post.

Stephanie