Victim of credit card fraud

Captain Slow IRL

I tried purchasing something online today, but was declined - I rang up my providers and they told me my account was frozen because of questionable activity. The guy at the help desk went through my recent transactions and 2 attempts had been made to purchase items without my knowledge.
Luckily, the first one had been in america which resulted in the card being suspended. The second attempt was with apple.com, but thankfully the card was still suspended!

I carry my card everywhere and only use trusted websites for ordering - what can I do for extra security? The majority of my purchases are made online - is there anything that could steal my information?

Thanks in advance.

bada_bing

same thing happened to me recently about 3 months ago and like you i was always careful to use trusted websites and checked that my pc was upto date with norton internet security and windows updates etc.. but it still happened nonetheless. Apparently it is possible to retrieve credit card info from the terminals that they use in shops.

There was a news story last year about how an impostor pretending to be an official from the credit card terminal machines company came in to do a service check on the machines in a shop and copied all the data from them.

eth0_

bada_bing wrote: »

There was a news story last year about how an impostor pretending to be an official from the credit card terminal machines company came in to do a service check on the machines in a shop and copied all the data from them.

That cannot possibly be true; credit card machines transmit your card info 'live', it is not stored on the machine that processes the transaction..

ted1

its very possible, they've (the bad guys) been installing machines in shops recently that copy all cards that have been put through them, at the end of the day the machine dials a number and transmits the data.

ScouseMouse

eth0_ wrote: »

That cannot possibly be true; credit card machines transmit your card info 'live', it is not stored on the machine that processes the transaction..

Sorry mr Eth0, but you are mistaken. I have a credit card terminal in my shop, and am writing this in my office with a heap of credit card numbers on laser and credit card slips on the desk in front of me !

dudara

eth0_ wrote: »

That cannot possibly be true; credit card machines transmit your card info 'live', it is not stored on the machine that processes the transaction..

Apparently it can be stored or skimmed somehow. I had my credit card suspended and replaced two years ago when a terminal that my card had been swiped on (while on hols in Copenhagen) was found to be suspicious. Thankfully there was no activity on my card, but the service provided obviously took it seriously enough to change my card.

JohnC.

There definitely was something last year about people pretending to be servicing or whatever. I don't think they were taking info from genuine terminals, but replacing or adding something to them that allowed them to skim.

ScouseMouse

All the shops were memo'd last year about dodgy engineers going around and fitting chipped machines that sent the credit card numbers back to them. They then used these numbers to commit fraud. Now, anyone who wants access to my machine has to wait while I ring the bank to confirm they are who they say they are.

One of my customers works in a bank and was in a well known eatery in town. The waiter swiped his card and then claimed the terminal was faulty so then swiped it through another terminal. Only my customer worked for the bank he would not have suspected. The waiter skimmed his card in front of him - but did it to the wrong person. He was caught red handed.

Last year I bought a digital camera from pixmania at about midnight. 10am next morning, AIB card services were on the phone to me about the transaction checking it really was me. Fair play to them. They do try to stop it.

Credit card fraud is so easy, you would not believe.

R.D. aka MR.D

also people should be more careful about the information they give over the phone. i frequently deal with people paying for things over the phone. people often tell me what kind of card it is and the security numbers at the back!!!!

i have to advise in a pleasent way that we don't require that information and they shouldn't give that out!

i also have access through work to their full name and addresses!

people really need to think about who they are giving numbers to.

eth0_

superscouse wrote: »

Sorry mr Eth0, but you are mistaken. I have a credit card terminal in my shop, and am writing this in my office with a heap of credit card numbers on laser and credit card slips on the desk in front of me !

It's miss, and I never said the store didn't keep a copy of the receipt, I said the machine doesn't store the credit card details.

Even on the card slips you have, they don't show the entire card number, do they!

MunsterCycling

The machine holds them until it is batched down to the banks system, had to do every Sunday for a place I worked in, the details of every transaction is stored and printed out following the batch down.

MC

Davy

bada_bing wrote: »

There was a news story last year about how an impostor pretending to be an official from the credit card terminal machines company came in to do a service check on the machines in a shop and copied all the data from them.

article link

In the attempted fraud case in the east of the country which emerged earlier this week, some 9,000 cards were skimmed.

In that case people posing as engineers working for banks went into major department stores and switched 47 card payment terminals with terminals fitted with skimming equipment.

However, the retailers quickly realised their technology had been tampered with. They alerted gardai and the scam was effectively foiled.

jenzz

eth0_ wrote: »

It's miss, and I never said the store didn't keep a copy of the receipt, I said the machine doesn't store the credit card details.

Even on the card slips you have, they don't show the entire card number, do they!

The slip copy the client gets has the stars blanking the entire number out but the store holds the slip original which has the entire number on it. Turn the card over & theres the security number. The slip has the full name of the card holder. & if for example its o2 or powercity they take your address for their system, So within a few minutes you have just given over all info ,to a sales person ,required to purchase online.

Another example is a transaction is declined because the phone lines cannot dial out the machine prints a receipt as normal but says not authorised. The sales person says oh ill try again its just the machine - what happens that receipt - they throw it in a bin 9 times out of 10. So theres your details sitting there in a bin.

Its really as simple as that to a fraudster.

Corruptedmorals

Yes, I think the customer copy is starred out for ease of disposal.

jor el

jenzz wrote: »

The sales person says oh ill try again its just the machine - what happens that receipt - they throw it in a bin 9 times out of 10. So theres your details sitting there in a bin.

If it failed, then the shop would be required to keep the receipt to prove it was a failed transaction. The customer would be given a copy too. It should never be thrown in the bin.

MOH

superscouse wrote: »

Last year I bought a digital camera from pixmania at about midnight. 10am next morning, AIB card services were on the phone to me about the transaction checking it really was me. Fair play to them. They do try to stop it.

Must admit I was very impressed with them. bought a game on Steam for about $2.50 late one Friday night, called about 11am the next morning to confirm it was me - they probably thought it was someone testing a stolen card.

ScouseMouse

eth0_ wrote: »

Even on the card slips you have, they don't show the entire card number, do they!

Yes they do, all 16 digits with the expiry date as well. When the customer hands me their card, IF I noted the 3 digit code on the back, then I would have everything I needed.

I did say IF, I did it.