VISA Card compromised

[Hans Tucker]

Has anyone else had their VISA card compromised after purchasing Astro stuff from Europe based retailers? I had my last card cancelled and an investigation started after I noticed unauthorised transactions on my statement. I have since been issued a new card and yet again I notice an unauthorised debit from the same company based in France. I only recently used the card to purchase a filter wheel from True Technologies in the UK but because they don't have online ordering I supplied the card details over a few e-mails from two different computers.

[marki]

Hans I had a similar problem last year and will now only use sites that offer paypal as an option to buy from them. Luckily the bank was straight on it and had locked my master card before I even knew it had happened. Luckily it was only $60 but the potential for some turd to run riot with your credit card is pretty high if you go giving the number out. Unlike yours mine was breached by someone in california.

Cheers

Mark

[Hans Tucker]

I had reservations purchasing outside PayPal but I thought if the details were spread across a few e-mails from two different computers that it would offer some security...clearly I was wrong. The amount debited is not huge which is odd.

[h0ughy]

the answer is yes - my mastercard and it was an online business with a supposed secure connection but i fear the website was compromised.

[mozzie]

hi mark and hans

this is just a warning!!!! i use paypal for all transactions and around 3 weeks ago we (me and elise)received an e-mail from paypal to update our details as we've been compromised and we were so close to filling in the e-mail.elise went to paypal site au and found a 1800 number she rang them and said it was a scam.we didn't fill in any forms but we forwarded the e-mail to there "spoof" section they replied a few days later and were very helpful in what was happening and we were lucky not to reply to there e-mail,they were tracking the peoples down and didn't reveal any more.we stopped paypal for a few days just in case.......

the e-mail that came was so perfect it looked just like paypal and thank goodness elise had the wits to stop(i wasn't going to it looked legit )
just a warning to fellow iis'ers..

[marki]

Hans I believe they are removing small amounts as they think most folks wont bother chasing them down. As for sending your numbers by email, blow that, even if it is in parts as there is zero security. If the company will not do paypal and you absolutely must have that bit (no other source) you are better off doing a direct wire transfer via your bank even if it is more expensive. I not only have problems with email security but also the folks who recieve it at the other end and this is through a few hard learned lessons.

Mark

[Hans Tucker]

Yep..probably not the smartest thing I have done.

Thanks Peter for the reminder on the PayPal issue...I had read about the scam affecting PayPal but had forgotten about it.

[Tandum]

My last visa card was only listed on paypal. I never even used in stores here. Some one got the details somewhere, not pointing any fingers, and spent over $10K at the apple store in sydney. I got a full refund including the interest charges but I imagine the apple store has taken the hit. I deleted that card from paypal and did not list this new one however, paypal would not allow a recent purchase to proceed without entering credit card details. Waddayado?

[marki]

Peter, paypal never send emails for you to update your account. If your account has been comprimised you may get a restricted access email but if that happens always go to the paypal site and logon to your account and you will soon see whats what. Never answer emails about this. I get them all the time and have set outlook to automatically put them in the trash.

Mark

[higginsdj]

My MC was compromised over Xmas - but the card hadn't been used in 2 months prior to that. It was not listed on Paypal or Apple but it was listed at Amazon....

[marki]

Yeah a couple of years back one of my work mates had his paypal account comprimised. But they knew well before he did and by the time he found out they had started the refund process and put the cops onto the thief. Get this, some stupid Finnish kid had used the account to buy 10 iphones then had them posted to his home address LOL. Dave got all his money back and there was no problems which is why I will only use paypal. When things go pear shaped you get your money back and you have two avenues, paypal and your bank.

Mark

[Tandum]

They didn't buy from my paypal account, but they had my visa details and paypal was the only place that had them. That card was only a couple of months old, the one before that got cloned as well :rolleyes:

[Ephemeral]

Always monitor your bank/card transactions on a daily basis.

I 've had my mastercard compromised twice in the last six months, once from an Apple Store purchase is Syd the other an online gaming house in the UK, on both occassions the bank reversed the transaction and new cards have been reissued.

However these are the first times in over 20 years of doing online tranactions using a credit card that I have had problems.

[mozzie]

hi mark
i know that know but didn't then we were lucky!!!! bloody scammers....

[kustard]

We had our St George Visa card compromised a few years back after an overseas US purchase. The company sent me an email saying their system had been hacked and to alert my bank. I did so and the same day we got hit with a small $20-$30 purchase from some weird company I'd never heard of before. I rang St George and they told me they had already canceled the card and was in the process of arranging a new one for me and refunding me the money.

[Barrykgerdes]

I had a card compromised about two years ago for about $11000. It was picked up by the bank immediately and they sent me a new card. They made a bit of a mess with the correction for a while. I had a credit on my new card for $32000 but Boo! Hoo! I could not get it out. all was eventually fixed but I ended up with 50000 odd award points from all their transactions which I was able to convert into gift cards to the value of $200.

I get those paypal spam emails too which are ignored. I had one most likely legitimate telling me that my card was about to expire and that my account would be cancelled if I did not fix it. As there were no outstanding transactions I ignored this and re registered next time I wanted to use paypal. Generally with ebay I only buy from places where I can pickup and pay cash.

I also get those emails from fedex, ups and some others. These companies have a repository where you can forward the emails to for them to chase up. This I do.

Barry

[multiweb]

I don't think PayPal will protect you from any abuse because you always link a CC or bank account to it. It just acts as an middle man but I have had CC compromised in the past by using PayPal exclusively (and direct purchases too). There is not much you can do about all of the above. It's not in our hands. Of course don't go buy from 'bad' sites or sites with invalid certificate but in the end the banks always look after the buyer, not the seller so you have nothing to worry about, but for the temporary inconvenience. Sellers are the most affected by CC frauds because they dispatch the goods then the banks reverse the transactions if it turns out to be a hacked or faked CC. They're the losers because they lose the goods.

[RB]

Two of my CC's were compromised a few years back while buying astro gear from a well known astro supplier in the U.S on seperate occasions.
What disturbed me most was that with one transaction, I sent them the CC# by fax and the second time, I actually gave them the CC# verbally (over the phone). :shrug:

Both times the fraudulent transactions were for online gambling payments.
Got my money back and had to change CC's.

[multiweb]

Most likely employees. I had one CC compromised with an over the phone sale with Edmund optics once. Changed the card, bought the same stuff again the day after and it was fine. That's what I'm saying. It's not location specific or company specific. It can happen anywhere anytime. I think the authentication system or lack of for CC transactions is flawed.

I mean if I know your CC numbers and the name on your card it's enough for me to go to the airport right now and book a flight to France with Qantas. No questions asked. :shrug: Now why is that? And the best is that they won't give you my name because of privacy laws. I think the crooks know that and work the system.

Have you guys seen those commercials with this young bloke running back to his flat buying stuff and 'swiping' is CC at access points? This is opening a new whole can of worm IMHO.

[Barrykgerdes]

The credit card companies are not very worried about compromising cards. They are happy to lend as much money as you want as long as you get into debt to them. They like to make borrowing as easy as possible so that they can increase their profits. That is the reason for the swipe cards. More sales, more borrowing, more profit, risk to them low. Sales under $100 will be missed by the average CC user. Sure they will quickly recompense for problems (those discovered). Makes them look benevolent but I can assure you that overall they do not lose.

Why do you think CC interest is so high. The banks actuaries work out the risk of fraud and build it into the interest rate. They don't lose as long as the CC user pays enough interest to cover the frauds. If the rate of fraud increases the interest will rise to cover it.

They are still kind enough to me to give me 55 days interest free but the supplier pays for the priveledge of my custom which is built into his prices (and now the big companies are allowed to pass on a fee as well). However it still suits me to use a CC for all purchases because it consolidates all into one bill that I only need to pay when it falls due and I don't need to carry cash.

I love my CC and would have an increase in living costs without it.

Barry