Credit Card Fraud

[FireGoddess]

Watch those statements, ladies and gents!!!

I got an urgent call from Citi yesterday...apparently, the way it was described to me, a ''processor'' that processes credit card transactions for hundreds of companies was hacked, and Citi alerted me that my credit card number was one of the ones compromised. They called to get my permission to close the account and reissue a new card with a new account number.

Apparently, this is affecting thousands of customers (not only Citi cardholders) because like I said above, the processor was the one hacked, and they deal with transactions from hundreds of different companies.

I was very impressed with the way Citi handled the whole thing (very proactively) and no fraudulent charges had gone through yet....but just as a warning, check those statements! I couldn''t get an answer for which companies use this processor, as there were so many. I hope your card numbers are safe! But just a reminder to check those statements...I was lucky that Citi did something about it before my card number was used.

 

[belle]

thanks for the heads up fg. what a nightmare.

 

[strmrdr]

last count I heard was over 750000 numbers in the latest break in.
One a while back was over 1.5 million numbers.

Scary thing is that it wasnt just people buying online but the entire system was cracked so when you ran your card thru the machine at say the grocery store they could have got the card number.
scary stuff.

 

[FireGoddess]

Absolutely right storm!!! The ironic thing about my card number which was stolen is that it is a 'smart' card, which will generate a random cc number for any online purchase you want. This random account number is autolinked back to your real account, but if you wish, online vendors need never know your real cc number. And still my account # was stolen, so it coulda been at the grocery store...not necessarily online. Scary.

 

[njc]

I am getting so sick of this stuff happening. I have had my bank cards reissued twice and my credit card once in the last year due to this. I appreciate the bank and credit companys notifying me and closing my accounts, but its getting so old. It also made returning items i purchased for my wedding difficult because the numbers didnt match receipts...

Thank you for the heads up Firegoddess.

 

[Layne]

Also, please make sure it is actually your credit card company calling you. A good way to do this is by telling the caller you will contact your company yourself. Do not use the # they give you to call them back. Instead, use the # from your statement or on the back of your card.
Alot of crooks call you, get you all worked up, and then ask you to confirm your information. Then they have everything they need- straight from the source- and steal everything you have. I see this almost every single day working at a bank.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 3/2/2006 10:33:52 AM
Author: Layne
Also, please make sure it is actually your credit card company calling you.

Definitely a good point. In my case I did not give them the cc number or my ss number or any private information. They verified certain facts with me and then once I got off the phone, I logged on to my Citi account online and saw in big ole red letters that the account was closed and a new card was being issued.

 

[movie zombie]

i had a call this a.m. from citi before we left for cinequest....and it was legitimate [no requests for personal info but were certain charges ok?]. there was a charge in new jersey for $101 for cosmetics last thursday and then tuesday a $1300 charge in europe but without any description. they have canceled our card and are reissuing another. they say our card number was not in the ''bank'' of numbers that they know were hacked. i''ve said they''d better investigate that a bit more! we will not be liable for any of it and only have to file a fraud claim on the $101 charge.... btw, this is a card i haven''t used since last september and i have it in my possession.

movie zombie