Has anybody around Seattle recently had their credit card hijacked for purchases on iTunes, “New York Times digital” something-or-other, or Napster? I wasn’t aware people were still spending money on the latter until my credit card’s fraud department called this morning. Second time in less than a year.
I recently talked to an Apple contractor, friend of a friend, whose job was to track down fraudulent iTunes cards. He said American CCs are often hijacked in bulk to purchase US gift cards, which are then pumped into restricted worldwide markets that would prefer to use US iTunes. Could be as simple as that. But maybe, just maybe, everyone who used a credit card at the Aurora Taco Bell a few days ago is feeling my pain. And not just the cheesy-bean-and-rice burrito kind of pain. Ugh.
actually, that’s taco bell’s policy. you’ll either get your cc info stolen, or you’ll get your dick ripped off. sounds like you got the better end of the deal. everybody gets diarrhea.
Jerry – is that you? Jerry! Good to see you! We must get back in training for the ’76 Olympics!
You went to Taco Bell, you knew it wasn’t going to turn out well.
Chase just sent me a letter and is reissuing mine.
In a related note – my wife and I recently had our ATM card duplicated and PIN info stolen. We still have no clue as to how.
The thieves were able to take $2000 from our bank account before the bank put a freeze on the card’s ATM activity. It was a major fucking headache trying to deal with this and fortunately with time and after an investigation, the bank covered the loss. The bank reps told me this rarely occurs but the policeman I spoke with told me that it happens a lot here. But in spite of the frequency, the police do not put resources into investigating this type of crime unless it goes over 10 grand.
We still can not figure out how the thieves did this. We only use our banks ATMs. And we only use one of 3 of those. The only exception that I could come up with was one day I used the ATM that was inside of the Costco in Shoreline. Even though it is an ATM operated by our bank, it is near the exit. Also, the thieves made the withdrawls from an ATM less than a mile away from Costco. Last time I was in Costco I noticed a sign on that ATM saying that it was going to be removed from the store by the end of the month. I did mention this ATM to both police and to our bank’s investigators. But who knows. Other than that, we always check for things that look out of place that might scan for info (that is why we always use the same machines, so that we could spot anything out of the ordinary).
It was a frustrating experience and like I said we still haven’t a clue how it happened. And without knowing how, how do you prevent it from happening again?
Alright, now I feel bad about winning at poker last night. Sorry Sam, that totally sucks.
Sometimes I think I’m really lucky that no one has ever stolen from me. I’m incredibly careless with where I use my card (street fairs where they make an imprint, cabs), but nothing like that has ever happened.
I almost never use generic ATMs, except out of deep desperation (and I can’t recall doing that at any point in the last four years now). The fees are ridiculous, and most places are now quite good with direct debit purchases. I’d rather pay them the quarter some smaller operations want for minor purchases than risk my card and code at a publicly accessible ATM. I do live in Canada, though, and I’ve been told debit is more popular here (as in Europe) than in the States.
I don’t even worry about my credit card. Mine has been pretty good at watching my account like a hawk, and has caught one fraud purchase so far.
@6
Thankfully we were playing for hj’s, so he lost no money in the game. Just dignity.
No. But sometimes a song comes up on my ipod that I don’t remember downloading and can’t imagine wanting to have. I’ve always chalked it up to downloading drunk, but maybe more sinister forces than drink are at work.
My bank manager told me that credit theives often use a hacked or stolen number to purchase one i-tune or something similar to see if the card number is active because card owners don’t notice the tiny ding on their accounts. They then start making major purchases or debits until caught. I check my account on line every day or so now to look for small purchases I did not make. Like @5 above I was jacked out of over %k. Luckily WAMY replaced it immediately. I sure hope chase keeps up that level of service.
1)I knew a girl who got punched so hard by another girl in the Taco Bell on Broadway (R.I.P) that it knocked her out of her shoes.
2)Not long ago, I started to use an ATM at an undisclosed shady location here in Seattle but stopped when I realized that the screens on the ATM contained misspellings…
A couple months ago, my bank called me to notify me that my card had been used at Napster. I hadn’t used the card in quite some time, and it was safely in my wallet.
When they sent the new card and I called to activate it, the agent took the “opportunity” to aggressively sell me identity theft insurance. I declined.
The same thing happened to my husband last year. I’m not convinced that the whole thing wasn’t just a clever (albeit somewhat transparent) marketing ploy on behalf of the identity theft insurance industry.
From what I understand, these small purchases, iTunes, Napster, etc. are just made by ID thieves to test the credit card numbers and see if they are valid – hopefully without the owners noticing. Once they confirm that the number is good they will eventually take a big sum of money all at once.
Wow. This is new. My bank told me the small test purchases are usually gas. I never know what my iTunes bills are from, because by the time they post you’ve completely forgotten.
@5 – It’s becoming more and more common for technologically savvy thieves to setup a false-front to an ATM or a gas station pump, specifically to capture card and PIN info (or just the card, perhaps with a hidden camera to capture the PIN). When you insert your card, a scanner reads the stripe as it is accepted by the ATM, and your PIN is captured when you enter it on the keypad. You won’t know anything has occurred, since the ATM functions as normal – you get your cash & the card is returned to you. Later, they can either print a new card for their own use or sell the data (account number & the PIN) to another fraudster.
Here’s a nice summary w/ pictures from UT Austin: http://tinyurl.com/tb8hj
I had my card used for emusic.com and gevalia subscriptions. Bastards.
my mother in law got her credit card number hijacked… It was used to buy a web domain and 1 song on napster.
@7 Its against visa/mc terms and conditions for a business to charge you a fee or have a minimum amount requirement. They can revoke your merchant account services.
YES!!! I had the exact same charges on my card. I live in Chicago, so the taco bell connection is out. Did you use Steam or Rock Solid Arcade recently?
@19: No, but my card’s Capital One. You?
@20: citibank.
man, they don’t even sell the cheesy bean and rice burrito at taco bell anymore. way to rub salt in the wound.