Keep an eye on your accounts! - YouLookFab Forum

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Keep an eye on your accounts!

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

My mom just got notified about ten minutes ago, that someone tried to put through two charges, totalling almost 1k, via Paypal and the bank card she has tied to the account. She almost never uses Paypal. And the BF got his Amex card info fished last week, and in the course of about twenty minutes, someone tried to charged about $1200 in electronics on various websites. He has an app on his iPhone that notifies him immediately, so even as the person was trying to use his card, he was on the phone talking to the Amex rep.

Just a heads up, this seems to be a banner year for online cc thievery.

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14 replies

Latest reply was from Isabel

catgirl

Veteran

Argh! I had to change all my accounts after my garage was broken into in July and my debit card stolen from my purse. Now the Target thing has me paranoid. UGH. Thanks for the reminder.

kkards

Veteran

yeah, the target thing has me kind of worried. when a similar thing happend at barnes and noble last year, my bank stopped by debit card ASAP and issued another one. but they don't seem to be doing that for the target issue.

Beth Ann

Veteran

My bank has blocked and reissued a new debit card for my account, although they asked my permission first, because of the Target fiasco. With the huge demand, I won't have a new one for two weeks. I'm also watching my Visa (also used online and a Target) carefully. The Credit Union who issued it will replace it while I wait, but it's in my childhood hometown.

Theft is a horrible wrong in our society --- in any form. Fortunately, it involves computers, not guns!

Gigi

Veteran

My credit card company (Bank of America) has a service in the online account stuff where you can request a temporary cc number that will work for only a specified amount. So I could say I want the temp cc number to have a $300 limit, for example. Then you get the number generated and you can go buy your stuff using the new cc number and not have to worry about what happens if someone steals your info, since the number was a temp one anyway.

Alassë

Veteran

Just deleted things; thanks, LaBelle!

Kathryn

Super important to keep an eye on your statements. Although the credit card companies usually do a good job of catching irregular activity.

Deborah

Veteran

Ladies, what happened with Target?

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I'm still not clear on the Target thing - if it was hackers getting Target card accounts and passwords, or if it was people who used their Visa/MC/Amex cards there... I'm sure the details are online, but I usually pay cash when I go to Target, so...

It was my parents' Bank of America card that got 'lifted'. I'm not sure if they got notified, or if Dad was just double-checking charges, as is his habit. Someone tried to use their card to buy something via Paypal - which is really weird. Mom said she used her cc at a Target in Chicago, several months ago. I think that's just a coincidence - I cannot imagine Target storing people's card numbers in any database - but then... I am really not at all IT savvy.

DonnaF

Veteran

Our Visa was used twice for gaming/gambling charges in the UK, so Visa cancelled our card -- unfortunately the day before we were to take a road trip out of town. Luckily, I have a card I had up to then used only for business, but it was good to have to tide us over. And fortunately, we are staying with my MIL so we had an address for the new cards. Now, I just have to remember our automatic deductions from the card. So far, it has been my mom's cell phone bill payment which bounced back.

Jeanie

Veteran

Scary that Paypal is getting hacked. I guess no where is safe. I have a Target debit card that offers a 5% discount and did use it during the time of the fraud incident. (Deborah they think it was an inside job. 40 million cards were hacked when you used them in Target stores between 11/27 & 12/15... Just in The States). They are offering free credit monitoring for a year but I am still wary because they didn't close it out and issue a new one. I haven't called yet since I've heard their phone lines are jammed.

I was always told to only use a Credit Card for online purchases since most fraud happens online. Since a credit card is not tied to your bank account if it gets hacked you account can't be wiped out and the reimbursement for fraud it better. I think this Target fiasco has shown that there are major breeches that can now happen in store as well. I think the type of card Gigi mentioned or cash may be the best way to go.

Isabel

Veteran

Thanks for the tip ! You probably know by now that there was a major breach at Target with over 40 million cards affected. They apparently got PIN numbers.

I had no idea that you could get an app to notify you...I am going to do that and switch my card numbers. Thanks !!

Linda

I know the heist is old news, but there's a pretty good NYT article on it today. I'm considering simply requesting a new card every quarter. Since non-US credit cards use continuous change to protect against fraud, I figure I could take a leaf out of that book too, and the CC companies would be the ones to incur the cost. I haven't been aware of any problems relative to my Target shopping during the fraud period, but you never really know. I DID ironically have a problem from BEFORE the Target hit. As we do more online shopping I'm thinking that any steps we can take might be worth the trouble. Gigi, interesting that Big Bad Ole Bank of America should have that kind of brief term account option. I've always been impressed with Discover's fraud protections, and now I'm going to do some sleuthing and see who offers the most help in this area!

Eliza

Veteran

I agree with LBD and others- this is a good time to keep an eye on everything. It now seems clear that the Target issue is part of a very large effort to rip off customer info from many major retailers. I replaced the two cards I used at Target during that time frame, and I am using cash whenever practical. I also am using my one credit card that has a chip in it if absolutely necessary. I think having a way to view all transactions on all cards daily would be a good idea, assuming the online sites that let you do this are themselves secure. Don't think this is going away, as there is a lot of money to be spent and it is likely to be a constant effort to stay one step ahead of the hacking. Good luck to all.

Isabel

Veteran

Oh boy, thank you !

One of my daughter's friend's father had someone take out $5K with a debit card over several transactions.