Aw S**T

[monophoto]

Like most people, my wife and I carry a credit cards, both for the convenience of not having to deal with cash, and also because of the 'cash back' feature that provides a small additional discount every time we use the card.

I am very diligent about checking my credit card account every day to make sure that I recognize every transaction (and checking with my wife if I see something that I don't immediately recognize - she deals with some really strange-sounding vendors). I also take advantage of the automatic alerts offered by the credit card company to tell me whenever there is a charge in excess of a specified dollar threshold, if there is a web or telephone charge, or if there is a charge from a foreign vendor.

Last night, I received an alert that a charge had been recorded against my card from a vendor that I didn't immediately recognize. So I called the bank immediately to ask for more information - all that they could tell me was that it appeared to have been from a restaurant that uses PayPal to process charges. Since I didn't recognize the name of the restaurant (and we haven't been to a restaurant in several days), and the amount was significant, I advised the bank that the charge appeared to be fraudulent or erroneous.

OK - that worked well!

But then the bank advised that their response would be to cancel my credit card and issue a new card with a different number - which I won't receive for several days. So it's now a weekend and my credit card has been cancelled. Aarghhh!

And more frustration - there are a number of vendors who have my credit card number and who I now will have to notify of the change. Fortunately, when this happened to me several years ago I made a list of the vendors that I have to contact. The good news is that most of those notifications can be done on-line. But the bad news is that I am facing the challenge of trying to hack my way through each of those web sites to find where they have hidden the credit card information. And I will have to remember the passwords that I used in setting up those accounts - another source of frustration.

Sometimes the modern conveniences are anything but convenient!

 

[keithbyrd]

Been there done that! Sorry for the hassle!

 

[bobjackson]

Sorry for you, but it could have been worse. Hang in there.

 

[gtriever]

Sorry to hear that. The same thing happened to me at 4am this morning, only in my case it was a giant charge to a foreign airline... I wonder whose database was hacked this time. ??

 

[Fireengines]

Chipotle announced back in April that their payment system had been hacked and customer credit card info may have been stolen.

Chipotle's announcement says the malware looked for "track data," "which sometimes has cardholder name in addition to card number, expiration date, and internal verification code." The chain has provided a list of locations impacted by the malware, which includes the suspected dates where customer information may have been vulnerable.

If you used your card at a Chipotle restaurant between March 24, 2017 and April 18, 2017, your information was stolen.

To check if if your store was compromised check here:

https://www.chipotle.com/security#security

 

[leehljp]

Does your computer have a "vault" that holds passwords automatically? My OS does and there are also several other apps that do this. To retrieve a PW when I set up the account in this "vault", I have to enter a separate PW which I have memorized and is only to my computer, and is not stored. With this PW, I can open PW's that are recorded automatically when I am online in secured sites.

This has been a life saver for me. LOML does not understand this and she is constantly asking me to find a PW of hers. She thinks I am a genius when I find it.

 

[monophoto]

DMy OS does and there are also several other apps that do this. To retrieve a PW when I set up the account in this "vault", I have to enter a separate PW which I have memorized and is only to my computer, and is not stored.

Good idea, but it doesn't require a 'vault' or special software.

Microsoft Word has the ability to encrypt and password protect individual documents. I have a list of passwords that I keep as a password-protected document, using a password that is different from any other password in my collection.

Of course, the problem is those systems that routinely require you to update your password - you respond with a new password in order to get into the system for whatever is your immediate objective, and then forget to update the master listing of passwords.

 

[Woodchipper]

That happens. Waiting for a new card is pretty much the standard. I don't like servers carrying my credit card where I can't see it. Our credit holder called after we got back from vacation in California. The account showed three withdrawals on a ATM in a city were we had not been. I told the CSR that were have never been in that particular city; they took care of it and re-issued new cards. Could have been worse, as stated. Now, we do not use a debit card which is connected to your checking account.

 

[Herb G]

My wife had her Citi Bank card stolen 3 times. One time, some kids got ahold of it & ordered car parts. They weren't too bright.
They ordered $4000 worth of stereo equipment & had it shipped to their house. When they took the box inside, the cops busted down the door & took them into custody.
The cops found over $100K worth of stuff in the house & garage.
They were sentenced to 30 years in prison.

 

[tbroye]

Been there a couple of times. My big problem is my Debit care and its PIN because it's attached to my Checking account I have the hassle remembering a new Pin and then the Credit Union wants me to change my online banking pin which has to be 8 characters with symbols and Caps. Then one day i forgot my PIN to my account of something happend and I got locked out so another new PIN.

 

[Jim Smith]

I travel quite a bit with my consulting business, and it got so that my credit card and my debit card for my business were being compromised about twice a year. I decided to scrape off the the digit code on the back of the cards and have those numbers in my wallet that I could access. They're disguised as phone numbers so it is not really obvious what the numbers are. This really seems to help, since most places require that three digit code to accept a card. In fact, I haven't had one compromised since I scraped off the numbers. Just a thought...

Jim Smith

 

[gtriever]

Interesting conversation with my bank yesterday. Their suggestion is to open a second free checking account tied to a new Debit Card, and keep the old account with no card attached for deposits only. By transferring money between accounts for purchases, it would at least limit the hit should the new account card be hacked. More of a hassle, but something to think about.

 

[tbroye]

That's what I did and instead of signing the card I put photo ID required. Half the time they don't look for the signature. Some of these businesses are not helping the problem run the card don't look. Online is even harder to protect. I have one card for online and add money as I need it.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

I am surprised that American cards seem to not have the chip-and-pin or tap-to-pay technology built in

I cannot recall the last time I had to physically give my card to someone else to pay for a purchase.

 

[monophoto]

I am surprised that American cards seem to not have the chip-and-pin or tap-to-pay technology built in

I cannot recall the last time I had to physically give my card to someone else to pay for a purchase.

There has been a change over the past couple of years - all new cards now have both chips and magnetic stripes, and can be used in either conventional stripe readers or 'dipped' into chip readers. In either case, a signature may be required.

Cards with chips can also be used in the 'chip and pin' mode in which you insert the card in the reader, and are then required to key in a pin. This approach requires that there be a real-time connection between the card reader and the bank's datacenter. So the difference is not in the card, but rather in the merchant's transaction terminal.

Chip technology also permits 'near field communications' that does not require that the card be 'dipped' (the new term for inserting the card into a reader). I have not seen contactless transactions terminals in the US (they are common in other countries). Part of the issue may be cost, but part may also be the concern that if data on a card can be read at a distance without touching the card, then what is to prevent a clever thief with a scanner to collect that same data simply by walking past the card holder on a sidewalk? In fact, there is a growing market for so-called 'security wallets' that supposedly shield a card from unwanted contactless scanning.

There is a relatively small number of credit card companies who actually issue these cards. But they claim that they can't make the change to new technology any faster because of the vast number of transaction terminals and also intermediary companies involved in linking transaction terminals back to banks. The very large banks have all adopted chip technology, but some smaller banks have not.

 

[sbwertz]

I had that happen last year. Apparently there was a skimmer on a gas pump somewhere and they got my number and made a fake card with my number on it. They charged about 4 grand at various resorts in Florida and Georgia over a weekend. Didn't cost me anything but the inconvenience of having the card cancelled and having to notify everyone who got auto pay on that card. But is was really aggravating.

 

[Rick_G]

Been there as well. Only have about 3 things on auto pay so that wasn't to bad and I have a second card I only use about once a year to keep it active. When I buy online I use paypal or do without. I have paypal linked to a separate bank account in a different bank that only has about $50 in it any time. If I need to purchase anything I transfer money from my main bank account.

 

[Woodchipper]

Interesting. Our bank allows a certain number of transfers between checking and savings. When you exceed that number, there is a fee for each transaction. I don't have anything on autopay. Don't trust it. I can write three checks faster than I can get on the internet. Plus, I see where the $$$ goes right away.

 

[Rick_G]

Interesting. Our bank allows a certain number of transfers between checking and savings. When you exceed that number, there is a fee for each transaction. I don't have anything on autopay. Don't trust it. I can write three checks faster than I can get on the internet. Plus, I see where the $$$ goes right away.

Perks of getting old in Canada, most of the banks give us old farts free banking.

 

[Marmotjr]

That's happened 4 times in the last 18 months to me. And that's not counting the 3 forced upgrades to the in card chip that doesn't work any more.

So yeah, over the last 18 months, I've been issued 7 new cards. The first 2 were by the bank cause they wanted to improve security with those stupid chips, and after the first didn't work, they had to do it again. And then my card got immeditately hacked. And then they had to fix the security leak again. Then I've had 3 new cards issued since then for fraudulent charges.

I never lost a cent, but it's a pain in the ...

 

[Smitty37]

Been there a couple of times. My big problem is my Debit care and its PIN because it's attached to my Checking account I have the hassle remembering a new Pin and then the Credit Union wants me to change my online banking pin which has to be 8 characters with symbols and Caps. Then one day i forgot my PIN to my account of something happend and I got locked out so another new PIN.

Nobody and I mean nobody, but my bank has ever seen my debit card. I use it only to get cash from my own bank and they have a 24/7 ATM available. I have had to replace credit cards a few times but right now my wife and I are using the same credit card account with two different numbers, if one gets compromised (and mine did once) we can still use the other while the compromised one is replaced. It is also possible to pay via PayPal with your credit card and the merchant does not get any of your card information.

 

[TurtleTom]

My nightmare would be to own a debit card. Poof---all gone.
I use Last Pass, a free password manager, although I did upgrade to a pay account to see if it was any better. still don't know.
But Lass Pass issues 12 place passwords and remembers who they go to and will fill in the blanks but you have to keep it running on the bookmarks bar. I also keep all of them on a printed spreadsheet that I then erase on the computer. The thing you have to remember is not to update after you answer security questions because it will then think they are passwords to open with.
I also contacted my credit card company online and engaged the program that sends me an email every time my credit card is debited. Never any doubt that way.
It's a hostile world now and we have to adapt.