Fraud Warning!

[Sithlord32]

Just a heads up. This is a ever growing issue as everyone knows especially since the whole ordeal at Target.
I never use my debit card online only my credit card. My paypal has my bank account registered but not with my debit card number.
I was told by Amazon and Sears today that people have tried using my debit card today in excess of $1000 and my credit card is maxed out beyond its limit.
This going to cause me major issues of course but I have always been very cautious and use lengthily passwords for everything and yet someone got a hold of this info on me that I do not share online.
The bank and police dept said they have had 10 reports similar just today alone even the officer i spoke to had his card charged.
So just be weary of your online activity and you might want to change up your account info and passwords.

[Underdog07]

That sucks. Sorry to hear this happened to you.

Although I would think a Sith Lord would have sensed a disturbance in the force . . . .

[Sithlord32]

Originally Posted by Underdog07

That sucks. Sorry to hear this happened to you.

Although I would think a Sith Lord would have sensed a disturbance in the force . . . .

Funny guy!!!!! Despite everything else it did make me smile a little.

[Snadinator]

Originally Posted by Sithlord32

Just a heads up. This is a ever growing issue as everyone knows especially since the whole ordeal at Target.
I never use my debit card online only my credit card. My paypal has my bank account registered but not with my debit card number.
I was told by Amazon and Sears today that people have tried using my debit card today in excess of $1000 and my credit card is maxed out beyond its limit.
This going to cause me major issues of course but I have always been very cautious and use lengthily passwords for everything and yet someone got a hold of this info on me that I do not share online.
The bank and police dept said they have had 10 reports similar just today alone even the officer i spoke to had his card charged.
So just be weary of your online activity and you might want to change up your account info and passwords.

1 in 7 sites now feature an exploit kit. Legitimate sites included. These sites can be compromised without the owner's knowledge. A hidden iFrame is launched that creates a connection to another site featuring the exploit kit.

Exploit kits scan your computer for vulnerabilities. If it finds one, it will upload malware to your device. Common malware includes key loggers and screen scrappers. You likely won't know it's installed and antivirus is almost useless these days. They can capture your login information when going to banks or paypal or any site really. This is all sent back to a command and control server. The criminals then upload the personal / financial information to an online black market in the deep web.

Criminals can then buy this information (for cheap too) and get access to it.

So how do you best protect yourself? There is no 100% security but the best defense is keeping all software on your device up to date. The operating system, email clients, java, adobe etc... everything. Outdated software have plenty of security flaws that are made public and exploit code can be easily obtained. Do not browse with Internet explorer... it has hooks directly into the Operating system. Best to use another browser as well.

Remove all unwanted software and disable services and processes you do not need.

As for what happened to Target... expect this to happen to many vendors on a frequent basis soon. Compromises like that happen more frequently then you think. Organizations just try to keep it under wraps.

Also, do not use the same password for all accounts. If they compromise one, they can assume you use the same password for everything. I would suggest a tool like 1password to manage your passwords. It makes managing complex passwords for multiple sources much simpler.

[nbr3bagshotrow]

I check all my accounts daily.

[Snadinator]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

I check all my accounts daily.

That is a good practice. I've heard of malware that would present the user a different sum when they verify their bank account in order to mask the illegitimate transactions. That is very sophisticated.

That said, swiping large amounts is easy enough to catch. The bank and credit companies have alerts triggered by some fairly sophisticated software that warns them when something unusual occurs.

More nepharious is the small amounts they can take. You might not notice a small $1 or .50 cents transaction. Sometimes they double up a transaction. If the criminal is running a botnet with millions of victims, those $1 transactions can add up.

[Sithlord32]

Yeah I practice safety when and where I can. All my PW are different and I change them regularly. Never used IE it has always sucked. The browsers I do use are set up to not remember any passwords and dump all history and cookies on every tab and browser close. I use PW verification with SMS to my phone on every site that allows it and I keep record of every transaction and check my accounts on a weekly basis for every transaction. I was a victim of Target I guess or so they said even though I hadnt been to target on some time.

[jedi_don]

I'm already on a fraud watch since my credit card somehow go compromised prior the Target debacle.

But my credit card company finally decided to change the cards of everyone who was affected by the Target hack. So I watch my accounts online and await my new card number. What a bloody mess!

[Sniper]

mine was hacked because of target and they used the account three months later. I have to remind myself to check my accounts all the time

[Snadinator]

Originally Posted by Sniper

mine was hacked because of target and they used the account three months later. I have to remind myself to check my accounts all the time

Generally when your information is compromised, it is made available for sale. It might not actually get used until months later. The people who steal the information are not the same who buy it off the black market and actually use it. If caught, the penalties for capturing and selling information is far less than using a stolen credit card and make purchases.

The criminals behind the Target attack are quite brilliant. When someone came looking for a credit card, they would ask where that person was looking to spend. They would then issue them the credit card data of someone in that area so as to not arrouse suspicion from the bank/cc companies. If the bank knows you reside in California and suddenly there are purchases made in NYC, that would raise a flag.