Trust Issues

The day after we returned from Mexico I got a pre-recorded call from my credit card company telling me that someone had made some suspicious purchases on my card. The message than told me what they were and gave me the option to accept or decline. They were all charges from a video game arcade and totaled 1000 bucks. It then gave me the option to talk to someone about it. I waited on hold for 40mins and then I was hung up on...nice

I of course started to panic went online to confirm that it actually was my credit card company calling and called the number on the back of my card. After another 45min wait I spoke to a rep that told me my card had been copied and went over the charges with me. We don’t use our credit card a lot so there were only a few options of where it was copied. 

I assumed it was from our recent trip to Mexico, but I was told that since they have my pin it would have been somewhere I used it 2 months ago. That made it even scarier since in the past 2 months I had only used it a 3 places Canadian Tire, Sears and London drugs.  However the charges appeared to be from an online store so they wouldn’t need my pin I figure so I didn’t trust what she was saying. However, the only places I bought at online were Kobo and Connecting Threads.

I just read a post from connectingthreads (click the link to take you to that post) saying that their site released customer’s credit card information without their knowledge. The claim that anyone affected by this was sent a letter. I haven’t received anything yet, but I am thinking chances are this is where my credit card info was stolen.

So here is my question. If you have been burned by one of your favourite stores....do you go back and buy from them again? 

I don’t know my answer to that yet. I am pretty sure I would use my credit card again at the physical stores where the card could have been copied, but I am feeling a little shy about using it at an online store again. Now I understand that if it was the online store that leaked my info they should have better security now which means it’s even safer to buy there, but as the saying goes. Once bitten twice shy

My credit card company has reversed the charges, issued a new card and are looking into the matter. I don't know where it was copied so my theories are just theories.


Comments

  1. I received a similar call twice in 12 months. I didn't call the number they left on my answering machine, but instead called the number on the back of my credit card. Both times someone tried to charge THOUSANDS of dollars. Of course I didn't have to pay for any of the charges, the bank just reissued me a new credit card.

    I would continue to purchase from the store. They do not intentionally leak out credit card info. Brick and mortar stores, banks, and heck even the government are not safe from hackers. We hear it all the time in the news. Anybody who has a credit card is vulnerable to credit card theft ... even if you don't use the card. If the bank it was issued from is hacked, someone can use your card.

    I check my credit card info online two or three times a week to check for any charges which are not mine.

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  2. I, too, had a recent hit and my bank's fraud dept is handling - cards and accounts are frozen until things can be re-assigned. Jan makes a good point - check your statements - mine began as a little 31 cent hit, as my bank said it was a test to see if the card #s work - then the big one.
    It was traced to an on-line purchase, but a different fabric on-line --- so as the CT site states, anyone with that software and server use would take a hit.

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  3. I was burned after an Etsy purchase. It really freaked me out because we were weeks away from finishing the construction on our new house and starting the purchase paperwork. I was so scared. I know it was from using PayPal, and for about 6 months I didn't buy anything from anyone that only accepted PayPal, but I'm back on there now. I just monitor the heck out of each and every statement to make sure I catch it as soon as possible.

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  4. I was burned after an Etsy purchase. It really freaked me out because we were weeks away from finishing the construction on our new house and starting the purchase paperwork. I was so scared. I know it was from using PayPal, and for about 6 months I didn't buy anything from anyone that only accepted PayPal, but I'm back on there now. I just monitor the heck out of each and every statement to make sure I catch it as soon as possible.

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  5. I've experienced this problem once with my card. The credit card company believed the charges were suspect after reviewing my spending history, and called me to inquire about the charges. Thankfully, they reversed the charges and issued a new chard. Unfortunately, hackers are a part of the world in which we live. I have a firewall installed on my computers to help avoid this problem, and I check the site to ensure they use SSL encryption before I give up my card information.

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  6. I just last week was notified on fraud on my account too.. and had been puzzled how they got the numbers... since I too have been a Connecting Threads customer maybe this is the answer.. I didn't believe the call from the card company was true.. I though that was a scam. until I got a second call. My card company is being great but 700.00 at Best Buy was charged... thanks you may have solved my puzzle

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  7. by the way I am only an occasional reader of your blog so stuck me as ironic that I read it today.

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  8. My hubby and I have had our credit card number stolen several times over the last decade. It is a pain, but you are not responsible for the charges when that happens so it is just a little work to clean up. I don't worry about it all that much. Life is too short. I have bigger things to think about.

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  9. Well, I would certainly think twice before buying from that on-line store, but then I tend to think 3-4 times before buying anything on-line from anywhere! More importantly would be the on-line store investigating to ensure it wasn't an employee, and notifying their customers subsequently!

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  10. Very scary. My PayPal account was hacked and a charge of 100 Euro was put through my credit card by some fake company in Europe. Thankfully PP always send a notice when a charge goes through and I saw it the same day. They were great and reversed it right away. It turns out that it was through a blog I used to visit...since closed. The owner had an online business and their business computers were hacked somehow. The thing is I never purchased anything from them. My email was hacked as well and that's were the association with the blog comes in and ultimately my PP account:( I never did get the whole story because obviously they didn't want too much publicity. I used to work in Fraud and Forgery for a major bank and it a rough world out there. You can't be too careful but it can still happen no matter what you do if someone out there wants to rip people off.

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  11. My advise to you is to check your computer and make sure you don't have a Trojan virus or spyware.

    I went to a European blog and had to download their document program to print off a pattern. I had some issues with google chrome and not being able to go to sites I have been earlier in the day.

    I removed the google chrome and thought that was the end of it when I got a call from a quilt shop saying they were having problems processing my order. I went to the bank thinking I had missed a payment and phoned to say, okay all is well.

    Not so, I have had to replace the card twice and I got my service provider to help me update my Mcafee and firewalls. I also have contacted Equifax and TransUnion, free to Canadian sites to get my credit rating checked and all appears to be alright. You can find their numbers nine. I only used this particular card online and made sure it has a small balance.

    Good luck with sorting it all out.

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  12. I had my card hacked online the day after Christmas. Thankfully my credit card company caught it immediately. I agree with those that have said that hackers are a sad part of the world today. I don't understand why they waste their time doing this but obviously they do. Hopefully CT has beefed up their website's security ten fold after this incident.

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  13. I had the same issue a month ago. This is just too common. I am reluctant to shop online again but sometimes I have to.

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  14. The best way might be to get a credit card with a small limit, that you only use for internet shopping. This will not allow the thieves to put big bucks charged to your account. But am happy to say that most banks or credit card companies do check purchases. I tried to make a small purchase a while back, which is something I really rarely do, and they didn't let it go thru, till I called the company and told them that it was me making this purchase. Thieves do the same thing, start with something small, and when it goes thru, they will go for the bigger bucks. Thankful that your company caught it! I would shop again from internet, but maybe let your credit card company know you are making this purchase.....

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  15. I went on the phone months ago to check my bank account , it said I had these charges on my card and would not let me go through on the phone till I said yes. Which I did and then got customer service and explained why I said yes. And told them it was not my charges. She said she would make a claim over the phone and block the card. About a wk past and I called on the phone and found more charges from same place and talked to the dept. They mailed a claim form out. I went down to the bank the next day and closed my account. I got a new account. The claim done over the phone they can not find it and I have not got my money back $91.00 the other claim I did get back. The bank said it was an overseas company Skype 44 and what people do is punch in numbers till they find a working number 89 cents they did twice then the $91. So even if you did not purchase online/ you just do not know when ,who, and how they are able to steal from you.

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  16. If I travel I call my bank and card company and let them know where and how long.

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