ATM Pirates
People are waking up to find their debit and credit card balances hijacked following a purchase at a gas station or convenience store. That’s because tech-savvy thieves capture your pin number through hidden security cameras or by installing plastic caps over the ATM that collect your data. Keep your transactions to a minimum and put your hand over the keypad.

Fraud Department Impersonators
They work like this: pretending to be part of your bank’s credit card fraud investigation squad, they ask for the three-digit security code on the back of your card to help them confirm a purchase. Since they’ve already captured your account number, they’re now set to go on a wild spree at your expense.

Computer Scamware
You don’t know when it happened, but suddenly your computer begins a malware program following a download that can record your keystrokes and report your online credit card or banking transactions. Get thee to a virus scan.

The Highest Bidder Loses
Beware online auction sellers that insist on processing your purchase through their own network, rather than from the auction site’s protected check-out system. In short order, you’ll find that you’ve bought and spent way more than the amount you bid. In fact, collection agencies begin to phone at all hours.

I’ll Be Your Waiter
Unfortunately, your server may take just a few seconds longer when you slip your credit card into the check folder. Using a hand-held skimmer behind the dining area, the crook transmits your data to an accomplice. Now you have your unjust desserts.

By the way, phones can be hacked, too. Don’t give out your credit card info in response to a recorded message with an offer that sounds all too good to believe. That means both land lines and cell phones. Beware!

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1. Make copies of everything in your wallet, front and back. This is actually a proactive step that you should do right now, before you run into trouble. That way you’ll have a record of what was lost and how to contact the issuers. Just be sure to keep these copies in a safe place.
2. Call your card issuers and report the loss. In order to minimize your liability, you should make these calls as soon as you realize that there’s a problem. Can’t remember what was in your wallet? No problem. Just look at your photocopies (Step 1). You might also consider following up with a written account of what’s happened, when you reported it, etc. They should be able to shut down your old accounts, and also issue new cards.
3. Place a fraud alert on all three of your credit reports. I’ve posted detailed instructions for placing a fraud alert on your credit record in the past. The good news is that the three agencies should share this information, so you really only have to contact one of them. If you detect fraudulent activity, you might want to extend this to a seven-year victim statement.
4. If your Social Security card is missing, report it. Call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-269-0271. Better yet, remove your Social Security card from your wallet right now. No sense in carrying it around with you. Same goes for your driver’s license — if you lose it, call your local DMV. Pronto.
5. File a police report. Last but not least, report the loss/theft to your local law enforcement agency (or the police in the area where it occurred).

That’s it. Hopefully you won’t run into any problems, but if you do, this list of tips should help you steer clear of any major problems.

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So what’s the deal? This could be the result of scammers trying to steal a paltry $0.25 from millions of people (do the math, it adds up) or it could be a sign of something far worse… Scammers testing out a bunch of credit card numbers to see which ones are real/active, with the ultimate intent of using them later for much larger charges.

My Advice to You

Check your credit cards bills. Not just for charges from Adele Services, but on an ongoing basis. Be on the lookout for anything that doesn’t look right, and contest any unfamiliar charges no matter how small they are.

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Apparently the hackers used a “wardriving” approach where they simply cruised through retail areas looking for vulnerable wireless networks. They then hacked in, installed sniffer software, and skimmed the credit and debit card numbers directly as transactions were processed. The information was housed on servers in the Ukraine and Latvia, and either sold or used directly by the thieves.

It’s nice to know that stores are looking out for us and going to great lengths to protect our financial data, isn’t it?

This is just one more reason that you should be keeping a close eye on your credit report and either placing a fraud alert on your credit record or freezing your credit if you see anything suspicious.

Source: The Associated Press

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» Carnivals – Week of 03/17/08
» Will microchip-embedded cards replace the old magnetic stripe swipe?
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