Identity & Credit Card Theft

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Just a word to the wise. During Holiday Season. Rotten low down pond scum try to steal your Credit Card info and use and also Identity Theft.
Try to change passwords and log in IDs often.
With all the hard luck we have been going through last night I got notified from my bank USAA that our CC was getting charges we didn't make. They canceled that card and overnighted a new one to us. I got the notification from FedX that it was delivered this afternoon. Ony problem it went to an address in FL and we are in GA.
Called USAA and our Bank Account was Hacked and all out information changed. Plus a $20,005.22 loan was taken out in my name. Just spent 3 1/2 hours on the phone trying to get it fixed. Now will need to change all our Finacial, business, Vendor accounts.
Not only people don't want to work these days-they sit home hacking accounts and steal other people's hard-earned money.

 

[Laelkhunter]

That really sucks If those a*sholes put as much effort into doing good instead of fing over good people, they could probably cure cancer. Most are probably overseas and they can't be touched.

 

[SeboCreek]

Had similar situation 4 years ago with online Wells Fargo. Signed up for LifeLock and they helped me through the whole thing. Very sold on their service after that experience.

 

[Muddyboots]

Len, strongly recommend you place both your names in a credit freeze with all three credit agencies. Nobody can take out a loan once you have done this. Heck, recommend everyone should do this. Very simple EFFECTIVE precaution. Also recommend subscribing to Experian to further lock down your credit. These steps do not harm your credit rating at all.

Second, every bank has an alert system for use of their credit cards. I set mine to zero since crooks will test card for small amount before hitting it hard. I know usually within 3 seconds when my card is used, amount and vendor. I have stopped 3 scams in last couple years because I had set low alert amounts. Its fun to realize you stopped some piece of work that I hope paid money for my card numbers. This is very easy to do and extremely effective. Plus NEVER use you CC in debit mode ANYWHERE.

One last recommendation is data security; hard wire ethernet cable at house versus wireless for financial transactions, use VPN for all financial transactions, use security software for firewall like Norton, scrub your PC after every financial transaction to jnsure all passwords, links etc have been deleted. I refuse to use phone for any transaction . Yes, you do have to be this paranoid.

If you shut down your credit applications and use your CC alerts, you will stop 99% of the losses.

I would also file a criminal complaint in the jurisdiction the loan occurred with whatever evidence the bank can provide. You will prob have to strong arm them to get the evidence. My experience was that.
Good luck!

 

[BillLarson]

Same deal here.... bank called and asked if I'd been in New Jersey lately......
Hadn't been there in years.... hooked me for 2 grand.......
Luckily my bank stood behind it was reimbursed within a week.....
I doubt they ever caught the cyber crooks....
Thank You....
Muddy Boots...

 

[Hugnot]

This got me in the gut!

I am also a USAA member. I check my USAA activity 2X per day, have a many character password including numerous characters, numbers, lower case, & upper case. I have no problems with their multi factor sign/log in using my email or other. I also check my other accounts 2X per day.

I also use good mal, ransom & spy ware & run a daily scan or after some suspicious event. I have credit rating account & maintain a credit freeze (no new loans). No financial stuff on Wi-Fi, I use an ethernet cable. Seen some stuff where keystrokes were recorded for hacking.

After reading about your bad event my passwords will be beefed up.

Getting personal info is real easy for bad guys - SSN's in stolen mail, dob, tel. numbers, age, email address, and residence address via internet.

Some fake gun sell sites collect personal info in addition to $ scams.

My olde mother had a USAA credit card & one day I saw a bunch or charges that I knew she did not make. USAA was onto this before I called them. USAA did not provide all details but credit card info was obtained from a lunch stop at a local place where the card was used.

I would not be surprised if the bad guys ^^ were from some distant location like India.

My sincere sympathies and best wishes.

 

[Muddyboots]

Oh yeah, always use 2 Step verification for log in to accounts. Yes, PITA, BUT EFFECTIVE!

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Just got off the phone with a Fraud Expert from USAA and he said that these thieves are so sophisticated that they "Spoof" the phone # of your bank so it looks good on caller ID and even with USAA the text verification step when you get the six dight code if you say the code back to the caller they can then access your actual account. The only time they ask for verification codes is if you contact them not if they contact you. Never give out any info if you are called. Best thing is to call your bank back and verify that it was them that called you.
It is a shame how rotten society has gotten.

 

[epags]

.......Second, every bank has an alert system for use of their credit cards. I set mine to zero since crooks will test card for small amount before hitting it hard. I know usually within 3 seconds when my card is used, amount and vendor. I have stopped 3 scams in last couple years because I had set low alert amounts. Its fun to realize you stopped some piece of work that I hope paid money for my card numbers. This is very easy to do and extremely effective.

Yep! First, for the record, I am old fashioned and do not do online banking.....even use checks for pay utility bills.
Have had my CC number stolen three times. Twice USAA contacted me when they detected a questionable charge and once we found one on our monthly statement. In all cases they made it right and gave us new cards....A PITA when you have to contact companies that require a CC for monthly charges like our security company and Netflix.
OTOH, we had booked a hotel in Italy several months in advance and a few days before we left we got notified they had cancelled our reservation. A long distance (to Italian hotel) discovered they always did a 99cent charge to ensure the CC was valid. LOL. Several more phone calls to CC company to allow that charge, to the hotel to make sure they were OK and the trip was back on.
Point being, having an alert is a good idea and does not always indicate fraudulant issues. LOL

 

[Muddyboots]

2 step is only for logging onto your account web page. I do nothing via phone. I've had my bank call me just to discuss "opportunity" and they got po'ed when I told them "are you serious you don't understand data security?!"

Phone number phishing is the norm now. I just don't answer calls. If there is a message, I have direct numbers to my bank.

I don't even have overdraft. Why? Its a direct access to another account that makes it easy for bad guys to empty.

Banks do not truly understand data financial data security. I have had many battles over VPN access to my accounts. You cannot trust banks in this regard, poorly trained IMO.

Bottom line is never give out ANYTHING over the phone. I very rarely answer unless I know for certain the number. Lousy times we live in but just know the rules of data security and never deviate from them.

 

[HSmithTX]

Been there done that several times. Bear in mind that when you lock your credit with all 3 of the mains that it only is effective for 3 years and automatically unlocks. Yes for 3 years you have to have a 12 digit pin to apply for ANY new credit, but once they have your info they will hit you again and again, they will even wait until the three years is up and hit you again. The cops do not care, told me to my face twice when filing a report to get my credit repaired, gave them a name and address where the cards were being sent and where the cell phone bill was being sent and where the cable tv was installed and where the gas card was being sent and the sams club card was being sent and on and on, they said the police there likely won't even respond at all to the report because they assume they won't find anything and there are bigger fish to fry. One told me it's 'more or less a victimless crime' because you can get it all reversed, I asked him who the hell does he think pays for all the fraud? We ALL pay for it in every single thing we buy! One of the pairs that got me was actually prosecuted 2+ years after they got me, one got like 60 days and 18 months probation and the other was a multiple offender for ID theft and got I think 6 months and a couple years probation. I'd bet money that during their time off (also on all of our dime) that they learned new and better ways to do it and reduce the chance of getting caught. There is no better criminal enterprise training center than jail. Until people start getting truly punitive results from their activity the odds of them changing is next to zero.

 

[Muddyboots]

According to Experian:
How long does a security freeze last?
A security freeze will remain on your credit file until you remove it.

Which is our experience. Our credit has been frozen for 5+ years.

 

[wyosteve]

Same as Muddy. If I don't recognize the number, I don't answer the call. They can leave a message if they want and I'll get in touch of it's legitimate. Most end the call right before voicemail is triggered.

 

[Veteran]

Len, strongly recommend you place both your names in a credit freeze with all three credit agencies. Nobody can take out a loan once you have done this. Heck, recommend everyone should do this. Very simple EFFECTIVE precaution. Also recommend subscribing to Experian to further lock down your credit. These steps do not harm your credit rating at all.

Second, every bank has an alert system for use of their credit cards. I set mine to zero since crooks will test card for small amount before hitting it hard. I know usually within 3 seconds when my card is used, amount and vendor. I have stopped 3 scams in last couple years because I had set low alert amounts. Its fun to realize you stopped some piece of work that I hope paid money for my card numbers. This is very easy to do and extremely effective. Plus NEVER use you CC in debit mode ANYWHERE.

One last recommendation is data security; hard wire ethernet cable at house versus wireless for financial transactions, use VPN for all financial transactions, use security software for firewall like Norton, scrub your PC after every financial transaction to jnsure all passwords, links etc have been deleted. I refuse to use phone for any transaction . Yes, you do have to be this paranoid.

If you shut down your credit applications and use your CC alerts, you will stop 99% of the losses.

I would also file a criminal complaint in the jurisdiction the loan occurred with whatever evidence the bank can provide. You will prob have to strong arm them to get the evidence. My experience was that.
Good luck!

Very Good advice Muddy. I froze my credit in 2017. They can still find ways here and there to scam you.

So sorry to hear about Len's bad experience.

We have entered a world without honor where your stuff really belongs to whoever can steal,lie, cheat. Nothing is really safe, not the credit agencies that supposedly watch either....

Lock down everything, bury the rest.

Stay vigilant.