OT: Credit Card Skimming

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Probably a thread on this somewhere, but I am too lazy and pissed off to look for it. I just received a text from Bank of America to verify three transactions. They were all fraudulent. 1 declined for $1.00, $1.00 accepted, and $500 accepted. Gas station in Austin TX and I have not been to Austin in a year. (I am keeping my eye on you IBleedMaroon.)

I have about a dozen autodraft bills on this card, utilities, cable, gym, insurance, etc. I use it once in a while to buy online always legit stuff like Amazon. I mostly use it for restaurants, groceries, and gas.

BOA will make me whole, which is great. The card is cancelled and I will get a new one in a week. This is the second time it's happened since Thanksgiving 2016. The last time the "card" was used in a town a similar distance in Texas. I live in Dallas.

Am I getting skimmed at gas stations? Scammed by restaurant employees? If anyone has a good game plan on prevention I am all ears.

Maybe buy gift cards? Fuel only credit cards? I really don't want to resort to cash only.

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

I typically use credit cards at all gas pumps. It is easier to prevent fraud and get a new card. I also only use a credit card online.

 

[notoriousD_O_G]

I typically use credit cards at all gas pumps. It is easier to prevent fraud and get a new card. I also only use a credit card online.

I only buy gas with my Amex now because my debit card got skimmed a few years back. Luckily my bank caught it but it took a couple of weeks to get a new card.

 

[Digging dog]

Few years back I fought Bank of America for months. Apparently somebody from Hattiesburg got my info got a cc and maxed it out in my name. (10k). Only cc I ever owned was a Discover card. I finally cleared it up but it took almost a year. It was a complete pain in the ***. I think Bank of America has security issues because this isn’t the first few sorties I’ve heard about them.

 

[RocketDawg]

Probably a thread on this somewhere, but I am too lazy and pissed off to look for it. I just received a text from Bank of America to verify three transactions. They were all fraudulent. 1 declined for $1.00, $1.00 accepted, and $500 accepted. Gas station in Austin TX and I have not been to Austin in a year. (I am keeping my eye on you IBleedMaroon.)

I have about a dozen autodraft bills on this card, utilities, cable, gym, insurance, etc. I use it once in a while to buy online always legit stuff like Amazon. I mostly use it for restaurants, groceries, and gas.

BOA will make me whole, which is great. The card is cancelled and I will get a new one in a week. This is the second time it's happened since Thanksgiving 2016. The last time the "card" was used in a town a similar distance in Texas. I live in Dallas.

Am I getting skimmed at gas stations? Scammed by restaurant employees? If anyone has a good game plan on prevention I am all ears.

Maybe buy gift cards? Fuel only credit cards? I really don't want to resort to cash only.

Most likely it's the waiters/waitresses at restaurants, particularly if you hand them the card and they carry it out of sight. It's happened to me twice in the past few years. Many years ago, I had my card number stolen by a ring of thieves in Philadelphia (PA) when I checked into a hotel. The DA later broke the ring up but they had stolen about $3M total.

You don't have to pay for fraudulent charges on a credit card, but the problem is you have to update all your accounts for auto-pay and others like Amazon, which can be a pain, plus you might forget some. It's mainly an inconvenience.

Debit cards are far worse. I never use my debit card for anything except cash at at ATM. If someone steals that card number/PIN they can wipe out your bank account and there's no recourse. So it's wise to stick with credit cards.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Last year we were in Paris (the paris) and had 5 $100 charges at has stations across North Georgia. Usaa texted us as they started hitting. Funny stuff taken out right away.

 

[JoMo MoJo]

If you tip generously that is the best guarantee your card won’t get skimmed.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Same thing happened to me

But they did it for a small amount I didn't catch right away. They somehow set it up to be recognized as a recurring charge, so even after I caught it, canceled the card, was reimbursed and using a new card, the canceled card was still being hit each month and passed along to my new card. No clue how this works, but according to Citi Bank, it has something to do with the way it was set up electronically (but my legitimate recurring charges all stopped). Another crazy thing, the name used for the charge was nowhere close to my name. How in the he'll is the charge not rejected if the name on the purchase doesn't match the name on the actual card. This should be easy for credit card companies to reject, but they don't. I've since used the wrong name one time when making an online purchase and had no issue. Don't know if that is just a Citi Bank issue, but I doubt it.

 

[JoMo MoJo]

I wouldn’t try that trick too many times and I sure wouldn’t point out to CitiBank that you did this. They may not be so quick to forgive charges you say were fraudulent the next time.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

I clarified to say i tried once to see what happened. I would prefer they stop fraudulent charges, and this should be an easy stop.

 

[mcdawg22]

I work for a Credit Union so I know about these things. Businesses are getting hacked every day. We learn about breaches once a week with our members and we have a very small footprint. The most likely cause of card fraud is a merchant breach. The waitress is possible but it's not as prevelant as some would have you think. Skimmers are a possibility as well. Here's a tip, anytime you get gas or use an ATM pull in the card reader, skimmers are easy to pull off. Lastly it sucks it's you but it just happens to hit certain people. I have 3 or 4 members that have had 3 cards compromised in less than two years and they aren't careless with where they use their cards. I on the other hand haven't been compromised in 19 years and I use my card at gas stations from Florida to Mississippi, Amazon, PSN, chain restaurants hole in the walls, PayPal, EBay, mom and pops, and Walmart. There is no rhyme or reason it just happens. One thing that sucks is authorities don't pursue it, normally because the victim is in a different area than the criminal. I had a member that had a CC compromised for 3600 at a hotel in Chicago, the thief was still in the room when the victim figured it out, Chicago PD would do nothing. And the hotel made the thief leave. One more thing, some FI's have GPS features in their app where if the card is used somewhere other than where the phone is the charge will decline. Of course location services burns up the battery.

 

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

I found a way to stop skimming at gas pumps.

1) set up Apple Pay or android pay on your phone
2) download the Exxon Mobil app on your phone

You can pull up to an Exxon and the app knows where you are based on location settings. Pay attention to which pump you are at and pick it on the app. Then you can pay for the fuel through Apple Pay. It preauthorizes the pump while you are still in the car. Just get out, choose the octane fuel you want, and pump. When you are done it covers your fuel. No card goes into the pump. Plus Apple Pay is secure. The app basically runs on the same system as their Speedpass.

If your location services is off on your phone, it will just ask you to scan the QR code on the pump

I have looked on the App Store and I haven’t found any other fuel company’s app that can do that.

And use Apple Pay wherever you can. You can use it on any terminal that has the ability for “tap to pay” card setup.

 

[aTotal360]

After watching this video, I pull on all card slots.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Thanks all. I am going to give Android Pay a stab for gas stations, pay cash at the restaurant (except for the Cracker Barrel), and cut up my debit card.

 

[RocketDawg]

If you tip generously that is the best guarantee your card won’t get skimmed.

That's not necessarily true. I always tip 20% or higher, and have the waiter/waitress steal my number and use it twice in the last 6 or 7 years.

I don't remember who posted it here, but no, the police will do nothing about it. I turned in a report to them, along with the place it happened and the guy's name, and they didn't do a thing. The last time I didn't even bother. When I had my card stolen in Philadelphia, I called the police and they just laughed, said they have a murder a day to deal with and can't worry about petty crime. I thought that's what the police were for .... Later, I found out that the DA there was after them and caught them and that's who I should have called.

 

[LawDawg97]

This is not universally true

I don't remember who posted it here, but no, the police will do nothing about it.

Just bc you had a bad experience. I had a PD that investigated a situation like this for a client bc it had happened frequently in the area and they busted a whole ring of scammers at a local restaurant.

You can always ask if the local PD has an investigator that handles these cases. If not the local DA or the AG may help. Just depends on where you are and how the office is run.

 

[ronpolk]

That's not necessarily true. I always tip 20% or higher, and have the waiter/waitress steal my number and use it twice in the last 6 or 7 years.

I don't remember who posted it here, but no, the police will do nothing about it. I turned in a report to them, along with the place it happened and the guy's name, and they didn't do a thing. The last time I didn't even bother. When I had my card stolen in Philadelphia, I called the police and they just laughed, said they have a murder a day to deal with and can't worry about petty crime. I thought that's what the police were for .... Later, I found out that the DA there was after them and caught them and that's who I should have called.

How did the waiter use your card? Typically, you need to have someone’s address to make online purchases and would need to actually have the card for in store purchases.

The poster above that works for a credit union made a good post. Most of the card fraud is done through skimmers or businesses getting hacked. Very rarely is a theft like what you have described.

 

[pDigital32Dawg]

My advice would be to continue using credit cards. I had one card hit with fraudulent charges, which was my Discover card. I received an alert and watched charges pop up on my account as someone went on a shopping spree outside of Washington, D.C. Discover shut it down very quickly for me. They promptly sent a replacement card plus reimbursed the charges. Inconvenient yes, but not a deal breaker by any means.

 

[SyonaraStanz]

Credit and debit card compromises are simply the nature of the beast these days. Like someone said earlier, they happen daily, and its most likely a terminal with malware. Unfortunately, the malware goes undetected for a lengthy period of time, and when it's found, hundreds or thousands of cards have been compromised. It's also very difficult to pinpoint where your compromise took place.

Your best bet is to see if your provider has the On/Off feature within their mobile app or a similar app, like SecurLOCK. Use that security feature if available. Some of these apps also offer other control features such as turning off e-commerce charges and disallowing charges in specified areas of the country.

Also, use a mobile wallet where available - Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay. They don't share your CC number with the terminals, so the malware on a compromised terminal can do nothing with the code your device shares with it.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Probably a thread on this somewhere, but I am too lazy and pissed off to look for it. I just received a text from Bank of America to verify three transactions. They were all fraudulent. 1 declined for $1.00, $1.00 accepted, and $500 accepted. Gas station in Austin TX and I have not been to Austin in a year. (I am keeping my eye on you IBleedMaroon.)

I have about a dozen autodraft bills on this card, utilities, cable, gym, insurance, etc. I use it once in a while to buy online always legit stuff like Amazon. I mostly use it for restaurants, groceries, and gas.

BOA will make me whole, which is great. The card is cancelled and I will get a new one in a week. This is the second time it's happened since Thanksgiving 2016. The last time the "card" was used in a town a similar distance in Texas. I live in Dallas.

Am I getting skimmed at gas stations? Scammed by restaurant employees? If anyone has a good game plan on prevention I am all ears.

Maybe buy gift cards? Fuel only credit cards? I really don't want to resort to cash only.

I've had to change card numbers three times since I've lived here. Now I only get gas in two places I can trust. Once back in 09 it was copied by a restaurant employee.

Big business here in the United Soviet Socialists of Texas. Moving out to the west of Austin this year after land taxes completely doubled in 10 years. About a 30% jump just last year.


ETA: Most places are going to the chip reader to stop this out here.

 

[jxndawg]

Only cards I use are a Regions debit card and a pay-off-every-month AmEx. Christmas Eve 2015 I got a call from Regions fraud monitoring asking if I was really trying to spend $700 at a store in the mall. Had to cancel the card and the replacement took about a week to come in b/c of the holidays, so I had to AmEx it for a week. Then, the beginning Friday of the following Labor Day weekend 2016, I got another call from Regions asking why I got $200 cash back after spending $4.00 at a barbershop in Miami, just before I spent $700 at a nearby Home Depot. Had to cancel the card again, redo all my automatic drafts, go to a branch and fill out an affidavit to get my $$ back, etc. Total pain in the ***. Lady at Regions told me the second time that it’s common for them to wait to use the card on big holiday weekends - Christmas, Labor Day, etc. - b/c they’re hoping fraud monitoring chalks up unusual purchases to people traveling/making big purchases b/c of the holiday.

Then, about 3 mos ago, AmEx called wanting to know how I bought lunch at a Subway in Mississippi, only to appear at a store in Canada an hour later trying to charge an assload of stuff.

I agree with whoever said sometimes it’s just random. I don’t shop anywhere unusual or sketchy, online or in real life. All I know is I’d love to meet the gentlemen responsible in person so I can properly introduce myself.

 

[EngDawg]

1. Buy gas at a pump that has a clear view of the counter in the store.

2. Visually inspect the gas pump before you begin pumping; look for signs it has been tampered with.

3. Never let your card out of sight. I.e. pay with cash at restaurants where you pay at the table.

4. If you are buying things online, use a secured, preferably wired, connection. Make sure all computers on your network have a reputable and updated antivirus software.

These are far from fool proof, but SHOULD reduce the chance that someone gets your card info.

 

[Shamoan]

I have a buddy that "switches his card on" via cell phone app every time he uses his card to prevent this type of stuff. I have bank plus and they seemingly get regularly raided.

 

[garddog]

Gas pumps with the stupid tent signs on top of them. Beware of those. They put their little device in the middle of the tent sign where it’s hard to see then come pick it up a few hours later.

Never ever use your debit pin at restaurants or gas stations. If pin is captured the bank is not responsible.

 

[kired]

I was in Vancouver earlier this year. My cc doesn’t have the chip, and everywhere I tried to use it people were like “wow, haven’t seen one of those in a long time” ... Guess my MS bank is behind the times.

Last year in Orlando at our hotel, I had a strange occurrence. Late that night my wife wanted a coke so I went out to get one from the vending machine (takes cc but not cash). No luck - it’s out of coke. So I go down a floor - out too. Go down another, same thing. Finally I go up two floors above me and find one that has coke. Anyway, next day someone tries to buy stuff using my cc at Walmart online. I can only assume the drink machines were stealing my card info. I mean, what’s the chances that 4 of 5 machines were out of freaking coke? It’s almost like someone had specifically set them up to do that.

 

[Dawg1976]

I agree with whoever said sometimes it’s just random. I don’t shop anywhere unusual or sketchy, online or in real life.
.

I'm pretty much the same. My debit card is strictly for cash w/d's.....primarily at one bank. And I have one cc for gas only as it pays 5% cash back. Some of the tips here are good. I'm an old 17'er and paying via android device is somewhat of a turnoff. But I might look into that. And I might modify my routine when traveling out of state. Perhaps buying a prepaid card for gas and small charges.

Btw...luckily I have never had a fraudulent charge on a cc.

 

[RocketDawg]

Yes, of course you're right. I should have included "in my experience".

 

[AROB44]

I've had to change card numbers three times since I've lived here. Now I only get gas in two places I can trust. Once back in 09 it was copied by a restaurant employee.

Big business here in the United Soviet Socialists of Texas. Moving out to the west of Austin this year after land taxes completely doubled in 10 years. About a 30% jump just last year.


ETA: Most places are going to the chip reader to stop this out here.

Well....you do live in a state that does not have a state income tax. Where do you think they should get tax revenues or do you think taxes should be abolished entirely?

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Well....you do live in a state that does not have a state income tax. Where do you think they should get tax revenues or do you think taxes should be abolished entirely?

I love our tax situation in Texas. Yeah my property taxes are high, but that's because my home value has doubled in the last six years. Big business is rushing into the state and jobs and income are through the roof. IBleedMaroon is in Austin though and that city is left of San Francisco and more expensive. Home of the flip flop millionaire. 1200 sq ft houses on 1/8th acre lots on numbered streets may be getting taxed at values close to a million bucks, which means taxes owed of $20,000 and up.

 

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

I was at a conference last year and one of the speakers was discussing cyber security and specifically identity theft. He pulled up a site on the dark web where you can purchase stolen credit cards, and showed us just how many people have their credit cards listed on these sites. He pulled up a small town in Minn., population of like 2700 (including children), and there were 2200 credit cards for sale from that area. His theory is that people try to purchase stolen cards for people in or around their own vicinity, as that is usually less likely to be flagged by the banks and credit card companies.

I think the big issue is the big retail hacks, like the Target one a while back, and things like the Equifax breach. If you were caught up in the Equifax breach, your personal information sufficient to open all sorts of accounts in your name will be available for purchase and use by criminals for pretty much ever. It's unfathomably scary to think about.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

The whole CC number system is stupid. You can generate likely credit card numbers and randomly guess at the CVV. If you come up with 10,000 valid numbers and have a 1/1,000 chance at getting the CVV correct, you end up with 10 valid credit card/CVV pairs. I had my number stolen this way by someone in Italy.

I suppose Amex gives you a better chance with a 4 digit CVV.

The best thing you can do is turn on all the alerts and restrictions that you can, especially on your debit card. Disable all international transactions and set up messages for anytime the card is used, especially for online transactions. Disable any debit transaction that does not use the physical card. I have detected fraud before the card companies by enabling alerts. Last time I did this for my Visa the guy on the phone chastised me for using my card at gas stations and not properly checking for skimmers. I told him I only use my Amex at gas stations because it gives me a better cashback rate than the Visa and the guy shut up.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I was at a conference last year and one of the speakers was discussing cyber security and specifically identity theft. He pulled up a site on the dark web where you can purchase stolen credit cards, and showed us just how many people have their credit cards listed on these sites. He pulled up a small town in Minn., population of like 2700 (including children), and there were 2200 credit cards for sale from that area. His theory is that people try to purchase stolen cards for people in or around their own vicinity, as that is usually less likely to be flagged by the banks and credit card companies.

I think the big issue is the big retail hacks, like the Target one a while back, and things like the Equifax breach. If you were caught up in the Equifax breach, your personal information sufficient to open all sorts of accounts in your name will be available for purchase and use by criminals for pretty much ever. It's unfathomably scary to think about.

This is kind of eye opening information. It sounds like it takes a little time to sell the info off. I may just be more proactive. I might just make it an annual tradition. Put all my crap on one card. Use it for everything. Every 12 months request a new card number and update all of my auto pay. If you plan ahead, I imagine it would be less frustrating. Gotta be easier than doing taxes.

 

[CrookedLetta4Eva]

Gas pumps with the stupid tent signs on top of them. Beware of those. They put their little device in the middle of the tent sign where it’s hard to see then come pick it up a few hours later.

Never ever use your debit pin at restaurants or gas stations. If pin is captured the bank is not responsible.

This is 100% false. My pin was captured. Card duplicated and money stolen from an ATM. Bank had the money back in my account in 4 days.

 

[patdog]

This is 100% false. My pin was captured. Card duplicated and money stolen from an ATM. Bank had the money back in my account in 4 days.

It's actually 100% true. Your bank may have made you whole, but they're not required to. With a credit card, your loss is legally limited to $50, as long as you report the issue within a reasonable time. With a debit card, you're at the mercy of your bank and could potentially lose everything in the account.

 

[GloryDawg]

Last year my debit card got hacked. My bank caught it and non of the charges got through. I went back and made notes to all the business that I used my debit card. Three months later my card got hacked again. The bank caught it as well. Both times it would have been impossible for me to use them where they were used and that is how they caught it. I went back and looked every where I used my card again. The only common place I used it was the Dunkin Donuts there on 25N in Flowood. I called my bank and they said that it was used at a Dunkin Donut in New York.

I have not been back to that Dunkin Donut and I have not had my card hack again.

 

[mcdawg22]

This is 100% false. My pin was captured. Card duplicated and money stolen from an ATM. Bank had the money back in my account in 4 days.

Yeah. Most FI's are going to dig into the reasoning for a PIN breach. If you give your PIN to a girlfriend then break up and she uses your card, most places aren't going to refund it because you willingly gave someone access to your account. Most banks tell people not to use debit because the bank pays the exchange fee. When you use credit the merchant does.

 

[campshelbydog842003]

I've got a question. My mother in law just bought a Subway in Jackson this past week (the one right by the hospital in Fondren). She just went in yesterday for the first time to see how it was being run, and none of the employees keep receipts of the credit card transactions (huge red flag to me). Also, she said that they had around 120 customers yesterday, but the income for those 120 customers seemed to be well short of what she thought it would be. The cash drawer checks out she says. I told her that there had to be some sort of credit card skimming going on. I told her to start making them keep all of the credit card receipts and match it up with what you're bringing in on the credit card machine. Can anyone else give me some advice of what she can do to get the credit card machine checked out? I was thinking that maybe an employee was in on this skim job.

 

[BiscuitEater]

If you tip generously that is the best guarantee your card won’t get skimmed.

Nope. BEST guarantee is to pay CA$H.

 

[patdog]

She should be able to print a report of every transaction that went through that machine and match that up against the register report (that should be done on a daily basis already). Skimmers don't generally steal the $10 or so from the legitimate transaction they got the card number from. They use the number they stole to make purchases elsewhere.

 

[BiscuitEater]

ETA: Most places are going to the chip reader to stop this out here.

Don't think that that chip is ANY more secure. Most of Europe now requires a pin number with a chip card. They are 10 years ahead of us.

So, when someone gets .. say one million credit card numbers from Target or some other breach, they have struck gold in the US. Not so much if it was in Europe.