Ouch man, that's gotta hurt. I'm fifteen, so I don't really have to worry about stuff like that yet, but I do know that it won't be long. I'm sorry you got burned like that, and I wish there was something I could do. It just goes to show, you can't be too carefull.





w00t! All your oil are belong to U.S.

Yeah, protecting yourself from scams like that are important. I recommend The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnik. It's full of ways to protect yourself and your business from fraud, identity theft, anything like that.

And Killa, how do you manage 19 hours of GTA in one week? That's half a job.

I work retail and we've got a handy dandy manual on how to spot credit/debit card fraud. Some of the things alleged to be happening now are quite amazing, down to the crooks ironing out the numbers on a card and stamping in new ones. Make sure you do business at places that always ask you to present ID when using checks or cards. Caution never killed the cat.

@ Steve: How do I manage 20 hrs of GTA in one week? (Actually three days in this case.) Well, with what you said about the job, I'm currently unemployed because my parents say that I must finish school before I can get a job (wtf kind of philocophy is that?) However, since I'm supposed to start homeschooling next year, I'll be able to get me one then. As to what, I'm not sure.

@ Finalday: Again, I'm sorry you got burned so badly, best of luck and I hope you get everything straightned out.

Damn man thats rough i hope you can clear it up without too much trouble.
my tip if at all possible work with cash and don't get a credit card. i actually had a credit card company that set up an account for me without my permission. they claimed that a representitive spoke to me on the phone and setup the account, i spoke with no one from that or any credit card company, when they sent me a bill i called them and gave them all sorts of trouble and also lodged a couple of complaints against them for neglegence nothing came of it but they made that account vanish fast. so when one of these companys send me those Pre-approved (for highway robbery) cards i shread them into dust. my saying about these things "if it needs a credit card I don't need it"

Hey FD ... if a lesson is in what happened to you, can we get a general idea of how you got taken?

Somebody use your old bankcard or something?

well arton, at least you get a free pen out of it =)

Indy, someone had gotten a hold of an old card number, made their own and some how got into the system to create a pin. Don't know how. They are in California, used it at a 7-11 2 times and another location once. That number is now locked and being tracked. I am suppose to have my money back in the account tonight at midnight. I will wait and see. Always watch your six and now your debit cards. If you get a recept back, make sure it only lists the last 4 numbers of your card on it, if it lists all them, complain to the owners about it and mention privacy issues and the trouble they can get into for it. As some one gets that number, and makes their own card, then trouble comes.

Ouch. Thanks Fd.

A while back we had a run in local restaurants and stores in which the sales clerks or tellers were part of a fraud ring. They had small palm sized card readers that they used to swipe and record customer's credit card data with.

They would use them at the stores where they "swiped" them to run up big bills.

I don't like giving my card over to cashiers any more. So I really have to trust a store that doesn't have one of those swipe your card yourself gizmos at the counter.

The Money, for the most part, is back. It's going to tak a little more to clean up the fine lines and its no fun.

it's also not unknown for you card details to be used to access illegal porno sites and for money laundering - this can mean the FBI or whatever your local law enforcement agency is knocking on your door. Don't assume that your innocence will protect you! I know of 2 people locally who've been burned like this and had their careers blighted and they had committed no crime - unless having your card details stolen and cloned can be counted a crime?

last year I recieved a letter from my bank saying I was heavily overdrawn. I checked my account and found a whole string of direct debits to firms Id never signed up with, some of which looked quite legit except i knew I'd never signed up with them. I had the devil's own time convincing the bank these were fakes, some were for dial-up internet access with Tiscali, but I already have NTL cable. Lots of others were for online shopping. the overall bill, run up in under 2 weeks, was just under a grand. I got it all back eventually and the charges and interest refunded and the bank even found a few individual ones from previously that I'd missed.

the big hits are obvious and you can't miss 'em. but it's the little 5.99 and 10.99 a month ones you miss when you're skimming over your monthly statement. Check every single transaction! Online fraud is not just a few greedy shopkeepers or a garage assistant who's swiped your card, it is major organised crime and funds a variety of heinous mafia activities in Russia and other such relatively lawless regions, nor just at home.

Edited by - Tawakalna on 3/5/2006 1:08:55 AM

Wasn't there a guy who got access via making his own company, to millions of credit card details in the US? He debited peoples accounts for just a few cents here and there, but it all added up.

one of the most widely used banking scams of modern times is the *skimming* of the halfpenny. Out of circulation for a couple of decades now, the halfpenny is not recognised by banking practice yet many transactions involve fractions of a penny. Essentially, these fractions are skimmed off and go into separate accounts of the banks, and over time with millions of transactions, it adds up to a fair old pile. Criminals within banks have used and abused this many times, as well as old accounts with only a few pounds in, and the banks themselves also used to help themselves to aged and forgotten accounts. You will recall that recently John *Two Jags* Prescott announced that banks would have to take greater steps to identify and track down the legal owners of old accounts regardless of how little or how much was in them. I can't remembert he actual figure for old accounts but it came to many, many millions.

Here, there is a big practice of thieves, to make a machin that fits over a Debit machin, so that when you slide your card in at teh ATM to get cash, they get your card number and pin number. then secondly, is companys that "Lose" you confidential data with card numbers and soforth on it.