Re: AOPA VISA card fraud via XM Radio? NOT!

[Dan Luke]

In a previous thread I reported that my brand new AOPA VISA card had a
fraudulent charge attempted against it. I suspected the thieves got the
information from XM Radio, since the only place I had used the new card
was to change my XM billing information. Well, that wasn't it.

When MBNA issued me a new card, they failed to cancel the on line
banking settings of the old account. All the thieves had to do was go
on line, enter my SS# and old PIN (which had been data mined from one of
my computers 3 weeks ago - another story), and be given the new account
#! They then changed the address and phone # for the new account and
charged some stuff.

My apologies to XM Radio for implicating them in my earlier post. It
was MBNA VISA's fault.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Cub Driver]

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 09:42:55 -0500, "Dan Luke"
> wrote:

>(which had been data mined from one of
>my computers 3 weeks ago - another story),

I for one would like to hear the story.

Also, is MBNA covering the charges?

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! weblog www.vivabush.org

[Dan Luke]

"Cub Driver" wrote:
> >(which had been data mined from one of
> >my computers 3 weeks ago - another story),
>
> I for one would like to hear the story.

It's a dismal one. About three weeks ago, I started having trouble with
my DSL connection and called BellSouth tech support. In the process of
trouble shooting, we disabled the firewall, Norton AV, AdAware, etc.
while trying different drivers. Apparently, at some point during all
this, a data miner loaded and got enough information for thieves to
access my old VISA account. They changed the name and address and
ordered a bunch of stuff. They also attempted to establish a credit
account with Dell and order some computers. Both of these attempts were
stopped by the companies' fraud detection procedures. I then had to go
through the process of filing a police report, putting my name on fraud
watch with the credit agencies, closing my bank accounts, etc., etc.

BTW, the DSL problem turned out to be a faulty USB modem.

> Also, is MBNA covering the charges?

Yes.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[tscottme]

"Dan Luke" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> It's a dismal one. About three weeks ago, I started having trouble with
> my DSL connection and called BellSouth tech support. In the process of
> trouble shooting, we disabled the firewall, Norton AV, AdAware, etc.
> while trying different drivers. Apparently, at some point during all
> this, a data miner loaded and got enough information for thieves to
> access my old VISA account. They changed the name and address and
> ordered a bunch of stuff. They also attempted to establish a credit
> account with Dell and order some computers. Both of these attempts were
> stopped by the companies' fraud detection procedures. I then had to go
> through the process of filing a police report, putting my name on fraud
> watch with the credit agencies, closing my bank accounts, etc., etc.
>

You probably have received a graduate level education in identity theft
already, but you might want to check out http://www.idtheftcenter.org and
the more general info for a consumer info radio show at www.clarkhoward.com.
One point Clark makes is after you have had some sort of identity theft
incident, always keep a copy of the police report with you when in public.
Otherwise you may have a difficult time proving that your ID is not the
fraudulent ID. It's not uncommon for the genuine person to be arrested or
detained while attempting to use their credit card, if the thief has stirred
up enough trouble.

I sympathize with you about the computer problem. I had a Windows problem
and had to switch to another HD. In getting the system back up, I forgot or
actually thought I had already updated Windows for security patches, I let
my system run for over a week using a very vulnerable Windows and IE
version. When I realized what had happened and started fixing that problem,
my system was already infested with all sorts of trojan horse programs.
Thankfully I used an encrypted password manager and have since changed all
passwords again. I'm just waiting for my bill statements to arrive.

--
Scott

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, "Dan Luke" > said:
>> Also, is MBNA covering the charges?
>
>Yes.

I use my MBNA card for all my on-line purchases (a throwback to when it
had a very low credit limit) and for my chart subscriptions and the like.
In the past 6 months it's been stolen twice - the first time it was used
to buy a few dozen subscriptions to the same porn web site, the second
time it was used to (attempt) to buy something worth seven hundred dollars
from the US Sailing Association web site. This is puzzling because I
don't use Windows or Internet Exploder, so it probably wasn't stolen off
my computer, but more likely off one of the vendors sites. It's also
annoying, because every time it happens I have to call up a bunch of
people and change the card information on my subscriptions.

On the plus side, in both cases MBNA spotted the fraud before I got my
bill, so I wasn't out a penny.

--
Paul Tomblin > http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"What we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that
gives everything its value." - Thomas Paine.

[W2K3Newbie]

I prefer to use my "Citi" credit card for all online purchases because
they have a deal to issue you a temporary, one-shot account number
good for a single use. The deal is free to cardmembers, and since the
account number expires after you use it once, then fraudsters cannot
make use of it even if they steal it from a vendor's poorly-secured
e-commerce server. It's only a very small inconvenience to have to
click thru a sequence of webpages on Citi's website to issue you the
one-shot number, but the peace of mind is well worth it.