Suppliers ~ Was Your Merchant Account Compromised?

[islandgirl]

Heads Up Suppliers ~ Just in case you are not aware but.......

Many of us on this board has had our Credit Cards compromised with similar charges.

There seems to be to many similarities regarding charges and suppliers used for this to be just a confidence.

Here are some threads regarding the Stolen Credit Card Numbers.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=97195

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=96965

http://www.craftserver.com/forums showthread.php?p=893859#post893859

PLEASE check the security of your sites and check with your merchant account company's. You may have been hacked!!!

Thanks!!

Edited March 7, 2011 by islandgirl

[classiccandle]

The issue of identity theft is a vast and complicated one. The type we're speaking of here is credit card identity theft. There are many ways this can happen and ordering things online is only one.

Most of us will go to a restaurant and without a thought hand our credit card to the server who then takes it, we assume, to the cash register to run. It's simple enough for the server to take out their cell phone and take a picture of the front and back of your card and they have all the info they need to either create a new card or go online to purchase items. Some wear skimmers, devices used to swipe and record your credit card information and then sell it to an accomplice who creates a fake credit card with your information or goes online to sell your information in one of the many chat rooms where thieves buy and sell all kinds of personally identifiable information. They buy and sell information such as drivers license numbers, social security numbers, bank account information, medical information, mortgage information, etc.

Thieves can also steal your information by hacking sites which keep your information on file and then use it in the same manner mentioned above.

Unfortunately there's absolutely nothing you can do to keep this from happening, short of purchasing with cash only. Fortunately, through the advent of online banking, we now have the ability to see immediately when purchases are made. It's in our best interest to be vigilant and, if you're concerned about identity theft, check your bank accounts several times a day and check your credit report at least once a year. For those of you who don't know you are now entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the big three credit reporting repositories through the following website - www.annualcreditreport.com and it's the ONLY authorized site for the free reports so don't be fooled by other companies saying you can get a free credit report through their site.

My advice regarding your credit report is to get one free report every four months from the three credit reporting repositories. For example, in January get your free credit report from Experian, in May get one from TransUnion, and in September get one from Equifax and then repeat the cycle in January. That way you're not having to wait an entire year to get another report.

Edit: I'm not associated in any way with the website mentioned in this post.

Edited March 7, 2011 by classiccandle

[islandgirl]

Thieves can also steal your information by hacking sites which keep your information on file and then use it in the same manner mentioned above.

This is what seems to have happened since so many of us on this board were hit on the same days and had some of the same site used for bogus orders.

There seems to be a few suppliers that we all have used our compromised cards at. Which has many concerned.

I want to make the suppliers aware that their site may have been compromised.

I have my credit card settings on my Credit Card accounts set up that so that when any online purchase are made, I get an email letting me know that.

That way I see weird charges immediately on my CC.

.

Edited March 7, 2011 by islandgirl

[Lorelei]

I have a friend that used to be an expert witness in investigations and court cases for hacking and fraud. He used to tell me how these things happened.

Don't forget our own credit card companies also can be hacked. I recall a case where whole blocks of credit card numbers were stolen and then used after a hacker was able to penetrate for a short period of time.

These numbers were then sold to other hackers who used them to purchase games etc.

Also the same used to happen with long distance cards that could be purchased.

My bank sent out a notice this summer that some Visa card numbers were compromised. Yikes.

It makes me wonder if there are other people also outside of the candle/soaper community that were hacked on those dates above?

Edited March 8, 2011 by Lorelei