Comments on: Credit Card Identity Theft In Action (Maybe)

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:26:15 +0000

Clearly, we cannot live without debt or making a purchase using our credit cards and this is what prompts fraud. I do hope that more people will become of this modus operandi so that the number of fraud victims will lessen. ID theft is among the most committed form of fraud these days because ill-minded people have easy access on our accounts, especially when they go dumpster diving and see some useful information that they can use to their advantage. Anti-fraud services mean well I suppose and we also need to protect our finances by reporting any anomalies right away.

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:06:56 +0000

One way to prevent identity thieves from getting a hold of your personal information is to have copies of your credit records shredded properly. Do not expose your card too often, the same goes with all your personal numbers and passwords.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:13:30 +0000

I received a letter exactly like this from Bank of America on March 27, 2009, and much like the author of this article, I appreciated the actions BofA took to close my account and issue me a new card. However, I am exceedingly curious about the nature of the compromise (who, what, where, why, when…How?). I called BofA 11 times to inquire about this information, only to be transferred or have my call dropped. First, they told me that they did not have the information I was requesting, then they told me that they could not release it due to an ongoing investigation. I asked who or what entity was investigating this incident, and they thought that saying “the police” would suffice. I then spoke with a manager named Michael that told me that he was not familiar with any case in which a consumer was able to obtain any of the above information. I do not want this information so I can cause undue harm to BofA or any third party, however I would like to maintain detailed knowledge of these incidents as an informed and educated consumer with the hope of altering my future spending patterns with the goal of avoiding companies that do not sufficiently protect my personal information. I have submitted complaints to the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, and Richard Blumenthal, the Attorney General in my state of CT. We will see what results from these submissions.

By: Personal Finance News Carnival Volume 3 | Peak Personal Finance

Personal Finance News Carnival Volume 3 | Peak Personal Finance — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:24:03 +0000

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By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:47:26 +0000

I got the same letter from BoA today. Funny, just a couple days ago I checked my account online and the closed credit card number was still there. I checked after reading the card carrier and sure enough, the potentially compromised account number is gone, replaced by the new one. I also received the letter and card on the same day, though the letter was dated March 5.

I have to say BofA did the smart thing in closing the old account and issuing a new card immediately. I wish they would’ve emailed a notice as well – I did receive my normal “payment has posted” alerts.

However, BofA is the first card company I’ve heard from regarding this and I have several other Visa and MC cards. I’m wondering now if the other banks will take the same actions as BofA.

I’m also curious who the “third party” was and how the “compromise” occurred.

Fortunately, I have never had a fradulent transaction on any of my credit cards. The closest I ever had was about 15 years ago when they used those dialup Verifone terminals most places, and a shop was having trouble with the machine where the card didn’t seem to go through until the 3rd try. In that case, it was a legitmate mistake though, and the shop gave me no trouble about reporting the error to the card issuer (I only noticed it because the card had a 0 balance to start with and when I checked balance, my available credit was reduced by 3 times the purchase amount).

From these comments, I’d say it’s not really BofA’s responsibility to give you free credit monitoring, but it IS the 3rd party’s responsibility to pay for it, and I think it should be your choice of credit monitoring services.

Companies that handle sensitive financial information (be it credit card, checking account or whatever) HAVE to be held responsible for these things, and they should NEVER get away with just a slap on the wrist (especially in situations like ChoicePoint, where they were using live data in an unauthorised environment).

The sad thing is that some of these are probably inside jobs, and in a large organization it’s very difficult to be sure what everyone’s up to – the micromanagement that would be required results in a hostile workplace, and all of the good employees will move on. You have to have employees you can trust, but then again, you’d be surprised at who might be the thief/spy/etc. (I know I’ve seen people fired for theft at various jobs that I never would’ve suspected.)

By: Money Hacks Carnival #55 - Thank You Edition | Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:03:25 +0000

[...] presents Credit Card Identity Theft in Action Maybe posted at Money Smart [...]

By: tom

tom — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:14:09 +0000

I say you call them and make a big deal out of it, go as far as telling them you will cancel the card and go someone else because as you said, essentially they are responsible for that compromised situation, and yet they want you to pay for their slack?

I say you tell them to shove it.

By: Cathy @ Chief Family Officer

Cathy @ Chief Family Officer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:53:27 +0000

I got one of those too. My new cards and the heads up letter arrived on the same day, and I opened the new cards first. The letter with those had the standard language, “Thank you for reporting your card lost or stolen” and really freaked me out since I obviously hadn’t done that. I was on hold for 10 minutes before it occurred to me to open the other letter! My husband and I just assumed it was a data breach – there was at least one report within the last few weeks of a major breach so I didn’t really think too much of it. I will, however, pull my credit report in a couple of weeks to be safe.

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» Getting Spring Fever and Some Personal Finance Links — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:40:03 +0000

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By: ckphoto

ckphoto — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:18:34 +0000

It was BoA… do something. A friend had her purse stolen, closed her account immediately. Some stupid teller and branch manager still let an obviously forged check get cashed, from the new account.

Sure, BoA admitted it was their mistake and said the manage will get in trouble, but they let it happen in the first place. They don’t care about you or your money.