Ever have a credit card number stolen???

[maxamuus]

Just checked my CC i use for my AHS purchases and im clean.

 

[Hermit]

Just checked my CC i use for my AHS purchases and im clean.

According to the software there are almost 1200 people online to this site at this moment. Let's say during the course of the day they get 5K unique visitors. Let's say .5% of them have ordered from AHB in the last week. That is 25 people. 3 with compromised accounts? Not sure if that is statistically significant or not. It would be interesting to know how many HBT members place an order there over the course of a week.

 

[sudbuster]

I got a call today also. I also ordered from AHB last week.

 

[bob1852]

I got a call today also. I also ordered from AHB last week.

Folks - that about wraps it up for me....

Suds is as "secure" with transactions as I've seen. Hell, the guy paid for his TapRoom glasses with a money order

I would be leery of any purchases from AHS until Forrest weighs in.....

 

[scsi]

Just checked my cards... So far so good, but then again, I only shop AHS in-store...

If they run the cards for online purchases by hand, then they have to somehow store the card info... So you can put whatever kind of encryption you want when placing the order, if the server storing the data is compromised, it's game over.

Or, worse yet, someone with legit access to the data does something malicious... I hate to think anyone at AHS would do that.

I'm glad everyone's banks were cooperative.

 

[Flomaster]

I purchased some silicone tubing from AHS about two weeks ago...

*is checking bank account now*

-=Jason=-

EDIT: nothing out of the ordinary on my account...

 

[DeafSmith]

My VISA card co. called me today - someone trying to charge train tickets in Italy on my card. I cancelled the card, getting a new one. I had an AHS order on Jan. 13, but my main suspect is the optometrist I went to two weeks ago. First time I've been there in 5 years and that's the only "new" place I've used my VISA recently.

 

[DeafSmith]

seems like AHS "IS" the common denominator here.

-=jason=-

Maybe, but it's also a forum where a large percentage of the members order from AHS. The correlation could be coincidental, but it is interesting.

 

[Chipster27]

Check with your credit card company to see if they issue "temporary" cc numbers. One of mine does and it's a pretty cool feature. You set it up on your cc's website. You choose the amount and the expiration for that number and they issue you a cc number. I was buying some stuff from a site that I had concerns about. I logged in to my account, created a new card number for a little more than the amount, gave it a 30 day expiration and they issued my a number including the 3 digit security code. If anyone else tried to use that number it was only good for the limit I put on it and only for the duration I gave it. good luck!

 

[Flomaster]

Maybe, but it's also a forum where a large percentage of the members order from AHS. The correlation could be coincidental, but it is interesting.

I guess, just seemed like a lot of guys got a call today, and all had purchased from AHS recently.

-=Jason=-

 

[DeafSmith]

I guess, just seemed like a lot of guys got a call today, and all had purchased from AHS recently.

-=Jason=-

Yeah, we need to see how many responses we get from people with fraudulent charges on their card who have never ordered from AHS. Zero would be an interesting number.

 

[stratslinger]

Wow, I never expected this kind of a response...

Deafsmith is absolutely right though - right now AHBS _seems_ a common denominator, but it really should be a common denominator among the general population here at HBT, so it could be a red herring. That said, I'm glad someone's reached out to AHBS to give them a head's up, just in case. Never hurts to double check.

Just putting this out there, but it seems like PayPal might be another common denominator among folks in an online message board who likely buy stuff online often, and we _know_, because it's what they do, that they have to store CC info. Could be they got hacked too...

Chipster27, I like the suggestion a lot. I'll have to look into it with my CC company.

For now, I'm keeping a watch on my account for at least a few more days, to make sure nothing else goes through that they missed before closing the old account.

 

[SwampassJ]

SWMBO had her debit card info and pin stolen from Bed Bath and Beyond and then the **** idiot who stole it used it to pay for his school parking ticket.

 

[CrankyOldLibrarian]

I just got a call yesterday that my credit card number was used to buy a few hundred dollars of phone cards or something like that.

It could have been stolen from anywhere...online merchant, restaurant, gas station, grocery store... the list is endless. But, yes, I bought something online from AHS a couple weeks ago.

I won't blame them even if it did happen through their site. I'll shop from them next time I need something. Great stock, excellent prices, and an amazing staff. It's worth this one small headache after so many years of buying stuff from them.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

We have not been compromised that I know of. The common denominator is that people on this forum order from Austin Homebrew. I will look further into this matter.

I assume the banks are taking care of you are refunding any wrong charges.

I will keep you posted.

Forrest

 

[gregpio85]

I work for an IT security firm. We do forensics work for companies who have had a their customers credit cards breeched and this happens more often then you would think with highly visible companies. Of course, no companies want to admit that their customers card numbers were stolen so 90% of the time it gets swept under the rug without a word.

 

[Walker]

We have not been compromised that I know of. The common denominator is that people on this forum order from Austin Homebrew. I will look further into this matter.

I assume the banks are taking care of you are refunding any wrong charges.

I will keep you posted.

Forrest

Yeah, I think everyone's banks/card-companies are taking care of them so far.

My reason for suspecting AHS is because my credit card is pretty new. I just got it in mid January. The only places it has been used so far is at some local big chain grocery stores, some gas pumps, and then the one online purchase from AHS.

 

[CrankyOldLibrarian]

We have not been compromised that I know of. The common denominator is that people on this forum order from Austin Homebrew. I will look further into this matter.

I assume the banks are taking care of you are refunding any wrong charges.

I will keep you posted.

Forrest

And, this is why I like Austin Homebrew!

By the way, it could've been that we used our credit cards at some national grocery chain or something...

 

[Hang Glider]

Employee, perhaps?

Co-worker of mine had excessive AmEx charges, turned out to be an AmEx employee skimming off dozens of cards...

 

[ChuckO]

Whatever the source of the cc numbers the fraudulent purchases seem to come very fast. The only time I had a card compromised was when I let it out of my sight at a very popular restaurant on Chicago's lakefront. Had an early dinner with relatives and got an email from the card company about 4 hours later. It sucks when you have automatic charges set up against that card, especially the toll road device that is almost out of money.

Due to federal laws it is much better to use a credit card than a debit card, reimbursement policies for debit cards are not controlled by federal law, only bank policies.

 

[bsdx]

Before my story: IF YOUR NUMBER IS COMPROMISED, CLOSE THE NUMBER ON THE CARD. IF YOU MISPLACED A CARD, PUT A HOLD ON IT IMMEDIATELY and get it re-issued if you don't find it WITHIN your possessions.

I had a credit card compromised this summer, got called while I was out shopping but hadn't used it in about a week. I have done plenty of online shopping with it over the years and especially online brewing purchases from a handful of online shops. It had been at least several weeks since my last online brewing purchase.

They called me to check on a foreign hotel reservation charge and I confirmed that it wasn't me. They closed and re-issued the card, reversed the charges, and sent me a small questionnaire which I filled out and sent back.

 

[ultravista]

Chipster27 +1 on the temporary credit card. Bank of America offers this and I use it frequently.

You can "estimate" how much you'll spend on the purchase OR you can get everything together in your shopping cart, total with shipping, and make the limit precise.

This is the way to go, without a doubt.

 

[remilard]

According to the software there are almost 1200 people online to this site at this moment. Let's say during the course of the day they get 5K unique visitors. Let's say .5% of them have ordered from AHB in the last week. That is 25 people. 3 with compromised accounts? Not sure if that is statistically significant or not. It would be interesting to know how many HBT members place an order there over the course of a week.

Hard to say as we have to make wild guesses at the inputs. It seems like it is enough data to notify Forrest, which has been done, but not enough data to jump to any conclusions. It might be prudent for those who have made orders in the last month or so to take a quick glance at their statement.

 

[Valcarde]

I had my -bank debit card- cloned. My bank thankfully caught it with the very first withdrawal, and I was only down 80$. I was lucky they caught it that fast; apparently, seven minutes later there was another withdrawal attempt from a city a good 500 miles away from the original withdrawal.

From now on, either I see the machine my card is getting swiped through and I swipe it myself, or I take my business elsewhere.

 

[motobrewer]

my bank just sent me new debit cards out of the blue. I have never ordered from AHS.

no fraudulent charges were hit on my account, but apparently one of the merchants who I used was compromised. they didn't tell me who.

this was about two weeks ago.

 

[Hermit]

I would be very surprised if these card companies didn't have algorithms running to try and track down points of possible compromise as a matter of routine ongoing security. Problem is, like mentioned, they don't like negative publicity and won't release much of the details if/when they figure it out.

 

[SwampassJ]

Employee, perhaps?

Heh what happened to the angry phone answerer that Forest removed from phone duties

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Just happened to me right after I ordered some Chocolate Extract online. Maybe just a coincindence, I order stuff online regularly but hadn't for a while and these charges showed up shortly after I placed that order. I haven't used AHS for quite a while.

Somebody was trying to buy like $350 worth of cosmetics in the UK with it. Card was already closed by the time they contacted me and a new card was already on the way. No charges stuck.

 

[Flomaster]

I was on a road trip and making good time. Chevron/Texaco Gas called me up about my card being used several times that day hundreds of miles away. it was me using it, but I am glad they called.

-=jason=-

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Heh what happened to the angry phone answerer that Forest removed from phone duties

Not cool. I really dont think it came from our site. We are investigating it.

People on this forum shop from me.

Forrest