Ever have a credit card number stolen???

[Revvy]

I would suggest paying through paypal whenever possible, it's very secure.


_

Are you being sarcastic? I've always been under the impression that paypal was one of the least secure things on the internet. I thought I've heard that it's been phished and hacked repeatedly.....so I've always avoided. Is it really that secure and safe?

 

[bkov]

i had it happen a couple weeks ago, shortly after i did that $20 amazon giftcard for $10 from livingsocial

 

[JonW]

I work for Forrest, and have been looking into this. The moment I got a text message on the subject I contacted our hosting company.
Since then, upper level administrators have looked into the situation and there is no evidence anything has been compromised.
Here around the shop things are locked down. There simply are not pieces of paper with credit card numbers on them, only a couple of people have access to that information and it is through a secure connection.
-Jeff

The problem with using a hosting company and having your DB sit on their server is that you have no idea who has access to that data. You also have no idea if what they tell you is the truth about it being compromised.

 

[DeafSmith]

Seems like a lot of us on HBT have had fraudulent CC charges in the last few days. It would be interesting to assemble a database of all the places each of us has used his compromised CC since, say, the first of the year to see if there is a common site. Maybe something like a big grid with a row for each of us and a column for each retailer/vendor. The disadvantage to this is that it might unfairly target someplace like AHS because of the high percentage of HBT members who shop there. On the other hand, it might show up a previously unsuspected business as a possible culprit.
Some might not want to make their purchases public, so one way to do it might be to have the data PM'ed to a trusted HBT member with a database program and some computer skills (lets me out ), if anyone is willing to take this on. I would have no problem submitting the names of the vendors from whom I have made purchases on my compromised card.
Anyway, I just thought I'd throw this out there to see if there is any interest, and anyone who'd be willing to volunteer to compile the data.

 

[DeafSmith]

Are you being sarcastic? I've always been under the impression that paypal was one of the least secure things on the internet. I thought I've heard that it's been phished and hacked repeatedly.....so I've always avoided. Is it really that secure and safe?

It seems to be safe based on my personal experience - I've used it for several years without problems - probably close to 200 purchases during that time, mostly eBay items.

 

[lumpher]

i'm in austin today and tomorrow, and plan to buy some stuff tomorrow at ahs. i think i'll use cash...

 

[r8rphan]

Are you being sarcastic? I've always been under the impression that paypal was one of the least secure things on the internet. I thought I've heard that it's been phished and hacked repeatedly.....so I've always avoided. Is it really that secure and safe?

I was under the opposite impression.. It's an additional level of protection/isolation from your real account, and has one of the nest fraud protection guarantees I've seen.. Not to mention, that when you go through them, you have 'their' guarantee in 'addition' to your banks...

But i don't know for sure if it's any more or less secure than using your bank card directly...

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

i have only purchased from ahs once, and it was just about a week ago. Today i got a call about fraudulent charges. Apparently, some ****** tried to book a flight on jet blue and bought a few things for the trip. Fortunately, my credit card company caught it. Funny thing is, the clown got flagged when he/she tried to purchase travel insurance....travel insurance...really?! I rarely use the card in question, so it's not difficult for me to pin down the source of the problem. I am no expert, but ahs seems to have been compromised in some way. I am not trying to smear them by any means. They have a good reputation and i'm sure they worked hard to get it. I just want to raise awareness about this issue.

i have this exact same phucking story....words don't express my anger right now!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Infidel]

The problem with using a hosting company and having your DB sit on their server is that you have no idea who has access to that data. You also have no idea if what they tell you is the truth about it being compromised.

The hosting is done with the most reputable company out there, it would not be appropriate for me to disclose server and security details. We have looked at the known facts, I have reviewed the logs and found no discrepancies.

Keep in mind that a large number of users on HBT are customers of AHS so percentage wise it is probable they have made a purchase with AHS in the last couple of weeks...

...but a number of people have chimed in to answer the original question of "Ever had a credit card number stolen???" and some of those people who replied with their stories of how they had credit card issues this or last week were not customers of Austin Homebrew.

Based on these facts, it is jumping the gun to say Austin Homebrew has been compromised.

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

I was hit too....see other thread

 

[r8rphan]

That sucks...

There's also the other possibility that some unscrupulous type found a way to attach a trojan horse to this site...

That's what sucks about this.. you get blindsided and turn around and there's no one there.... you have no idea who hit you and from where you were attacked.. So you don't know how to defend yourself from being hit again, unless you treat 'everyone' as the enemy...

The only thing you know for sure is that you were hit...

 

[PirateBrewer]

The hosting is done with the most reputable company out there, it would not be appropriate for me to disclose server and security details. We have looked at the known facts, I have reviewed the logs and found no discrepancies.

Keep in mind that a large number of users on HBT are customers of AHS so percentage wise it is probable they have made a purchase with AHS in the last couple of weeks...

...but a number of people have chimed in to answer the original question of "Ever had a credit card number stolen???" and some of those people who replied with their stories of how they had credit card issues this or last week were not customers of Austin Homebrew.

Based on these facts, it is jumping the gun to say Austin Homebrew has been compromised.

To piggy back off of this, it would also be appropriate to know the number of people who ordered from AHS recently and HAVEN'T had a problem. Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, but, I did place an order from them last week and haven't had any problems to date. That said, I didn't use my CC over the internet (used the call in payment option).

 

[r8rphan]

Any of you guys that got hit having problems with your e-mail? I'm unable to send e-mail half the time.. and have to wait an hour or so... This has been going on for a few days...

Just wondering if there is something on my mac or my IP provider that is related to all of this...

Grasping at straws and trying to punch out a ghost...

 

[bob1852]

To piggy back off of this, it would also be appropriate to know the number of people who ordered from AHS recently and HAVEN'T had a problem. Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, but, I did place an order from them last week and haven't had any problems to date. That said, I didn't use my CC over the internet (used the call in payment option).

Yeah; it's my experience (sadly ) with CC fraud, that they hit ya quick - trying to get what they can before it's noticed.

This could be a new thing (a delayed hacking - gather info and wait for awhile), but I would doubt that....

Still, I appreciate AHS continuing to look into it and not universally dismissing it.

 

[bob1852]

Any of you guys that got hit having problems with your e-mail? I'm unable to send e-mail half the time.. and have to wait an hour or so... This has been going on for a few days...

Just wondering if there is something on my mac or my IP provider that is related to all of this...

Grasping at straws and trying to punch out a ghost...

e-mail fine for me.... (yahoo mail)

 

[r8rphan]

I can not be mad at AHS for any of what happened to me.. especially without knowing the compromise was there.. but even if it was from their system, I have no issue with them... The people who do this sort of crap are not the people we are regularly doing business with..

the jackasses that do this crap are criminals.. plain and simple.. and they don't care who they hurt, be it the person who owns the account, or the businesses the customer interacts with.. or even the industry at large.. All they care about is themselves, and they'd sell their own mother on the corner for an easy buck...

In the end, all I want to know is where the problem was, and that it's been taken care of so that i don't have to worry about it anymore..

It sure would feel nice to know that those who purposely did this ended up in a cage for a while and suffered some severe loss many times over for the loss they caused...

I'm not a happy camper.... But I have no idea who to be unhappy at.. except for some faceless cowardly ghost out there in cyberspace...

So all I can do is be pissed at the situation in general.. Life will go on...

 

[Flomaster]

i too purchased from AHS and my bank account is not out of the ordinary. i heard that people can use a device and while you swipe your card in a supermarket or some other place it intercepts the info..

-=Jason=-

 

[funkadelicturkey]

...and again today...2nd time

 

[r8rphan]

i too purchased from AHS and my bank account is not out of the ordinary. i heard that people can use a device and while you swipe your card in a supermarket or some other place it intercepts the info..

-=Jason=-

That's just it.. You have no idea where this crap happens..

For all we know, there could be a rash of this crap happening across the country... They say credit card use is up for the first time in a long time.. maybe it's just a case of opportunists waiting for CC activity to start up again...

Bastiges!

 

[r8rphan]

Whoever it is sounds like they are going to be requesting a lot of vacation time since they bought tickets on Aeromexico on the other thread.

I wonder if it was an athletic looking middle aged black man driving a white bronco looking for a better get away vehicle....

Or maybe it was "LiLo"... This would explain why she kiped the necklace.. She was going on vacation and wanted some new bling for the trip...

 

[r8rphan]

The hosting is done with the most reputable company out there, it would not be appropriate for me to disclose server and security details. We have looked at the known facts, I have reviewed the logs and found no discrepancies.

Keep in mind that a large number of users on HBT are customers of AHS so percentage wise it is probable they have made a purchase with AHS in the last couple of weeks...

...but a number of people have chimed in to answer the original question of "Ever had a credit card number stolen???" and some of those people who replied with their stories of how they had credit card issues this or last week were not customers of Austin Homebrew.

Based on these facts, it is jumping the gun to say Austin Homebrew has been compromised.

You do realize that there's a certain ironic humor that the guy defending the honor of the company in this situation has a user name of 'infidel'...

Then again, my sense of humor is 'different'...

 

[r8rphan]

Strangely.. being violated has made me thirsty...
Then again, maybe I'm just always thirsty..
Miss keggy is calling.. TFB

 

[Toecutter]

Late last year i noticed 3 charges that had just been made with an online computer hardware retailer newegg.com. i called them to question the purchases, sure enough, someone had used my debit card #, and Newegg had already shipped (so they said), but not to my address. I asked for the address they shipped to but they refused. so they refered me to their fraud department, who told me to contact my bank.

Later that day i get a general E-mail from the CHI Company whom I had just purchased some Hops from, saying they had been hacked. So now I knew how they got the card #

As luck would have it, somehow Newegg managed to intercept the shipments, and refunded my money, but it took several days

i was lucky. I am diligent about checking my account daily online, just for reasons like this.

 

[passedpawn]

I just lost at ping pong twice in a row to my 13-yr old. (I should point out that I have not made any recent purchases from AHS, but I did purchase from BMW).

 

[gasser]

I had this happen to me recently too. The people at the bank said it was unlikely that an on-line purchase was to blame. Far more likely was a "skimmer" type operation where the magnetic strip on the card was decoded and then copied to another card with the thief's name on it. The scumbag doesn't pose as you, he has a fake card with your account info on it. It's funny, cuz I remember using my card at a gas station where the card slot looked a little funny. But it could have easily happened at a restaurant where an unscrupulous employee scans the card and sells the strip data.

Airline tickets, if full fare, are as good as cash. Good way to launder money. So you'll never find the criminal checking his bags at the airport.

So I asked if I should use cash in the future and the bank said "No way! Credit cards are insured."

Be careful, but don't stress too much about on-line purchases.

 

[gasser]

Oh yeah, and paypal is not all that secure. My account was hacked, paypal agreed that the charges were fraudulent and said I would be reimbursed. That was 2 years ago and I haven't seen a dime.

 

[pokerfreak2]

I haven't read every page of this thread but I got a call today about fraud charges in the Netherlands. I have ordered from AHS alot lately. So has someone contacted them at this point ?

 

[r8rphan]

Oh yeah, and paypal is not all that secure. My account was hacked, paypal agreed that the charges were fraudulent and said I would be reimbursed. That was 2 years ago and I haven't seen a dime.

Really?? That's good to know.. Anyone else had an experience like this?

Maybe I'll tie paypal just to my credit card... not directly to my checking account...

 

[vortexla]

I just purchased from AHS as well, and my credit card info was stolen and used to buy nearly $800 worth of stuff from somewhere.

 

[wildwest450]

Are you being sarcastic? I've always been under the impression that paypal was one of the least secure things on the internet. I thought I've heard that it's been phished and hacked repeatedly.....so I've always avoided. Is it really that secure and safe?

For once, no. Many, many dealings with them over the years, zero problems. I have more than a few friends who make a good living on ebay, after tens of thousands of transactions, no problems.



-

 

[stratslinger]

Hey folks... Still waiting to hear from my credit card company about their investigation into the charges, but I wanted to chime in here again.

First off, I just want to be clear: it was not my intent with this chain to implicate anyone - maybe I shouldn't have even mentioned any retailers. For anyone getting into this thread late, yes someone has contacted Forest from AHS, he's posted in this thread, and it seems he's doing all his due diligence from his side and has found NO sign that the info came from him. Could something have been missed? Possibly. Could the info have come from someplace altogether? Absolutely. So let's not rush to any conclusions. And remember, around here, there are probably only very few people who haven't ordered from AHS.

I was just going to suggest comparing credit card companies as another possible vector, but that could be just as misleading as the AHS conversation.

So for now, it seems those of us in this situation are being taken care of by our banks/credit card company. So let's sit back and see how those banks' investigations go, and see what comes of all that.

 

[MetallHed]

I just had my Paypal hacked into at the beginning of December.

*****nozzle took 400 dollars from my account which had a zero balance.. that means it comes from the bank account that is linked to the paypal account.

Paypal caught it on their end and returned my balance to zero, but they cannot stop the electronic withdrawl from the bank account.

My bank would not stop the payment from coming out unless I paid them 25 dollars. 25 dollars to stop MY money from getting stolen from THEIR bank. Then they said they couldn't help me anyway because my truck payment was a day late... the money that was stolen was my truck/rent money....

I bitched my way to the top and got my money back without having to pony up anything to the bank.

Paypal is not bulletproof. I also had used them for almost 10 years without problems..

 

[r8rphan]

What bank is that? It's time to switch..

Like I say, I love my bank.. I used to get abused like that by my big bank.. thought it was normal, and no matter where I went it would be the same.. Because in my experience every big bank was the same...

The small community bank I use now is awesome.. They treat me well.. They know my name when I walk into their branches.. The girls are friendly and flirty.. They are quick to 'not' fee me to death... If there is a problem, they 'handle it'... 'Pronto'..

In the big bank, I used to hear.. "Sorry, there's nothing we can do.. It's out of our hands.. It's the bank policy"

In my community bank I hear.. "Wow!.. well lets me see what we can do about that" They actually give a damn, and have the authority to 'make it better' on the spot...

For instance, here's how they're handling 'this' situation... I'm allowed to ring up $500 of overdraft on my debit card during off hours, and as long as I get in there before closing time the next business day, and deposit the money.. all is good.. That's perfect for me, because of some debts and tax liens, I don't want to keep money in my account, or else what little I put in there to pay bills, will possibly be levied... long story how I got here.. casualty of the economy and bad timing..

So, over the weekend, I make a purchase from B3 and Rockler on line... I'm about $250 overdrawn because of this... I go into the bank to deposit $260, and check my balance... I'm $430 overdrawn.. So starts my journey to find out I've been ripped off... The roclker order hadn't been debited yet, so that was another $215 bucks that was to come out... They tried and the card was denied (cuz now it's way over $500) when they tried to ship the order on monday.. So now I don't have the stuff I need for work late this week and early next...

The manager at the bank suggested that I hold onto my deposit, and just let the overdraft ride... They had me call aeromexico where the fraud purchases were made, and then they canceled the debit card and ordered a new one... They cashed my check so I could have some money to live on for the next few days while this got straightened out..

They said that once everything has been reversed and corrected, we can see what has actually gone through and been left, and then I can make my deposit to cover that.. They will waive any and all charges that might acrue as a result of overdrafts during this period...

They promised me that once we get through the period of inconvenience, they will make sure everything is like it never happened..

This bank doesn't make much off of me, yet they treat me like I am the most wealthy , most important customer they have...

Never gonna use the big corporate banks again... I've seen the light...

 

[JRems]

Thank god for this thread. I ordered from ahs In January. It's the only unique transaction. ( all others are automatic debited bills , electric , insurance ect) Looked last night and nothing, this morning all kinds of crap is appearing. Checked with the bank and cancelled the card, but now my rent check is going to bounce, great. I saw someone above mention chicompany, I did buy from them but 2 months ago. Has everyone here that's had their card used bought from ahs? I think we need a poll added. It seems to be the common denominator. I have never had this happen before

edit: I checked again the only other transaction last month was from cvs pharmacy. Bank called and I can't get the money refunded for a couple days. This sucks. The charges on my account were for video games and electronics in Japan and hong kong.

 

[Bedlam]

I ordered from AHS on monday and have had no issues to this point. Still, I called my bank and am having them issue a new card, as well as lowering the allowed amount that can be used per day and per purchase as a precaution. It doesn't hurt to be careful.

Again, I am not blaming ahs for what's been happening to others, but there does seem to be a rash of this crap right now and it makes sense to be cautious. My hunch is that it is likely a nationwide spike right now and the AHS "connection" is merely a sampling error because of our addiction, as a group, to flat shipping rates and excellent customer service.

 

[remilard]

Keep in mind that a large number of users on HBT are customers of AHS so percentage wise it is probable they have made a purchase with AHS in the last couple of weeks...

While I am in the "don't jump to conclusions" boat I am also in the "don't fabricate crap to defend yourself" boat.

Neverminding the fact that you don't have the information required to say that it is probable that a random HBT member has purchased from you in the last couple of weeks, given the number of members and how frequently a typical homebrewer orders online from any source it doesn't satisfy basic common sense and kindergarten level logic. Come on dude.

 

[TXCrash]

Keep in mind that not all security compromises are at the server end. Many times they're at the client end. Common websites visitied (sometimes trojans sneak through...). Common software. It goes on.

Seeing what I've seen, ahs will come clean if the security lapse was on their end. It happens. Who knows though, maybe there's a trojan lurking on *some* website every single one of us visits multiple times a day (and I bet was open during that ahs order...)

*note: I've never ordered from ahs but don't like what's turning into a witch hunt here...

 

[r8rphan]

Who knows though, maybe there's a trojan lurking on *some* website every single one of us visits multiple times a day (and I bet was open during that ahs order...)

While the number of people this happened to after ordering from AHS 'seems' uncanny.. I can't help but also wonder if it's something that came form a pop-up at 'this site'....

And it could be some jackass that just happened to figure out a way to intercept transactions to AHS that has nothing to do with them, their bank, their customers, their servers, or this site...

I'm not wanting to point any fingers.. what I 'do' want to do, is find out what, where, how, and then fix the problem... So I can go back to normal life...

Even if it 'did' turn out that AHS was where the breach occurred, I'm quite convinced that they are a reputable company that means me no harm and wants this problem fixed even more than I do... They will still continue to get my business... Especially since I discovered just last night that they sell cheese making supplies too....

If the breach is through them, they are not the villain, but just as much the victim if not more so...

I just want to know where the problem is, so I don't have to be fearful of 'everything'...

 

[wildwest450]

How bad are your credit card companies? Capital One is spot on with their fraud defense. ANYTHING out of the ordinary and they freeze or cancel your account. Last year someone tried to make 2 fraudulent charges, my card was cancelled by Capital One before I even knew the charges were attempted. Nothing more than a 3 day wait until my new card arrived.

If I even buy gas at a different station than normal, I get a phone call.


_

 

[denmfu]

Well I just got notified that my card number was stolen too, somebody made a $3 transaction in West Virginia then tried to buy a $750 plane ticket in Mexico. I ordered from AHS a few weeks ago and again last night, I love their site and their stuff so I would like to keep ordering from them in the future. I also ordered from Coffeegiant.com also out of Texas so who knows where the breech happened. I just want to know where and what is being done to fix it.


Did anybody else that had a number stolen have one small charge right before they went on a spending spree? The last time this happened to me it was caused by the Circuit City's web site getting hacked and before those people used the card they would order a song off of Itunes to see if it was a good number before they bought more stuff. They also tried to buy plane tickets but in China.