Ever have a credit card number stolen???

[emjay]

Gas stations have been mentioned a bunch of times, and I know more people that have been nailed at a gas station (a couple times perpetrated by the owner themselves!) than everything else combined.

 

[DaBiggin]

on a brewing board, a connection with a homebrew store is not necessarily anything relevant. same with walmart, the largest retailer in the world. typically these things are stolen in local ways, through using a private ATM machine that someone's attached a card reader to (youd never notice anything out of the ordinary), it can also happen on some older card transaction machines when the reciept printed out does not X out all the card numbers... this is VERY common with small mom and pop store, hairdressers, nail salons, garden shops, florists, etc. who dont have advanced POS systems...

Are you inferring that we all had our cards compromised by the very same local vendors? I doubt that all these people were in my town.

 

[rawlus]

i posted before i saw the post by forrest, if they have confirmed then that's that. but i am saying that local transactions are more likely to be compromised than online. and there are thousands of card compromised every day, tens of thousands probably.

im just sayin, it happens. be aware it can happen, take reasonable precautions and roll with the flow. if you want you can change your account number every year if you want, get a new card and start "fresh"

i tend to end up doing that anyway because when i read about a million cards being stolen from XYZ national store, its usually one i stop at so i get a new card, then once in awhile ill see a transaction thats not mine, or see a $1 transaction out of the blue. those are warnings, call the bank , stop the card, get a new one issued.

im just saying, this happens alot, every day, all over. its not a rare occurrence.

 

[ColoradoJon]

I can certainly say that my CC number was not taken locally. I do not use credit at gas stations, grocery stores, etc. I only use my card for online purchasing and even that is uncommon. I've made three purchases from AHS this year: 1/8, 1/16, and 2/5. There was also a purchase from Kegconnection on 1/31, and one from Amazon on 2/5. The fraudulent charges on my card were done on 2/7.

I use a Mac as well which isn't as vulnerable to scripting attacks (but not impervious, so I won't rule that out).

I've done online shopping for the last 10 years without any incident or fraudulent charges on any of my credit cards. I knew it would happen some day. I just happened to get a brew kit for Christmas (thanks wife) and have had a 'need' to expand on the hobby

CJ

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

So for you computer techies out there, could their PC have been compromised when our CC #'s were stored on it for 1-1.5 weeks?

 

[Moby]

So for you computer techies out there, could their PC have been compromised when our CC #'s were stored on it for 1-1.5 weeks?

Simply....yes.

 

[Flomaster]

i don't know how its being done, but

has anyone had any charges newer than 2/7/11?

it seems all bogus charges were on that day.

-=Jason=-

 

[eriktlupus]

i actually got dinged on feb 1. i wonder how far back forrest hold cc#'s? i haven't bought anything from him in like 2 yrs. my only other transactions online lately with the card went through paypal. 500$ from some clothing company in china was the trigger for stoppage......unfortunately my issuer didn't contact me had to stop in my cu to find out why i couldn't use the card to find the fraud. (it didn't show on my online account because the charges hadn't gone through but had been authorized)

 

[pablo1337]

I just got a call, my card was compromised, with fraudulent charges on 2/10 exceeding $1000, only 250 of which the credit card company approved... and I did order from AHS fairly recently.

The only other retailers I did business with recently on that card were amazon, the payment processor for BeerSmith, and Chipotle, and I saw the card swiped at Chipotle.

I really wasn't thrilled, no I was disappointed, with my experience with AHS, and this would really be the cherry on top....


Pablo

 

[halucin8]

It looks like my card has also been charged. I have two charges from OpenZone London. Seems to be a wi-fi company from England. The two charges are for less than $10 each.

I also ordered from AHS on Jan. 10. I will curtail ordering from them.

Thanks for originally posting this. I would not have thought to check.

Prost.

 

[fishnfever]

Well I have been following this thread for the past few days. Decided to have the wife check on my checking account. Sure enough there is a charge of $189.00 on 2/11/11. I also ordered from Austin Home Brew 1/31/11.

Not cool

 

[Austinhomebrew]

i actually got dinged on feb 1. i wonder how far back forrest hold cc#'s? i haven't bought anything from him in like 2 yrs. my only other transactions online lately with the card went through paypal. 500$ from some clothing company in china was the trigger for stoppage......unfortunately my issuer didn't contact me had to stop in my cu to find out why i couldn't use the card to find the fraud. (it didn't show on my online account because the charges hadn't gone through but had been authorized)

We don't hold any credit card numbers. No credit card numbers are stored on a computer.

We are switching credit card merchant services because that might be where the problem was.

eriktlupus: This incident could not have come from AHS.

Forrest

 

[Walker]

We don't hold any credit card numbers. No credit card numbers are stored on a computer.

We are switching credit card merchant services because that might be where the problem was.

eriktlupus: This incident could not have come from AHS.

Forrest

Forrest: how do you handle online orders? I know you said that you ring them up manually, after they are submitted online.

 

[Hermit]

We don't hold any credit card numbers. No credit card numbers are stored on a computer.

We are switching credit card merchant services because that might be where the problem was.

eriktlupus: This incident could not have come from AHS.

Forrest

Forrest: how do you handle online orders? I know you said that you ring them up manually, after they are submitted online.

Was just going to ask and refer Forrest to page 3. I said what he is saying now and you produced the PM about hand processing. All on page three of this thread.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/ever-have-credit-card-number-stolen-223663/index3.html#post2624103

 

[Bensiff]

I just posted about AHS on another thread and someone gave me the heads up about this thread yesterday. Last night I got the call from the bank strangely enough. Obviously coincidence is not guilt; however, there is enough commonality that the issue needs looked at.

If Austin wants to be legitimate in there business dealings they should be contacting the local police and request an investigation of potential credit card fraud surrounding their shop. The detectives have the legal capacity to investigate the matter and start tracking things down to determine a source whether internal or from their credit card vendor. If Austin is not willing to do that and maintain transparency it will completely undermine their business because there are plenty of other online homebrew shops that don't have a correlation to card theft.

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

We don't hold any credit card numbers. No credit card numbers are stored on a computer.

We are switching credit card merchant services because that might be where the problem was.

eriktlupus: This incident could not have come from AHS.

Forrest

That is NOT the information I received in an email from AHS yesterday.

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

I just posted about AHS on another thread and someone gave me the heads up about this thread yesterday. Last night I got the call from the bank strangely enough. Obviously coincidence is not guilt; however, there is enough commonality that the issue needs looked at.

If Austin wants to be legitimate in there business dealings they should be contacting the local police and request an investigation of potential credit card fraud surrounding their shop. The detectives have the legal capacity to investigate the matter and start tracking things down to determine a source whether internal or from their credit card vendor. If Austin is not willing to do that and maintain transparency it will completely undermine their business because there are plenty of other online homebrew shops that don't have a correlation to card theft.

I agree Bensiff, the more this goes on, the more it stinks.

 

[borrachio]

I think we all need to take a step back and think about this logically. Clearly, credit card numbers from AHS were compromised somehow, however there is NO evidence that AHS is anything more than a victim in this just like we all are.

AHS is in the retail busines, using a vendor for merchant services. They didn't build their own cc processing servce (to my knowledge). What is most likely is that their vendor was compromised. We just all happen to be customers of AHS who read HBT.

For the record, I live in Austin, I walked into AHS and bought on 1/18, and USAA has notified me I've been compromised. They're reissuing me new cards, and I *havent* seen any fake charges to date.

AHS is a great company. They are patient with customers, treat you well when you walk in, and they will talk to you about your ideas. I've been shopping with them for 9 years at three different locations. I trust them, and whatever Forrest says to me (or you) is honest to the best of his knowledge.

Let's not pile on a good local business that provides good products at good prices. None of us are liable for fraudulent charges.

For the record, I'm going there in an hour to buy a new picnic faucet and a carboy brush, and I'll use my credit card.

 

[Hermit]

For the record, I live in Austin, I walked into AHS and bought on 1/18, and USAA has notified me I've been compromised.

Then it sounds like an account breach has been pinpointed and all cards used at a merchant/processor within a certain time frame is being flagged then if no bogus charges have shown on your card.

 

[jkarp]

We don't hold any credit card numbers. No credit card numbers are stored on a computer.

Unfortunately, they don't have to be. There are "canned" trojans organized crime use to specifically target web servers. They monitor the data stream, peel off CC numbers and pass them back out to a collection host.

 

[bovineblitz]

So for you computer techies out there, could their PC have been compromised when our CC #'s were stored on it for 1-1.5 weeks?

If the info was accessible via their wifi network, it'd be a piece of cake

Or, some sort of trojan (even a simple keylogger might do the trick given their practices) found its way in

 

[discgolfin]

Im Glad I read this. I just purchased last week from them. Going to check my account daily...what a pain.

J

 

[fishnfever]

I agree Bensiff, the more this goes on, the more it stinks.

+1 I have been meaning to spread more to other suppliers. Maybe this is the push I needed.

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk

 

[Bensiff]

I think we all need to take a step back and think about this logically. Clearly, credit card numbers from AHS were compromised somehow, however there is NO evidence that AHS is anything more than a victim in this just like we all are.

That is why I said coincidence doesn't prove guilt. However, something is wrong and it would behoove AHS to start working with the local authorities to help find the culprit to clear their name, for all we know it will get bumped up to the fed and it will open up or coincide with a larger investigation. In the meantime, for AHS, not being proactive and transparent will only lend to building the perception of a lack of concern for the customers at best or implicate guilt at worst.

In the meantime everyone should always remember to have appropriate computer security (ie don't use your iPhone to buy stuff) whenever doing anything online related to financial transactions. You should always use a credit card when ordering online to protect your bank account holdings. And you should never hand someone your debit card, if a purchase requires that (ie restaurant) use your credit card.

I might also add, this thread is only going to serve to damage AHS' business. If they work with authorities and can officially clear their name I'm sure the moderators would be willing to remove this thread to protect AHS. I was really happy with my purchase from them (other than the card being compromised) so I'm hoping its not their fault and all will turn out well. They sponsor this site, so in the end the best outcome is to clear their name and remove this thread. Until then, this thread will go on and they will lose business as a result.

 

[weirdboy]

No the best outcome is to clear their name and KEEP the thread.

Why should the thread be removed?

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I told HBT forum admin not to take down this thread. We think the issue may be from the merchant service provider. We are changing merchant service providers.

We do not store any numbers on our site. We have not been contacted by any bank about this. We are still searching for evidence of a breech on our end. We have not found one.

Just to be sure, if you purchased anything from us January,1 2011 - February, 7, 2011 check your card statements. There appears to only be a couple week window. Get a new card to be safe. All of the incidences have been very late January to the first week of February.

Our Verisign security wasn't breeched and our hosting company can not find a breech and we are having them triple check.

Please check your accounts and your bank will take care of the charges. I am profoundly sorry about this issue and we are trying are best to get to the bottom of the problem.

It seems to be isolated to the end of January to the first week of February. Check your statements, please.

Forrest

I will keep you posted. Thanks for your support.

 

[Flomaster]

Forrest thanks for the info. like I've said I purchased on jan 20th and was not compromised. I am not sure how it happened but it does seem to have some connection to Ahs some how some way. Keep you're heads up I'm going to order my next recipe from you guys.

-= Jason =-

Sent from my Droid using Home Brew Talk

 

[jafo28]

Thanks for the update Forrest, there's no doubt I will still be ordering from you guys, and i'm just starting my Brooklyn lager clone I ordered from you a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to taste it.

 

[DeafSmith]

....

All of the incidences have been very late January to the first week of February.

....

It seems to be isolated to the end of January to the first week of February. Check your statements, please.

Forrest

I will keep you posted. Thanks for your support.

Forrest - FYI, my AHB purchase was on Jan. 13 (both transaction and post date were 1/13). Fraudulent charges on my card were on 2/7.

 

[DaBiggin]

According to AHS/AHB they have not been able to find a breach in their technical systems. I believe without a doubt that most, if not all, of these fraudulent charges that people were/are reporting in relation to this thread, stem from an initial purchase from AHS. The problem is in that chain of custody of CC numbers with AHS.

Generally speaking, we all pay more for goods and services when thieves prevail. It is not right and good to just sit back and rely on the CC issuers to eat any associated costs due to fraud and resting easy knowing one doesn't have to foot those costs on an individual by individual basis.

More specifically, I know that I received in my shipment a receipt for my CC purchase that is one that you get from processing a CC via one of those small point of sales machines or something similar. I also was told that they, AHS, was having difficulty shipping all the orders they received and were hiring or trying to hire new employees to help fulfill the orders. I have had very good service and product from them. However, it is negligence for me to continue doing business with them until the root cause and resolution are found and implemented. If I lived near them I would purchase with cash.