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Identity Theft Victim Gets Last Laugh
Ovid writes "Being a bit of a hypocrite, I sometimes whine about privacy in my blog. I do, however, try to be careful about not letting anyone get information about me they shouldn't and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online. This is why I was surprised to find out one morning that identity thieves had racked up thousands of dollars one two of my credit cards. By early afternoon, I caught them and the police arrested them."
The canadian mounties have a new branch devoted to identity theft and they solved my case in a week. They are amazing.
For those who haven't seen it (Like anyone in this crowd wouldnt have seen this), I'd suggest reading the P-P-P-Powerbook Story as a great compliment. These stories of Scammers getting Scammed never get old.
> and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online.
Don't you know whether you do or not?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
never use a card when cash will get the job done. It might sound "cute", but it's the best way to protect your privacy - not to mention your bank account.
My digital rights don't need management.
Great reading! Excellent work there. I might not have been able to restrain myself from slugging the guy though!
Why bother?
If you just send your full name, birth date, address, social security number, credit card numbers with expiration dates to securemyidentity@gmail.com, we will monitor your credit record and make sure that you never have to worry about your good credit record ever again.
Cash can be stolen and used easily. Cards can be stolen and used, but you can get the money back. Big difference.
Cards are way more convenient, less hassle in the long run, and let you get an accurate tally of what you spend. Cash just means constant trips to the ATM, spending money in dribs and drabs and forgetting about it, and the risk of getting mugged when you flash it too much.
about privacy has come to an end?
The sheep don't care about the affairs of the shepherders until the wolf gets by...
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
You might have outsmarted them this time, but it's never a good idea to gloat. This is something you'll forget in time, but they're going to remember it for a lot longer than you are because they'll be the ones doing time for the crime. If they got really rough sentences because of you and spent several years in the slammer as a result, ten years later they could come looking for you to take away your life. Your credit cards would be the least of your problems.
My digital rights don't need management.
In a situation like this where you know the culprit is standing only a few meters away from you its so tempting to confront the thief. I admire his resolve.
I never really thought how much power you the credit card holder have in these situations. A few proactive measures can go a great deal further than a phone call to a dusty beurocrat.
this is wnhy you get a prepaid visa or mastercard for online purchases. id rather spend the 30 minutes to put the cash on the card and buy something online with it than than let some druggy scum waltz off with my hard earned money. http://www.netspend.com/ Netspend offers inexpensive prepaid visa and mastercards that are useable anywhere.
... i would have found it very difficult to resist the urge to take some very gratifying physical revenge on the perps. bravo to ovidius. this won't stop identity theft, but it surely promotes a bit more vigilance on the potential victims ...
nothing worth possessing isn't possessed. or something.
It seems a tad arrogant to declare "I caught them and had them arrested by afternoon." Why? Because if not for Discover, and Visa's fraud-alert services, you wouldn't have been the wiser for quite a while longer - days or weeks, perhaps. You didn't do this by yourself. To imply otherwise denies the actions of many people working behind the scenes to make sure that when this stuff happens, it doesn't ruin innocent people's lives.
My digital rights don't need management.
No joke. I would have gutted those two like pigs. Throat to groin. Wouldn't have thought twice about it. Not any issue at all.
Ovid, you are a sane man.
* hey are you Ovid from Perl Monks & the Perl Monks Seti team?
This
How do we know this actually happened? People concoct amazing stories all the time.
What a great story!
More evidence that credit card signatures are useless.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Calling the cops three times on your cellphone: 68 cents.
Driving to Denny's at 96 miles per hour: $1.10 in gas.
Seeing identity-thieving bastards hauled off in handcuffs before your very eyes: priceless.
There are some things money can buy. For everything else, there's adrenaline and instincts.
I've lost about $80 in cash theft in my life.
I've lost $0 in credit card theft, but dealing with the attempts has cost me quite a bit more in time: more than 100 times as much, in time and lost income, than the $80 cash loss.
Cash means more privacy, fewer entries to reconcile, and less paper to shred.
What worries me the most is that so many people were so cooperative in trying to find "the thief". You go to Denny's, show them a credit card, and they give you a description of the person who used the credit card? That's the scary part.
That some kid stole a couple thousand dollars from Discover Card and some Visa merchant - so what? This guy acts like they were stealing the money from him.
In fact, I'd like to add that companies like paypal penalise those who get frauded by others. In one case, a friend of mine was "paid $1000" over paypal, and a week later, paypal took it away and charged him $500 for a really dodgy reason. I constantly hear of such cases over paypal and the end result is that the frauder wins in one way or another.
Whats even worse is that I have never seen any online store do a basic check to see if users were on a proxy or not, which could easily help reduce fraud if they did.
Unrelated, if you want to see just how much credit card companies care about fraud, a rather funny link can be found at http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit_card/. It explains why I dont have a credit card...
he's happy today but just wait until tomorrow when a group of street punks beat him and take his dungeon master's guide. :(
The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
They closed that account and notified me immediately without authorizing any sales. I called the credit card company and found that in fact there had been three or four transactions on my card which I hadn't made. They weren't for a lot: there was one for a tank of gas, and the total was for less than a thousand dollars. The credit card company took care of the charges but seemed totally uninterested in pursuing the matter, even after I provided them contact information at Amazon. Amazon could not give me the information directly, but were anxious to provide it to the issuing bank. and urged me to contact my local law enforcement agencies.
Stupidly, I didn't contact local law, but kept badgering the issuing bank. Finally I gave up and cancelled the account. The original card had of course been cancelled immediately when I reported the problem, but I no longer had any confidence in the bank.
It's pretty bad when Amazon does a better job of tracking my credit card than the issuing bank does. Of course, I still do business with Amazon and I don't do business with that bank so maybe there's a moral there somewhere.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
oh, never mind.
We need a national ID system that people who choose to take part of can force all credit card transactaions other sensitive transactions to require. The ID system should be optin for each citizen, but required for 100% by all information holders. Also it should be based on a PKCS#11 tokens, and allow people to select the token that they like. So the ultra paranoid (me) can use a biometericlly locked token The only reason thiefs are intrested in our personal data is that it allows them to become us. Without that their is no intrest and our privacy can return. Forcing the banks to support a common pki will not be hard, no pki no fdic insurance. That will get all the finnacals on board. And where they go everyone will follow. These people that think we dont need a national identy system are retarted, they dont see that we already have one with all the flaws, but none of the protectons a good one will give us. A national ID system could top ID theft, put a huge clamp down on spam, and reduce the value of our personal information thus increasing real privacy levels.
"I do, however, try to be careful about not letting anyone get information about me they shouldn't and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online."
If you go to any store or use your credit card just about anywhere, it's on the Internet regardless of if you actually go to a Website to buy something.
When you swipe your card to get groceries, where is that data sent? How does it get there? Through the Internet. It stays on a company database like anywhere else.
I don't use my credit card on "shady" Websites, but I do realize when I use my card just about anywhere, that data is sent over the Internet and into a database somewhere where someone savvy enough could get access to it.
It's for this reason I try and not use my debit card often as if someone takes my credit info and buys things, I'm not responsible for it. they haven't taken any money form me. However, if I use a debit and they take money, then that is money I have lost and it is much harder to get back.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
People sure have been jumping on this identity theft band wagon for about the last year. This isn't identity theft, it is Credit Card Fraud.
Identity theft would be if I opened up a credit card using your social or if I obtained a loan using your social.
Credit Card Fraud is stealing your credit card information and using it.
Too bad the media just keeps misleading people to believe the two are one and the same.
Oh my!
... he goes dark.
How did this guy resist popping the punk in the mouth? I would've knocked his fronts out. He had a perfect sucker punch opp - back to him sitting down *_BANG_* fucker sees a flash of white and then *_POW_*
I'm not normally a violent person, but this would've been perfect. The cops are already on their way. $20 to the manager says he didn't see anything but blood and teeth on the floor.
Looks like this guy caught his own criminal. Unlike the rest of you lazy slobs.
Sigs are like bumper stickers.
...they mount Trojan horses, right? (ba-doom-ching)
Seriously, that is amazing. I gotta move there; I prefer the CN over the Empire, and I'd rather not have an easy-to-get number used as my very identification. It's too easy here; I don't know about where you are (but clearly they gave you some nice help kicking identity-thief ass).
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
An emergency responder had another party dispose of needles in a coke bottle?
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
And all I can say is ... "SHRED THOSE CHECKS, DUMMY!". I have a discover card and get those all the time. I *Do NOT* toss them out. They get shredded in about 1 million little pieces.
I shred just about anything that might have any information about me, my family, or my bills or creditors/debtors. This guy coulda saved himself some grief. The kid prolly saw him check his mail from a PO box and then shake his head and toss the checks in the trash, where he retrieved them.
In fact, it bugs me Discover sends me those checks all the time. I never use them, probably never will, and wish they wouldn't send them so frequently.
FLR
I spend a lot of time on the road, so she audits the hell out of my cards. Turns out there were a couple charges at a local hotel - weird, because it was not anything I would book! Weirder yet when she realized it was her card. My wife's credit card info got swiped at Target.
Anyhow, the way the scam worked is they booked the room with hotels.com using my bride's card info. They checked in, tried to pay with a card that was expired (or did not work - they were not clear on that). When the hotel attempted to charge for the room service and the time they were there, it defaults to the card used to make the reservation. Card canceled, new one issued, no cost to us - but dang, you really have to watch your statements.
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
Come on, now.
Using a credit card online is much safer than using it at any restaurant in which someone takes it out of your sight, using it at a store at which an imprint is taken, or giving its number to someone on the telephone.
I do all of these, and like the vast majority of everyone else, I've never had a problem.
Many, if not most, online merchants, don't ever store your credit card number. The exceptions would be those who have a recurring charge capability and those who explicitly have the capability to store it.
Being aware of the security of your information is fine, but rejecting convenience without adquately weighing the relative risk is damned silly.
This isn't to say that the original poster doesn't have good practices when it comes to using his credit card at restaurants as well. However, nearly everyone I know who won't use a credit card online will pony it up at a restaurant without a second thought.
now go upstairs and help your mom with the dishes.
The author doesn't mention how they got his credit card info. I wonder if he even knows. I would imagine that since the crooks had one of this credit card checks they probably stole his mail. If so, I wonder if they hang around his house and maybe that's why he recognized one of them. Looks like he's got mail fraud on top of identity theft.
As a former scammer and hacker turned security consultant... I have to say that it is surprisingly FREAKING EASY!!! to get someones CC numbers... from social engineering tactics, dumpster diving, or just slight of hand / eye tricks... its possible to get almost anyones card number these days.
Maybe not a single person as a target mind you, but valid card numbers none the less.
Once you get the card numbers youll also find that it is stupidly simple to make large purchases with them. Online buys can be made to drop houses for obscurity... and in person purchases can be made with a $300 3M card writer and a good inkjet printer and a bit of photoshop to create a physical card...
People NEVER verify the card holders name to the ID these days so having the actual card stolen from someone is just about as safe. (When they did attempt to ID me I would claim that I didnt bring my wallet, just the card and they would let me make a $599 purchase at best buy).
I commend him quick thinking and 'dumb luck' in your of your credit attackers... I have to say that if some people had been as vigilant I may have had their fate.
On the flip side of the coin, While I once had a stack of 50 valid and working credit cards obtained from one method or another... I now manage and secure online companies from attack and fraud using counter techniques which I used to skirt in MY efforts. I now have access to between 75 and 100K customer's information which Is locked down tighter than Fort Knocks if I do say so myself... not that this makes up for any of my past exploits, but to me, its a way of atoning.
The Code Ninja is swift with his tool, precise in his delivery, and deadly accurate in his execution.
Last year Wells Fargo calls me. It seems some doofus used my Wells Fargo Mastercard to buy, among other things, $1000 in Victoria's Secret gift certificates from the VS Website. The expriation date was wrong, and the transaction flagged. Wells Fargo did NOT authorize the purchase, and I wasn't billed. (Other smaller purchases, under $50, had been authorized earlier in the day, but they were now being charged back since I said I didn't make them.) Bravo to Wells Fargo for being diligent about this.
Of course, I want to catch these shitheats. Victoria's Secret has their shipping address, so I think it should be pretty easy to get that address, call the police, and have justice done.
WRONGO!!
I call Victorias Secret. They say they can only give the shipping address out to a police officer/detective conducting an investigation, or at the request of the Credit Card company (Wells Fargo.). OK. Fine. They don't want vigilantes.
I call local PD. They say that since I didn't lose any money (WF blocked or refunded all charges) there was no crime for them to persue. If anyone lost money, Wells Fargo did. Call them and have them call police.
I call Wells Fargo. They say THEY didn't lose any money; they cancelled or blocked the charges. If anyone lost anything of value, it is Victorias Secret for (apparently) shipping out the gift certificates immediately without a valid payment now, or a valid expiration date eariler. They would need to call the Police to start an investigation.
"But I just called them! They don't care about who did this. They sent me to the local PD, and they sent me to you," I say. "I just want to know who did this. They have an address, but they'll only issue it to you or the PD."
The conversation took TWO more laps around these three parties before I gave up.
The story linked to in this post gives basically the same story in the sense that the local PD didn't give a shit about this crime in terms of investing ANY investigational effort. It was up to the poor victim to do all the legwork, and even THEN, the police seem like they take their sweet time getting there to catch the jerk-off criminals.
I bet the local DA pleads them down to nothing without a trial too.
In short, it seems that only determined application of stupidity on the part of credit card theives, along with an angry, lucky, motivated victom working hard at finding the theif, is the ONLY way these shitheads will ever get caught.
I don't even know why I work for a living...
The person whose identity was stolen will have a lot of bad credit attached to his or her credit report. Subsequently there may be notes attached that it wasn't really him. But the automated programs which are responsible for figuring out whether you're a good credit risk are a lot better at figuring out the former than the latter.
Therefore, even though your money was not stolen, your credit still winds up trashed.
I hope you weren't planning on buying a house...
Read reading...you did well, congrats
when you know the punishment they will receive is worse than you could ever personally inflict. you know, pound-in-the-ass prison and all that.
Is what type of person steals 2 credit cards, racks up thousands of dollars in charges. Then proceeds to order breakfast from Denney's? Come on the meal is free live it up a little.
If you were smart you'd be worked up too. Because it's people who are stealing money like that that make busienss costs higher (when they have to pay back the credit card companies for fraudulent charges they have to make it up somehow).
Do you enjoy paying a "criminal tax" to keep some lazy bastard in a life of luxury? Because that's what your doing right now every time you buy something from somewhere that takes credit cards. Hopefully someone finds your CC number someday so you, too, can find just how unimportant the whole matter is.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I would say that those RCMPs are great!
Unfortunately, most of the credit card holders,
and users, are south of the northern border.
Population differences (32 VS 375 Million)
also make a big difference. ID theft is so
very popular here in the USA just because it
is so easy to get away with: first the criminal
has to be caught, then the criminal has to be
prosecuted, and then the criminal has to be
convicted, and then the punishment has to be
adequate to deter such criminal activity.
Figures for the number of illegal aliens in the
USA range from 8 million (official figures that
have been massaged by political correctness) to
an estimated 28 million, based upon percentage
captured. Imagine a Canada whose population
were to double within a decade not being noticed.
Even the 8 million (low-ball) figure for illegal
aliens in the USA puts a severe strain on the
social safety net, and on crime fighting. Those
who have been able to successfully remain within
the USA the longest have done so by using the
best false identities, or backed up with the
help of government officials (at every level of
government).
It has only been post 9-11-2001 that pressure has
been applied to law enforcement and prosecutors
to actually enforce the law. It doesn't help
that the POTUS is the poster child for amnesty
for illegal aliens in the USA. So the taxpayers
of America are subjected to SS employees that
sell lists of SS numbers to the highest bidder,
DMV employees that earn an extra 2 to 5 thousand
USD per month under the table by creating good
IDs from bad basic documents, and everyone with
a computer, a scanner, and a laser color printer
tempted to suppliment their income by becoming
a fake ID provider.
Having CC companies monitoring "unusual" usage
of CC isn't enough by far. The punishment should
fit the crime, which in this case should be 2
years of hard (breaking big rocks into gravel)
labor PER INCIDENT. Even this penalty is less
that what I would impose (, so I guess it's a
good thing that I am not the judge in court.)
Come on!
'I rarely use my credit card online'
Like that matters in any way!
Why do so many people think online transactions are any less secure than any other kind of transaction?
Every time you use a card to order a pizza you are giving your name, card number and expirely date to some kid who may be in some gang for all you know, any time you use a card in a store the clerk could be double swiping it to copy the card info electronically or just copying the receipt information. Remember that time you didnt get your monthly bill? Surprise, some bastard stole your mail and has the card info.
Stop it already! If you use a credit card, you could have the info stolen, period!
George Bush + Linux = "I will not let information get in the way of the fight against Windows"
slashdotting your LJ
Shamelessly plagiarized.
s /1 11672.html?page=2#comments
Mod this idiot down!
http://www.livejournal.com/users/publius_ovidiu
it's always good to hear someone tracking down their own criminals like this story. this is a prime case of "vigilante justice" being very appropriate - especially given that the police were reluctant to get involved _at_all_ until he had confirmed that both perps were in the building.
... i had a small online company try to defraud me last fall and tracked down the owner much the same. they wouldn't return phone calls or emails, so i took it into my own hands. through some dns whois queries, mapquest searches, reverse phone lookups and the like (all free, btw, because who wants to pay $40 just to have someone take all your fun :) and do it for you?) the short version is that i called his home phone number, then confirmed he was the owner of this particular business before railing on him for his poor service and demanding a full refund (which i received quickly thereafter). man, was this guy sure scared/surprised to get a call at his home number.
/.ers who have such an "opportunity."
on a tangent
moral of the story: i can relate the the ecstacy this guy must have felt when knowing you've had a hand in the takedown of someone who's done you wrong. i strongly recommend the experience to all
Well done man, but the syringe portion gave me a chill. The syringe part is more than just evidence...what the cop did was both illegal and insanely dangerous. "Sharps" are considered hazardous medical waste and in every state MUST be disposed of in a proper labeled container (NOT a Coke bottle.) They must be given to a company licensed to dispose of hazardous or medical waste and destroyed, usually in these massive incinerators. (I was a med student once...)
.45. Never had to fire a shot, but I was absolutely ready to drop all three of them and they knew it. The other time I just opened my vest to a knife wielding mugger, we both smiled and he ran off like Carl Lewis doing the 100. Protect yourself!
Ironic as this sounds, what the cop did with those sharps (syringes) was more dangerous than your identity theft. Most likely, the manager chucked the bottle in the trash, and those needles are possibly now being reused by some dumpster diving junkie. Who knows what viruses, bacteria, whatnot those kids had lurking in their blood.
I'm insanely proud of your victory but I gently suggest calling the Red Lion, and TELL them that 'dirty needles' are somewhere in their trash. Two asshole identity theives in jail is small change compared to a trash collector or Red Lion employee getting Lyme, AIDS or septicemia, and spreading it to his family.
Also, those guys know who you are, are obvious heavy druggies and probably don't like you very much right now. They'll be out one day. Consider a pistol permit. I ALWAYS carry, and that's saved my life twice. Get some professional training , and practice every week, too. My close scrapes: Three guys went at me with crowbars (carjacking attempt in a parking lot...liked my M3) and their eyes got as large as frisbees when in under half a second they saw the business end of my Les Baer
"The pie shall be cut in half and each man shall receive.....death. I'll eat the pie."
Why does everyone fear online shopping? A 128 bit encrypted site like Amazon is a hell of a lot safer than the mailbox sitting in my front yard. Am I wrong?
Booked into a hotel under one name and paying under another? The hotel didn't care? Yet fell over themselves to help the guy?
Police throwing away evidence?
Visa et al catching and cutting them off, but the thieves stay put?
Using the hotel computer?
Geez. Call Discover (or almost any other credit card company) and they will never send them again.
I remember this one. I had a good laugh. The kind of stories that make you feel good (ala Gladiator's "I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next").
I hadn't read about the DDoS backfire and the fact that Jeff didn't give a sign of life since. Quite disturbing.
However, I personally don't think this story was true. It's just too cool to be true. Just like this very story.
perception is reality
.... you USians never stop to amaze us.
In similar situations I just handed over my stuff.
Nobody was hurt, I was protected (insured) so I did not lose anything. One of the thieves was later caught.
With all due respect I think you USian guys should consider what firearms are doing to your society.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Murderers carry guns too.
Banks do not send CC information over the Internet.
ATMs normally are on Intranets or private nets not connected to the net.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
But if you use your credit card the invisible lizard people who secretly control our government can track you! Never use anything but dollar coins because they can use that magneto-whatsis strip in the 5's, 10's and 20's too! Gaaaah, men in black suits are knocking on my as;lrne
I don't have an identity you insensitive clod!
TT
Cash can be stolen and used easily. Cards can be stolen and used, but you can get the money back. Big difference.
----
how wrong, my dad is a hispanic male, command of english is very limited. Anyways, someone had gotten a credit card under his name. They charged 4,000 dollars of crap to it. Several months later they must have stopped making payments or somethign and disappeared from radar. Because next thing my dad gets a letter from a collection agency after having tracked him "down" (like he was ever hiding!). Anyways, we go through all the hassel of contacting wellsfargo, all the credit reporting agency/unions, the avondale, az, police department, etc.
Final result, my dad's credit is screwed. Wells fargo expects my dad to pay something like 400 dollars or so. My dad asked (my mom had been talking to the english speaking rep) to speak to someone who spoke spanish and he proceeded to tell them that he didn't get the card, he didn't charge it so he wasn't paying and hung up.
Yeah, not the best method of handling stuff. But credit cards are not that safe.
On the other hand, I still use wellsfargo; while at my university I believe it was my singaporese roommate who tried to fly to nyork, or was it to california? Anyways, wellsfargo covered me there. Dumb**s thought I had a bigger credit limit than 800 dollars! The fraud unit for the online flight booking place called me to confirm if I had ordered tickets, which is how I learned about this. Never saw the guy again or heard what happened. Filed some forms confirming I got ripped and Got a new card/number.
Oh, my dad now uses my mom as his form of getting credit.
First of all, anti-terrorism legislation requires hotels retain a photocopy of your driver's license. I find it highly unlikely that the hotel will accept a license in one name and payment via another name with only a credit card number. Second, credit card companies don't get details about a charge for 2-3 days after the charge is made, so there's no way that the CC company could have known that the charge was made at Denny's or what zip code that Denny's was in. The credit card processors always take 2-3 days to post the charge to the issuing bank, and it is then and only then that the issuing bank knows what store the charge was made at. The only piece of information the issuing bank receives is the TYPE of establishment the charge is made at. In this case, the only think his credit card issuer would have been able to tell him was that the charge was made at a restaurant. That's it.
I went through similar credit card theft 2 years ago, so I have firsthand knowledge of how these processes work. I check my online accounts every day, so one day when I saw that my available balance had been cut in half, I called to see what the authorization was for. My CC company told me that all they knew was that it was an Office Supply retail store in British Columbia. They were very helpful in explaining how Visa and Mastercard work - that the merchant processor submits an authorization, which tells the issuing bank the type of store and amount, and then posts the actual transaction in a batch process every 48-72 hours. It is only when the transaction is posted that the issuer knows any details about the place where the card was used.
This guy certainly has his talent for fiction, but that is all this story is.
Really? That's true about privacy, and when I get around to laundering this pile of dirty money, that'll be great. But I think you're crazy regarding protecting your bank account (unless you mean from yourself, at which point some self-discipline would help).
You can't contest a purchase with cash. You don't get free product insurance with cash. You don't get a nice charge summary with cash. You don't have to go to an ATM or a bank to get your card, as you do with cash. Using cash doesn't help your credit rating, and should you ever want a better car or develop the desire to move out on your own, cash doesn't help develop a good credit rating.
I understand the card companies get a lot in profit from people, on average, for those services. But I don't pay them a thing, because I pay them off every month, on time. And since the credit card companies make it against the rules to pass on merchant fees (ie, no discount for paying cash), I figure why not take advantage of the situation?
That scam actually works.
This signature is part of a balanced post.
I'm surprised at just how perfectly this all worked out.
They happened to remember who picked up the order, based on the number? Perhaps the time (6AM), or what they ordered, was somewhat distinct, so I can see it. This is incredibly lucky.
The people at the hotel seemed abnormally helpful as well; I really wouldn't have been that surprised if they said, "Nope, don't know," and went about their business. Instead, they called employees at home. He just happened to get someone who knew exactly who they were, and their room number. They just happened to have used something with a traceable billing address.
Just as they were identified, they happened to come down.
Having your credit card stolen is unlucky, but if it ever happens to me, I hope I'm as lucky as this guy!
________________________________________________
suwain_2
First of all, anti-terrorism legislation requires hotels retain a photocopy of your driver's license. I find it highly unlikely that the hotel will accept a license in one name and payment via another name with only a credit card number.
Now maybe when you stay at The Hampton's Inn, or some other major chain they will always follow through on complying with regulations. But if you honestly believe low end, transient home hotels ask for ID you have obviously never been to one. Hell a lot of those places take cash, no questions asked.
--- I do not moderate.
Out of curiousity, do you have any idea how they got your information? If they stole one of your cards, it could have been anywhere you used it. But they had two of your cards.
(This is discussed a bit on his first post about it, but my question isn't answered.)
________________________________________________
suwain_2
I like that in a dead animal.
1) I have stayed at that Red Lion in Portland.
;-)
2) I have eaten at that Denny's as well.
3) I have checked my email on the computer in the lobby.
4) A PuTTY icon on the desktop should have clued me in that I should not have checked my email there.
5) Over the next 3 days, my ISP account was used to spam strangers like crazy, before I finally changed my password.
6) This was almost 2 years ago.
Nice to see the Red Lion is still such a hotbed of criminal activity
"Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins
>I've lost $0 in credit card theft, but dealing with the attempts has cost me quite a bit more in time: more than 100 times as much
So, you've lost $0 then?
Since the company that issued credit to someone using fraudulent identification, why are they not held libel due to their negligence? Why is the person who has had their identity stolen responsible for cleaning it up, when the credit issuers are the ones that have ruined it by giving credit to someone using a false ID. Credit issuers are not making enough identity verification if identity theft is occurring.
Dirty Harry reads slashdot!
What I want to see happen is someone to commit a large crime, and have a warrant out for their arrest, and then have their identity stolen. The person who stole the identity now has a warrant out for their arrest, and to avoid it they have to convince police that they 'just' stole the person's identity.
Since losing a credit card number in an online purchase to a dbase hacker, I now use MBNA for all of my online shopping. It gives me a new credit card number everytime I use it, for which I can set an arbitrary $ amount before that number is consumed and also any expiration date for out to a year.
I generate new numbers using my browser, and even Safari works on OS X. I rest easy knowing that the particular number is set at just over the amount of my purchase, so even if the cc number was compromised it would have no more value attached.
--
$tar -xvf
Awesome story.
I really hope someone doesn't post a follow up with a url to an urban legend site.
Most people don't put condoms on their BALLS, Einstein.
I want my wants in the data base. Myabe some of the collectors will realise not everyone watche CBS from 1900 to 2300 hours each week nite while drinking schludmiller.
Recent case in point; took me two months to find an online record store that had a CD by Patricia Nohva
( Salut Country) , I happened to like a song of hers
( ca va bien) and wanted a copy. Found it at Archambault.ca.
Just about every statement which can be verified here is wrong.
HIS story is probably the one made up. As others have well pointed out, it's just plain wrong.
The anti-terrorism claim ought to be a tip off to anyone who's actually stayed in a Hotel. Sheesh.
It looks like he had a successful troll though, unfortunately.
I use credit cards online all the time. Wake up you fucking luddite.
So lets see...
2 habitual criminals...needle freaks...computer literate
who know his name and address...might have seen the geeky looking guy with the shit eating grin in the lobby...or his picture on his blog...or the cops might rub it in
spending some quality time in the clink...with lots of time to dwell on cause and effect...and maybe even his chest thumping blog...meeting lots of nifty new friends
oops.
billy - who suggests at least a 12 gauge
...could look a little suspicious.
There are private transactions where the government mandates that an individual provide a business with their SSN, primarily anything taxable, like hiring somebody, or opening a bank account that pays interest, and by now they mandate it for most bank accounts even if they don't pay interest, and they mandate it for any medical transaction involving Medicare or most other government-funded health care.
For transactions where the government does not mandate that a business collect an SSN, they almost never place any restrictions on the business's activities with it, and they don't say that the business can't refuse to deal with you if you don't provide it - you're on your own.
There are a very small number of cases where some government, mostly state, places limits on private use of SSNs, or otherwise insists on some kinds of privacy protection. But in practice, those are usually not effective.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Many grocery stores have their frequent-customer discount cards, which track your purchases if you use them - in my case, "John Doe", who lives at "General Delivery" in my town/zipcode, gets his purchase history recorded, and they're quite happy to correlate my purchases of coffee and Irish whiskey and whipping cream, or tofu and white wine, or tortillas and beer, or catfood and cat litter. No reason for them to know it's me.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Hey, if he's doing that, then he probably doesn't need to buy those pills they keep advertising on the Internet....
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
At least if your address is the same by the time they get out after their grand theft conviction or whatever...
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Hey! I just read that and you should DEFINITELY count yourself lucky! It took CapitalOne 4 days to contact me about the credit card fraud that hit me last month, though BankOne didn't even do a SINGLE thing! What actually happened, is somehow my PayPal account was stolen (how, I have no idea, as I haven't used it or given out any numbers or anything in quite awhile). My PayPal account had my credit card and my checking account on it. They racked up about $4,000 using both, putting me about $1,300 over my limit in my checking account and maxed out my credit card in a matter of 4 days!!! They did all their purchasing online, and as a result of my own research, I found out whoever it is lives in AUSTRALIA!!! Now, I live in the US, so obviously there was no Denny's in my plan... Everything was put back to normal about a week ago, so I actually had absolutely NO FUNDS to draw from for almost a month (I had to wait for a new credit card, and my bank balance was negative)! Good thing I am a relatively poor student who works on tips (valet) so I still had 2 weeks worth of tips to hold me over (a few hundred bucks), and parents who love me LOL! The thing that sucks the most, is that whoever %$#@ed me over is going to get away Scott free... Bastards... Well, just my story. Oh, BTW, CapitalOne was excellent in dealing with the problem, very nice and understanding, while BankOne sucked about it, and PayPal was somewhere in between. I'm just glad it was taken care of... -JB (shnikejsb@aol.com)
Is the parent posters homepage there for irony?
People NEVER verify the card holders name to the ID these days so having the actual card stolen from someone is just about as safe.
Maybe it's because our new city police chief (who has reduced car theft by almost 50% in one year), but every time I buy something in town, I always get carded. And every clerk so far has been careful. The only time they don't is when it is something small, usually less than $20.
Granted, we don't have an identify theft or credit card problem around here. Maybe it's because our chief is so awesome and she's got everyone being proactive, though.
Just tonight I ate a good dinner with five and they asked for my ID. They took about 10 seconds to check then recheck it too.
If you're wondering, Federal Way Washington, and yes, there are tech jobs here and in the surrounding areas.
Oh, and the car thefts? She has her boys follow the top car thieves around town, all day, and all night. No special tech, no special investigators. Just footwork. And the bastards are dumb enough to try it anyways, even though they know they are being watched.
Oh, and if you report drugs on the street, they'll post a car in the area at night time. First they track them, then they tag them, and then one night you'll see cop cars busting into houses all over town. Those nights are very quiet except for the police activity. Usually they do it on a Thursday. I guess that's when they find the most stash.
The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.
I rtfa'ed but I don't get this.
How do you order breakfast at Denny's without an actual card?
Did they steal a replacement card from his mailbox? They had his cash advance checks so they must have had access to his mail at some point.
Had his old card expired? Are both the old and new cards active at the same time?
Just wondering... Maybe I didn't read clearly.
1) Most Hotel lobby have camera. ...
2) When you punch or hit someone that leave a mark.
3) The manager whont risk loosing his job for 20$
4) There is always someone else watching.
5) The guy get a good lawyer and he can make you look like the son of hitler.And you get the privilege of paying him disability for life.
6) The guy get a good lawyer and he accuse the cop of beating him , to avoid bad publicity they trow away the case
How nice to live life in your own special world , in reality this guy did the responsible thing.
Credit Card fraud cost many billions each year, its a proven fact that most of the time people steal credit card in order to commit a bigger crime. Its in our best interest and in the one of the Credit Card company to have agents who specialise in this kind of acts, they should pay for additionnal cops on the force in every country and country. Its called prevention.
1. You called restaurant where guy just used your card; 2. They told you buyer was staying in nearby hotel, and he was; 3. Police are called; 4. You jazz up story into self-aggrandizing epic.
Keeping information from where it doesn't belong gives cash a VERY high score on my list as well.
Only if his time is worthless. Most of us would not consider our time worthless.
Even at minimum wage (many of here are eigther in school or making considerably more than that, some both) $80 is only 16 hours.
And that's exactly what he said, he said in time he valued his losses at more than 8k. Now admittedly it's eigther hyperboly, or he values his time very highly or he's had a LOT of time spent fixing such issues or most likely some mix of the above.
To anyone else I do realize I've probably just fed a troll, but just in case someone really didn't get it.
Mycroft
https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates has set up their system to send an SMS to a designated phone number every time a transaction is made, telling the account holder how much was charged, at what time, and which shop did the charging.
This means that within minutes of the card being used, the account holder should be aware if their card has been used fraudulently.
How hard would it be to set this up for every bank? I'd rather pay for a similar service than inflated charges and greater potential for being defrauded.
Teh only real way to protect your private information is to make it public, so no one to steal it. case in point teh paperatzi guys chasing movie stars around to take their pictures. The stars that pose willingly are not hassled. and those that want thier privacy are hounded.
post all private information here, and you'll be safer for it. I gaurantee if you reveal all private information, you will have nothing to lose. 100% gaurantee.
PS thanks to all of you who have already used Kaaza to share your C: drive including your Turbo Tax .tax files. Those are very helpful.
- Your Nigerian long lost relative
Dr. Amatumbu Tiboramaubi
do they.... ? and it is important to "makeaverlongsencentsothemostofthepageisusedbuthts issosullessesidecidetopostasanonmouscowardsoshould you"
I had a few grand taken two years ago - including some genius who paid their car insurance. We got the name, address, account number, phone number all in similar fashion to this story. When faced with all this info from me and the bank security team, and the question "what are you going to do to this felon?"
The Progressive rep's answer was "I guess we'll hafta make them pay cash."
"But they just committed a FEDERAL OFFENSE!"
"Well, even criminals have to buy car insurance."
Verbatim, folks. Ver-freaking-batim.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
The $50 fraud limit needs to be extended to all electronic money trancactions.
Free Mac Mini Yeah, it's
Nobody was hurt, I was protected (insured) so I did not lose anything
You may not have lost anything, but the community did. Do you seriously think that the insurance policies wouldn't get more expensive? Let that happen on a wide scale, and the whole insurance business would be broke.
You may live in a part of the world where only true and hardened criminals bear arms. You're certainly lucky for this. Unfortunately, we can't affort this kind of luxury in the US.
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
They phoned in the order to Denny's, then just had to sign the receipt when they picked up the food.
Not sure how they got the convenience checks... who knows.
When most cards expire, they send you a new one.. same number, different exp date. They were using the one with the outdated exp date.
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
It's imperative that you do use a credit card when you're buying semtex (or other plastic explosives) or anthrax. Just don't use your credit card!
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
Lots of children swim in this bay (I did swimming lessons there) so we caught it and moved it to another location.
Discover Card has similar capabilities, I think the only difference is that they don't let you set the expiry date. Plus you get cash back on your purchases! (up to 2% if you redeem from one of their "partners" that doubles the reward - I always get Sharper Image gift cards and then sell 'em on eBay)
All his web-sites have not come down.
www.bootsix.net informs the reader that he's busy on a video project. Most likely he gave persmission to distribute the story and then really didn't care to talk to random fanboys on the net about it.
It's like writting a fan mail to someone famous, getting a response out of them and then pretending they're dead because they won't continue responding to your letters.
I've done that many times as the reciever of e-mails from random people. I will typically respond to someone once if they contact me through my web-site's form. After that the chance of a response from me drop quickly to zero. Initial response, and then never heard from again. That's the typical MO of people when talking to people they don't know and don't care to know. He answer'd the ZUG guy's question and that's all be felt compelled to be obliged to.
The big mistake that Bobby Johnny made was registering the power book site (which is his own site BTW so another one that isn't shut down) under his own name and home address.
So if the guy wanted to fly across the ocean and whack him, he could. But most likely Bobby just didn't care to continue some long conversation with the ZUG guy and has better things to do as mentioned on his main site; the video project.
But I have to say, assuming he's dead leads to a more interesting ending.
I'd say he's just tired of the fanboys and has moved on with his life.
Work Safe Porn
You don't even have to call Discover to stop the checks, go to their website, login, and send them the request electronically.
Worked for me.
And while you're there, check out their one-time CC number generator for on-line transactions. Amex used to have one too, but dropped it. Guess which CC I use for shopping on-line?
I tend to travel a lot for work. I put a lot of stuff on my personal card when I do (get paid per diem for expenses). How does their fraud department not alarm when a charge suddenly shows up in Honolulu on my card? Hmm, maybe they've figured out that all those microbrewery stops are legit.
I do, however, try to be careful about not letting anyone get information about me they shouldn't and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online. This is why I was surprised to find out one morning that identity thieves had racked up thousands of dollars one two of my credit cards.
A good sign that the internet is not to blame for all of our problems. It's more likely that someone you gave the card to offline was the one who stole it. It's a lot easier for a petty thief to, for example, jot down your info at a restaurant as they process your card out of view than it is to steal it from some database.
this is my sig
No kidding. If I'd have seen him wearing that vest, I would have had no choice but to attempt to assault him, too.
I've never been involved in a shoot situation (though I do carry), but from what I've heard, in the heat of combat, with a moving, bobbing, bouncing, relatively small target (that's shooting back), a clean headshot is mighty difficult. Not that it's not someting to try for - but I personally would probably use the Mozambique drill. Two quick shots in the body, onbe careful head shot. Takes a bit to master, but it's pretty much foolproof (.357 w/125gr JHPs :D) If the baddie isn't armored, the two COM shots should work, and even if he is, they'll give him pause long enough for you to draw a bead on his head.
Of course, then there's the "trunk gun" philosophy; carrying a BFG in your car for a prolonged shootout like the TX incident. Myself, I keep a 7.62x51 semiauto, but that's more in case I get the random desire to stop by the range rather than the possibility of a shootout with armored bad guys.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
you WILL RTFA. the moral of the story is near the bottom: ALWAYS tear up those stupid cash-advance "checks" that your credit card co. sends.
makes me so happy to hear this because I always rip em up to bits and put half the bits in a trash can and half in the paper recycle.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
p-p-p-powerbook.com is still up. Maybe he is alive after all.
being a sales person and dealing with large transactions all day, i am well aquainted with checking IDs. if it says check, i check. if it's not signed, i check. if it's smudged, i check. if there is ANY doubt in my mind, i make some excuse about being severely far sighted and not having my glasses with me...
usually the people offer up the ID without a fuss, some act pleasantly supprised that their credit is being taken seriously. I've only had a few that made a fuss (so far they've all been valid), but i "blame" it on store policy and joke about not wanting to lose my job, and they agree.
and to the GP poster, I work at Bestbuy, not all of us are dumb schmucks.. :)
Rise up in the cafeteria and STAB them with your plastic forks!
The guy seems to have a level head, rather than trying to confront the people, he simply invetigates, and calls the police. Nothing wrong with that.
But keep this in mind:
The credit card companies called him. GOOD. That is what they are supposed to do. Further, HE wasn't stolen from; the merchants were. The merchants were carless and took risks with credit cards.
Visa/Discover will not pay anyone for the illegal charges, as they can't prove the charges were authorized (with, say, a signature).
Although I'm sure I would try to do the same thing in the same situation, a part of me would want to say "Why should I bother? I use my credit card as a convenience, and fraud protection is one of those conveniences. I don't use it so I can go chasing people around, that's not my problem. The merchants took the risk."
I want to catch these shitheats. Victoria's Secret has their shipping address, so I think it should be pretty easy to get that address, call the police, and have justice done. [...] I call Victorias Secret. They say they can only give the shipping address out to a police officer/detective conducting an investigation
OK, sounds reasonable.
"But I just called them! They don't care about who did this. They sent me to the local PD, and they sent me to you,"
BZZZZT. Wrong.
You called them, and they would not give you the address. That does *not* mean that they don't care, and that they haven't called the police themselves. All it means is that they won't tell you.
Mod Parent Up
I was picking my truck from an expensive repair ($6000 new engine ruined by a mechanic (their insurance paid for most of it)), and I paid with my credit card. The clerk said I had exceeded my limit. I said no way.
I called the credit card company, and they said also said I exceeded my limit. They told me that on Friday (it was currently Monday) someone had purchased $4000 of computer stuff from a company I had never heard of. They asked if it was my purchase. I said no. They asked if another purchase on Friday at the same computer store for $3000 was mine. I said no. They asked about another purchase for $2000. I said I have never heard of that computer store. The card company seemed a bit confused.
I said that the transactions were fraud. When the heard the f-word, they quickly transferred me to the fraud department. They said they had to check something about the 3 transactions. They said something like "the merchant didn't do something, so we don't have to pay". I suspect that the stuff was to be shipped somewhere other than my address and the merchant didn't ask for the security code on the back of the card, but the credit card company wouldn't say.
They said they have just cancelled my card, and they are mailing me a new card. I said swell, but I have pick up my car. They said they would temporarily raise the credit limit by $6000, and while I was on the phone the clerk should run the card, then they would cancel the card. I told the clerk this (they had been listening since I was using their phone), and they ran the card which accepted the charge. The card was cancelled just after the transasction.
I never found out how the card number was stolen. I did go to Bank of America had them take a picture of me and emboss it on the card. This is great when bying something in person, and completely useless over the phone or internet.
It's real money that the merchants, banks, and card processors have to cough up. Where do you think it comes from? Higher merchandise prices (or, eroded retail margins, and fewer mom-and-pop retailers as a result), higher bank fees, and higher transaction fees. All of that, all of it, trickles down to the paying consumer in one way or the other.
While credit card fraud certainly does trickle down to the consumer, it is most certainly NOT the bank or credit card companies who cough up the money. Not a dime.
If you were a merchant, you would know that every time a credit card transaction is claimed fraudulent by a customer, the credit card processing institution charges back the merchant for the FULL AMOUNT of the questionable transaction plus extra fees (to cover a brief administrative process to find out more details about the transaction from both the customer and the merchant).
So remember this: The cost of EVERY fraudulent credit card transaction is initially passed on ONLY to the merchant - they are the ones who have to cough up the money, so they will be the ones RAISING PRICES to you and me.
Discover card lets you obtain a seperate number for each merchant. The number can be used multiple times by that merchant, but not by anyone else. You get a new Secure number by logging onto Discover and requesting one, or you can have a destop version that stays active for 15 minutes. Works for me.
Carbon Unit # 149-34-xxxx
And just to add a little more credit, I'm his roomate. Yes its true. You can check my rep if you like. Have fun.
Also the local news boys, KOIN Channel 6, just left. Ovid will be on the news at 11 tonite.
You missed the joke. Read it again. 0 times 100 is still 0.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
Judge: I see you are filing against the police or Victoria's Secret. What is the amount of your actual monetary damages?
bani: Uhhh... uhhhh....
Judge: Did I stutter?
bani: Well, I did not incur any actual monetary damages, Victoria's Secret did.
Judge: Let me get this straight, you are suing Victoria's Secret because they suffered damages?
bani: Well, someone on this website "slashdot" told me I should file in SCC against...
Judge: Get the fuck out of my courtroom you degenerate fuck. Stop wasting my time.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
I applaud the guy for being able to make a policeman move without applying 20,000,000 volts.
.
My wife's computer was stolen. We saw her ICQ account pop up online - the thief hadn't even bothered to wipe it. We tracked down the IP, but Patrolman DonutMuncher apparently wasn't interested in even calling the ISP to get an address. It wasn't the computer we cared about but family heirlooms which were stolen at the same time. Unfortunately, police work is sometimes work.
Where we live now, the cops couldn't bother to show up, to, say two thugs threatening to attack a pregnant woman (a racially motivated attack, too) even though they're LEANING AGAINST A SQUAD CAR HALF A BLOCK AWAY.
This guy wants us to believe that he was able to talk cops into going back and forth to arrest these guys? Please tell me where you live, man! I might respect cops again if I can find a jurisdiction in which they actually do work, rather than raping and torturing prostitutes and shooting their wives to avoid paying child support
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
if you think monetary damages are required for a successful lawsuit then you are one truly stupid fuck.
You have obviously never filed a lawsuit in small claims court before. Wake me up when you have.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
The funniest part is where Jeff scams other people to pay for his alleged prank, and they fall for it and send Jeff money to pay to ship it, then write about it on the web with no sense of the dramatic irony playing out around them.
> Why can't they have their cake and eat it too? E.g. shoot you in the back right after you start running, and then stop and pick up the money. It's not as if both you and the money are running in opposite directions and they have to choose between them...
The idea is that most thieves don't want your life, just your cash. If you drop the cash and back away, the thief will just collect the cash and beat it. They won't shoot you to stop you, because they don't want to shoot you (if they did, they wouldn't bother with a holdup, they'd just plug you and rifle your pockets). However, this theory has a down side, in that if you're facing someone with a firearm, you don't want to startle them. In that case, drop the cash and back away slowly, and don't worry about the money. Leaving with your health and an empty wallet is better by far than getting shot at.
Virg