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Identity Theft Victim Gets Last Laugh

Posted by Zonk on from the the-phone-is-mightier-than-the-sword dept.

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."

11 of 725 comments (clear)

  1. It's real hard to resist confrontation by Oriumpor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  2. this is why by indy_Muad'Dib · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:this is why by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Except they don't really walk off with your hard earned money. I worked at XYZ credit card bank in their inward fraud department and it was usually something as simple as saying "These charges aren't mine." I say, "OK", tag them as such, and the merchant needs to come up with proof otherwise they pay. Usually, if we suspected it is a family member (say, calls to 900#s originating from their home), we ask them if they are willing to prosecute. That's the tough choice usually, if they know their $relative has been using their card.

      But usually the maximum you are responsible under federal law is $50 for any fraud (not per charge, for all the fraud). A lot of places will waive that and pay it themselves so you don't get pissed off.

      One time, I got a call in from someone who suspected this person was using a stolen card. They were at an electronics store buying a big screen TV and the teller said the guy looked suspicious. Well, we get the card info while the manager acts like he's "processing the order", we call the number associated with the account, and I ask, "Sir, are you in a store right now buying a big screen TV?"

      He says, "No, I am not."

      "Do you have your XYS Visa on you?"

      "Yeah, it's right her--- where'd it go?"

      We called the cops while the guy was waiting around for his TV to get prepared.

      Anyway, long story short,the article is not about "identity theft" since the guy just stole the guy's credit card number / mail somehow, just regular fraud. It is an interesting article though. And what he described is pretty common. Figure we havd a group of about 50 people working full-time just talking on the phone with people who suspected fraud. This was not counting the people who called customers who may have fraud, nor the people investigating the fraud either.

      --

      Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  3. more restraint than me .... by icebrrrg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... 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.
  4. Amazon alerted me... by lp-habu · · Score: 5, Interesting
    About three years ago I got an email from Amazon telling me that a new account had been opened using a credit card I used from my account.

    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.

  5. It could have been me. by dallask · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.
    1. Re:It could have been me. by Anthony+Boyd · · Score: 4, Interesting
      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.

      I seem to have stumbled upon a way to make every clerk ask me for ID, every time. I wrote on the back of my card in permanent marker, "ASK TO SEE ID." The first few times cashiers asked to see my ID, I was actually rather snotty about it, like they were wasting my time. Then I remembered what I had written and that it was working. I was stunned.

      There is a small fallout though -- although 99% of my transactions over the past year have been really nice, I got one last week at Barnes & Noble that was just completely uncomfortable. The lady at the register saw the back of my card, took a hardass stance and assumed I was a criminal. She said (loud enough for the other customers to look up and stare), "Excuse me sir, could I have your name?" I told her my name. Then even louder she said, "UH HUH. RIGHT. WELL 'MR. BOYD' YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO SHOW ME SOME ID." Then, apparently disappointed that I actually had confirming ID, she muttered quietly, "well sir everything appears to be in order. Just doing as instructed." Oh well. At least she asked. If it had been a card thief, she probably would have leapt across the counter to make a citizen's arrest while she shouted "COVER ME!" to her coworker.

      --
      My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &
  6. Re:Be careful... by Almost-Retired · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And you are forgetting the 2nd ammendment to our constitution.

    And its backed in my case by a state law that says no matter how you get along with the local sheriff, if your record is clean, and you have passed the safe handling checks and have proved on the range in the presence of an licensed instructor that you can shoot reasonably accurately given the capability of the weapon in hand, he must issue a CCW to all who qualify as stated above.

    Like the sign showing the raging dog and the loaded revolver pointed directly at the viewer says, "Never mind the dog, beware of the owner".

    Do I carry? Damn betcha. Any chance of it being used? Only in my own home, or at work alone, and possibly if I should walk into a situation at a local convienience store, but the latter would have to be done under shots already fired circumstances. Otherwise the perp had better be in condition to get up from his face time on the floor and walk to the squad car.

    The bleeding hearts among us all tend to forget that the perp who does this, usually makes a consious choice to take what he wants/needs illegally from those who earned it legally. Generally speaking, society as a whole isn't going to miss those that claim a darwin award for their miss-guided efforts.

    --
    Cheers, Gene
    "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
    soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
    -Ed Howdershelt (Author)
    99.34% setiathome rank, not too shabby for a WV hillbilly

  7. Re:Be careful... by Almost-Retired · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Thats not worth the cost of the bullet, OR the hassle with both the authorities AND your concience.

    In my home I am king.

    At the 7/11 with a punk holding on the cashier, its a standoff, until he cracks a cap. Then believe me, its the last cap he'll crack. If he's got an IQ over 70, he'll hit the floor face down on my command with his piece thrown or kicked well out of reach. Bet on it. Those are his choices, its up to him which one because the 3rd choice, to swing to cover me will be a bad one. At that point I'm facing deadly force and can respond in kind. And if, because of my age (70), I'm not fast enough, at least I did try.

    --
    Cheers, Gene
    "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
    soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
    -Ed Howdershelt (Author)
    99.34% setiathome rank, not too shabby for a WV hillbilly

  8. Re:Reminds me of another well known scam by volve · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Careful now, messing with scammers could get you whacked. Case-in-point, the final paragraph of the aforementioned P-P-P-Powerbook story:
    3) Finally, and most disturbingly, Jeff was not heard from again. I personally e-mailed him for permission to run his story on ZUG, but after an initial response, I never heard from him again. All of his Web sites have come down, and he is nowhere to be found.

    Jeff, wherever you are, this P-P-P-Powerbook's for you.
    Uh oh! :-/
  9. Red Lion = Red Devil by Baby+Duck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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