Hackers Using Starbucks Gift Cards To Access Credit Cards

jfruh writes: Starbucks inspires loyalty among its heavy users — so much so that they're willing to connect their Starbucks gift cards and phone apps directly to their credit or debit cards, auto-refilling the balance when it runs low. But this has opened up a hole hackers can exploit. Writing about the scheme journalist Bob Sullivan says: "The fraud is a big deal because Starbucks mobile payments are a big deal. Last year, Starbucks said it processed $2 billion in mobile payment transactions, and about 1 in 6 transactions at Starbucks are conducted with the Starbucks app. Maria Nistri, 48, was a victim this week. Criminals stole the Orlando women’s $34.77 in value she had loaded onto her Starbucks app, then another $25 after it was auto-loaded into her card because her balance hit 0. Then, the criminals upped the ante, changing her auto reload amount to $75, and stealing that amount, too. All within 7 minutes."

Comments

Re:Moral

[hippo]

RTF linked article. Bad people guess your Starbucks login and transfer your funds to another Starbucks gift card which is the auctioned off on some anonymous dodgy version of Ebay.

Re:Explain this one to me

[slashkitty]

There is a huge market for gift card reselling online. starbucks makes it a bit easier because you can move $ from one card to another.. http://www.giftcardgranny.com/...