I've been scammed - help me, please!

“I posted this on the "Debit card fraud" thread as well.


I've been scammed. This morning I checked my bank account on-line, something I haven't done in a few days due to wedding busy-ness. There are about ten various charges totalling around $300. Some are for weird monthly "subscriptions," there is a Gevalia coffee charge, and a case of wine from a wine club. I called the companies doing the charges and the weird thing is that the name and address that the coffe and wine and kids' books are being shipped to is mine. However, there is a strange email associated with the accounts.

It was a debit card associated with my checking account. I have already gone to my bank and cancelled the card. I will be refunded all the money within 24-48 hours. (Chase Bank rocks!)

So here's my question. What kind of email can I send to this yahoo scoundrel to get him/her to give up their name and/or address? I want to nail this a-hole!”

“Do NOT contact the thief.
Let the police and bank deal with it.”

“What HPM said. I had the same thing happen back in January. The thing was to be sent to my address. It was, but not to me.

The bank will investigate, and hopefully get to the bottom of it. Whatever evidence they have will help. But if you contact the thief and they get spooked, they might not get caught. Best to hold tight.

It's okay to envision doing unspeakable things to the culprits. You can't go to jail for that.”

“So how did that work exactly, Geo? I already called the companies and cancelled the shipments. Each of the companies, when I gave them my last name and zip code, were able to pull up accounts that had been created using my full name, full address, and home phone number. The only thing that wasn't mine was the email address.

Geo, did you get packages? Did someone try to accept delivery of them for you? Did anyone get caught?”

“Where is the real Ruby? Ruby is on her honeymoon!

;-P”

“All I know is that I was told by my bank that the package was delivered. I was out of town by that time, so I have no idea what happened. But it was addressed to some woman, who I assumed had some 'splainin to do. I was never told how it ended, but my money was refunded, which was my main concern.

I changed cards and pins in the process, which is the one positive thing you can do.”

“I've already changed cards and pin. My bank said they will refund all the money that has been debited already.


Lizs, we are going to Mexico this summer after the kids are out of school. That way we can send them up to grandma's house for a week while we go lay in the sun.”

“hehehe, had to give you a bad time... :-)”

“You did not get ripped off, Ruby... your bank did. Let the bank deal with it. You will be inconvienced and it sounds like your bank is doing the right thing (mine did the same when this happened to me).

Gevalia coffee ... egad.”

“Don't contact the thief.

Chances are that the information was obtained by some sort of program or what not and not even used by the thief that harvested the information -- but rather passed onto someone else.

Since your bank is reimbursing you for all losses, it becomes their issue. You can talk to them and ask them if there's anything you can do for them, but beyond that its out of your hands.

What you can do to prevent future incidents is to change all your passwords -- for everything you've accessed on your computer.

Also, you can use the Windows Software Explorer (comes with Windows XP SP2 -- in the Control Panel) to see what's running on your computer and what is set to run at startup. To ensure you're not being eavesdropped on by any keystroke loggers, I'd recommend disabling any piece of software that you can't account for what it does until you can determine what it does.

I'm sorry if this sounds overly technical -- and I'm sure it probably is -- but it's really the only truly effective way to prevent key-loggers from intercepting and reporting all your passwords.

One other thing you can try is to use a password manager program like Dillobit's 4UOnly (http://www.dillobits.com/4uonly.html) to store all your passwords behind a master password that you only type in when you need to change something about your other passwords. This way you can copy/paste your website passwords into their appropriate fields and not have to type them (and thus risk interception by a rogue key-logger).

Either way good luck to you... (and congrats on the Wedding) :)”

“Sounds like somebody is working on one of those "free ipod" sites. Of course, it could be a whole host of things, X-Box, etc, but those sites usually require you to sign up to wine sites, coffee sites, etc, and after so many you get the free (or not so free) item. It sounds fishy, but if anybody you know ends up with a free DVR, ipod, X-Box, etc, then you might want to ask some questions.”

“i thought she had found out that jon was the scam artist”

“Just out of curiousity...were the ordered items being sent to your billing address or to another or didn't they tell you?

I had it happen once when a company called to double check an order as it was not being shipped to my billing address...someone had ordered a DVD player using my card..lucky for me they tried to do it using a reputable dealer...small beans, anyway...probably some kid working in a convenience store...I canceled my card and haven't had a problem since...knock on wood....”

“"Since your bank is reimbursing you for all losses, it becomes their issue."

NOT.

The business that accepted the card will have the $$ taken out of their checking account by the credit card company.

It deosn't matter if you have a signature, a DNA sample, and their first-born stowed away in the back room, the credit card company WILL GET THEIR MONEY BACK.

All that "no risk" BS they spout on the TV is crap.

The RISK is carried by the retailer---who just passes it down the line....while Citibank laughs all the way to the Bank.

Oh yeah...they ARE the bank.”

“I just hate when this kinda stuff happens to my friends, especially right after your wedding! At my cousin's wedding last year a lady brake into the womens dressing room during the ceremony and stole all the cash from the girls purses. They caught her six months later at another wedding. I wish I would have caught her, I really hate thieves.”

“Don't use your debit card in Mexico. We used a credit card in Mexico once and after that someone tried to access our account. The bank determined that the attempted purchases didn't fit our spending profile and contacted us before authorizing the charge.

Banks won't always contact you though, I wish they would, especially when the charges are "out of state".”

“Wonder what my spending profile looks like. I've gone from Utah to Arizona to Oklahoma to Alaska in a few days. Never had a card company contact me.

Glad you cught it anyway, that is definately something that I'm scared about hapening to me.”

“I don't know how they do it...I've been all over the country in a matter of day and spent thousands of dollars (work--but on a personal card--reimbursed) and they've never contacted me. But the one time my card was stolen they called immediately.”

“Okay. I won't try to contact them per your advice, TTers.

I called the police today. Two officers came over and took a report. They told me that I should do that for whatever it's worth. Then the neighborhood boys started ringing our doorbell b/c the cops were here. They assumed that Tucker had gotten into trouble. So the cops messed with the kids by telling them that they had arrested Tucker and his friends needed to come up with $1,000 to bond him out of jail. LMAO!!! You should have seen their eyes pop out of their heads!!!!!!!!!


I wondered if it was something like Silent J mentioned. But I haven't been to any site like that. I checked with Jon and Tuck, the only other two who have access to my computer, and they haven't been anywhere online either.

One more bit of info, whoever used my card, had the 3-digit security code as well. I specifically asked that of the merchants I called.


PhantomSoul, I have a biometrics pad built into my laptop and use the Omnipass software with that. Any time I access a web site with a password, I have it set to automatically log me in with a presaved specific password for each site. I used to have it set up that it required my fingerprint each time, but that got cumbersome and no one else uses my laptop so I set the settings the way they are now. Does that do what you are recommending?

Matahari, the items were being sent to my address. Which would correlate to what Silent J suggested.”

“I got scammed once. The hookers only stayed an hour and a half instead of two.”

“There are more crooks in this world and more MO's than there are of us. Sharing info is good.”

“The financial sector spends a sizable bit of time and effort to protect consumers. More than they want you to know. Your head would spin if you knew just how much fraud was attempted everyday. Blew my mind when I saw the raw numbers.

Everyone says they want security until they find out just what that requires and just how inconvenient it would be. The fact is that folks what to feel secure but they don't want to be secure.”

“My wifes credit card was stolen, and the bank erased the charges and took any loss. I called the bank because I knew I could easily trace the culprits. I had a long talk with a security supervisor who confessed the bank would do no investigation as such losses were expected and budgeted for. They refused to send me the information to track down the culprits for them because they feared I would break their legs.

Long story short. Ruby, forgetaboutit. Enjoy married life.”

“Unfortunately too many are willing to trust thier personal info to easily hacked windows computers and happily reveal it to almost anyone who simply asks for it.

For a mere 5.00 I will send you an e-mail explaining how to secure you computer. just email me your cc numbers and I will get right back to you.

:}”

“HPM - personally I sort of want to feel secure and be secure.”

“I just sent you the informati0n at
LumberjackHiker@yahoo.com.

Is that the correct e-mail address? Please use the first account for the 5.00. I trust you will not take more, because that would screw up my balance. The other accounts will be empty until my IRS Refund arrives. Hmmm, they'll still be empty after it arrives, too.

Wait a minute! Don't I get a senior discount?
last edited: 4/17/07 9:09:46 PM”

“sure slim... for you, 4.95 :}”

“This is a "heads up" for you guys who may be regular Home Depot customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you.

Here's how the scam works: Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts It's impossible not to look.

When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say "No" and instead ask you for a ride to another Home Depot. You agree and they get in the back seat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen August 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th. Also September 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, three times just yesterday and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful. ;-)”

“My cousins, transvestites in the mississippi area, love to execute that scam.”

“lol”

“Sadly there is no such law as "assault with a DEAD weapon" or Stovie would be in serious trouble. (LOL)”

“lol”