Credit card got hacked.

[LS short box]

Yesterday my wife said I have a package from Amazon Prime. I said that was odd since I have never used Amazon for anything Opened up the package and it was a bunch of weird stuff billed at $71.31. No packing slip inside. Just my name name and address on the box.
So I went online with with my bank I could see I had a charge for a Amazon Prime membership and the charge above. We contacted the bank and cancelled the credit card. The card was used only for my car projects. New card on the way. We also filed a fraud alert and denied the charges from Amazon.
I'm guessing that one of the vendors I've bought parts from lately has a problem with security.
Need an opinion. Is a person better off security wise ordering online compared to calling vendor and giving them your credit card number?
When I order parts I use our home PC that has a pretty good level of security. I never order anything off my phone or laptop.

[1976gmc20]

bunch of weird stuff

You can't just leave us hanging like that!

NSFW ???

[72c20customcamper]

Seams weird they hacked the card used it and sent you stuff? Most times they buy big screen TVs or $500 sneakers and ship it to usually a airb&b . They get the delivery date and intercept the package from the FedEx or UPS driver

[LockDoc]

-
We had about the same thing happen. Got a call on our home phone from (supposedly) Discover about a suspicious charge for $1.00 & one for $13.90. I don't trust the calls so I called the number on the back of my card and asked about it. They issued a new card and are running a check on it. This is an online card only also.

So yesterday we get this package in the mail that has a bracelet and necklace in it. We did not order this stuff. It has this cryptic return address on it from New jersey. I'm thinking the charges are for the jewelry but I don't have a clue where it really came from. I'll just let them sort it out. I have ordered some parts for my lawn mowers from places the I have never dealt with before so I'm thinking it was one of them that leaked my card number.... We'll see.

LockDoc

[LS short box]

So in regards to the weird stuff.
I-pad case.
LED head lamps (2).
Work out under wear sized extra small. I'm well over 6 foot and not an extra small.
Refills for a electric tooth brush.
It will be interesting to see if Amazon wants the stuff back. Happy to send it back at their cost.

[mongocanfly]

Haha..at least it wasnt real "wierd"...
A guy I work with had his card Info jacked..luckily all they bought was $10 gas..he has purchase notifications on his phone, so he caught it quick...then the next week, somebody signed him up for unemployment...had all his info..ss #, phone #, employee #, address..everthing..hes been fighting that for a couple weeks now...

[Dead Parrot]

I had the $1 charge followed by a $1300 or so TV from Best Buy. The security person at Discover said the $1 charge is to see if the card is still good. If that goes through, the thief then makes the real buys. I received a phone call from Discover and they cancelled everything and issued a new card. That new card was hacked a few months later to the tune of over $10,000 in travel charges. Oddly, that spree didn't catch Discover's attention until I saw the string of charges on the monthly bill. They canceled the charges, issued a new card and even let me keep the $100+ in cash back bonus. I think the CS rep said it would be a PITA to roll back the cash back bonus since the card had already been canceled. I suspect a gas station I used to use had a skimmer in one of the pumps. Quit using that station and have had no further card hacks.

Some less then reputable vendors on Amazon will write up orders from people who don't know they are getting stuff and then write up a glowing review of the stuff purchased. Seems the vendors consider it sort of loss leader. I guess bonus points for using a stolen CC to order the stuff.

IIRC - Under US Federal law, if you receive stuff you didn't order, in most cases, you can keep it. I think that decades ago, mail order places would send out stuff to unsuspecting people, then follow with a bill and if the recipient didn't pay, take them to court alleging theft. The law allowing the recipient to keep the loot mostly end that scam.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Haha..at least it wasnt real "wierd"...
A guy I work with had his card Info jacked..luckily all they bought was $10 gas..he has purchase notifications on his phone, so he caught it quick...then the next week, somebody signed him up for unemployment...had all his info..ss #, phone #, employee #, address..everthing..hes been fighting that for a couple weeks now...

A sledgehammer, an anvil and some precious personal parts on the anvil would be appropriate for the perps. Not that I'm vindictive or anything. I recently reported an online extortion attempt to the local police. It'll probably go nowhere, but I'm not faulting the police. That kind of stuff has to be tough to trace, what with perps' abilities to spoof the internet.

[AussieinNC]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

A sledgehammer, an anvil and some precious personal parts on the anvil would be appropriate for the perps. Not that I'm vindictive or anything. I recently reported an online extortion attempt to the local police. It'll probably go nowhere, but I'm not faulting the police. That kind of stuff has to be tough to trace, what with perps' abilities to spoof the internet.

Yes...this sounds good...followed up by Lucifers trident insetered where the sun doesnt shine....no lube of course....

[weq92f]

.

To OP question...I think the risk is real no matter how the transaction goes down. In my mind it's perfectly safe to use a CC Online when the site uses SSL ( encrypted communications ) and the vendor is reputable.

Maybe I've been extremely lucky as I've been doing E-Commerce since the very beginning without having had any issues such as those you all mention in this thread. 15 years ago I was paying all my bills with an AMEX card Online. The only thing that was not possible using this method was the water bill where I had to use a stamp or drive to their payment center.

Knocking on wood.

-klb

[LONGHAIR]

My bank caught the $1 thing one time. I had "attempted" to sign up for Hulu and even on the "free trial", you have to give credit card info. Well it turns out that "free" is really $1. They charge the card to make sure that it is good. This alerted the bank because of the dollar amount. They denied the charge. Of course I am not aware of any of this while it is happening, so quite confusing.
So a couple of hours (and a few phone calls I didn't want to make) later, I figure this out and never actually signed up. This practice annoyed me to the point of not participating. If they had just charged the actual cost and maybe refunded it in 30 days if I chose to quit? This $1 charge, which they "have to know" is a problem, why do it? Simple answer is they are likely going to get at least a month or 2 worth of charges because you gave them the ok to continue the charges after that first month. I see this as sketchy at best.....not playing that game.

[treveiger]

I've had my info stolen a couple times. I no longer use debit cards only credit and have notifications on my phone whenever a purchase is made. Now if it happens I call and cancel before they get to the store to pick up the item. I hate thiefs...

[whitedog76]

I had my debit card compromised last winter. Got the bank statement, there was an $11.99 charge to Amazon. I do have an Amazon account, but have never used my debit for it or anything online as a matter of fact. So, called the bank, got a new card, I've been using CC for everything since. I'm glad it was just $11.99 and didn't have anymore zeros attached.

[Steeveedee]

Last year the wife and I were out of town when our credit card company called her about a charge made on her card in Lodi, CA. Of course, it was fraudulent, and they refused the scumbag's $200+ bar bill and sent her a new card.