Some ass tried to use my credit card to buy random crap from some random online store.
The good news, software flagged it ASAP (probably because I shop at Karaoke stores so often…) and denied the transaction.
The bad news, they also shut down the card.
The badder news, I’m one of those people who use one card for just about every purchase and to pay every bill I can & then send the CC a check at the end of the month for the whole bit (thus reaping travel points buy the bucket full so the wife & I can visit places somewhat cheaper than otherwise).
So, because one chucklehead wanted some Karaoke music & couldn’t be bothered to get a job, I got to endure the mild humiliation of having the CC denied at Trader Joe’s (I just paid via other means), I have to be without my primary CC for 5-7 days while a new one is cut, and I get to sit down & spend an hour or two notifying everyone I pay with that card regularly that they have to change their info.
It’s just annoying enough to make me want to smack a certain chucklehead with a slightly frozen salmon.
My card got hacked a few years ago–I’d made an online purchase from a firearms website located near Washington DC; within a half hour the card number had been used at a karaoke site. The card’s billing address and other information had also been changed, to an address in DC. Luckily I found out in short order, and the card was cancelled. I was told that karaoke sites are often used as an initial test to see if the transaction will pass, after which the perp will go to town with the stolen CC number. I called the DC police and informed them of the new billing address, and was informed that they had no interest in pursuing the case. I googled the street address, and was taken right to a street view of the front door, down in the hood… oh well. I also called the manager of the website and informed them of what happened. I was told “oh no, nothing like that could ever happen here, we have a secure site!” Bull. I suppose it was some operator from the DC area who kited the CC number. The site shall remain undisclosed, but it was in Mechanicsville, VA, IIRC, near Washington.
A few years ago I found out I suddenly began buying bustiers from “The Gap”. I also developed an interest in designer purses and sunglasses. This was the card I used for what I called “ash & trash” purchases (local stuff mostly so I didn’t need to carry a lot of cash around).
I was amazed by just how little the card issuer (Visa…but it could have been any of them from what I’ve heard) cared. Why should they? They’re not out anything…it’s the vendor that’s going to take it in the backside.
Get a second card and use it solely for your regular recurring bills. It will save a lot of headaches when this happens next time.