Recent credit cards security breach

[cockroachfarm]

So I've been reading all about the major security breach that MasterCard (?) has recently experienced (I guess it actually happened at one of their processing centres?) and what do I get this morning?

I go to clean out my Hotmail 'Junk Mail Folder' and there's an unsolicited email addressed to me offering to sell me stolen credit card data! Unbelievable.

I've already passed this on to the FBI; is there any other organization that I should send this info to? Has anyone here received anything like this?

 

[uncle Alan]

So I've been reading all about the major security breach that MasterCard (?) has recently experienced (I guess it actually happened at one of their processing centres?) and what do I get this morning?

I go to clean out my Hotmail 'Junk Mail Folder' and there's an unsolicited email addressed to me offering to sell me stolen credit card data! Unbelievable.

I've already passed this on to the FBI; is there any other organization that I should send this info to? Has anyone here received anything like this?

6 weeks ago someone tried 4 hits on my Visa. Fortunat ely heads-up folks there thwarted it & as we were on the phone they said " Just tried another hit for $ 9,100 . WHEW ! !
Have new card but VERY nervous about it now.


Uncle[ should drop my limit ? ] Alan

 

[cockroachfarm]

Yea, I've had a few "hits" tried on my cards in the last few years. Plus the 3 or 4 emails that arrive every day urging me to "...click here to update your security information!" (sure, whatever you say.)

But I have never had an unsolicited email come in that offered to sell stolen credit card data. Is this unmitigated nerve or just sheer stupidity on behalf of the sender? (I have read that there are entire websites set up that deal in stolen credit cards and credit card data )

 

[Gollnick]

Tell the FBI, yes.

But also tell your congressmen and senators.

Congress has dragged its heals on essential legislation that can all but eliminate identity theft.

In some states, California, Vermount, a couple of others, you can place a "freeze" on your credit report. This means that nobody can access your report without your specific permission. Does that make sense or what?

But here's the problem. Once you do this, you can't walk into a car dealer and walk out with a car on credit within a few minutes. You can't get letters in the mail offering you credit cards if you'll just sign and return the card. Your access to credit is less convenient. It also makes it very difficult for a mortgage company to sell your mortgage because the would-be buyer can't check your credit before buying it. As a result, the financial industry has fought this simple and sensible law tooth-and-nail in every state where it has come up.

It seems lately that hardly a week goes by that we don't hear about another major breach.

It is time to adopt this simple and remarkably effective law nation wide.

Write your senators and congressmen encouraging them to adopt a California-style credit report freeze law for all people (not just those victimized in the past, but all people) ASAP.

Don't e-mail or sign some online petition. Congressmen ignore these channels (and with good reason). Write a letter. Sign it. Send it by mail.

 

[rebeltf]

Ya know what really pisses me off about this is some LOSER somewhere on Earth is sitting on his or her rear , stealing off of us hard working folk.
Makes me want to do some beatin'.

 

[jujigatame]

It seems lately that hardly a week goes by that we don't hear about another major breach.

More and more banks, card companies and processors are making the info public when it happens, even if they themselves may not consider the risk to be serious, because to not disclose it and then have it come out some other way is bad public relations for them.

Really, this has been happening on this scale for quite a while and the public just wasn't hearing about it.

In regards to limiting access to your credit report, that's good for folks who want it, but does nothing to prevent frauds from purchasing on the accounts you already have. The people who got notice about frauds trying to charge their accounts wouldn't have been served by a freeze on their credit report in those cases. It's only a potential partial solution to a large, multi-faceted problem. There is no single magic bullet that will stop it all.

 

[Ryan8]

As I've said in other forums, there are absolutely no meaningful data protection laws in the United States compared to Europe. There are no significant rules on how personal information can be used, stored, or shared. There are no consequences for irresponsible and negligent behavior.

You can thank our greedy politicians and the lobbying of data mining companies (who have also had security breaches) like ChoicePoint.Thank the scummy direct marketers and the companies who will sell anything they know about you for a dime.