Recent Credit Card Fraud? Member of a shooting org?

[alexm]

Just recently someone tried to place some online orders using my debit card details which irritated me greatly because being an IT network geek I am extremely security conscious with things like this. Thankfully the bank were on the ball and spotted the suspicious transactions and blocked them before any money went out. However I was at a loss as to how they had got hold of the card details.

 

Logically this could only have happened one of three ways:

 

1) From an online transaction (the banks suggestion) - I always vet the sites I use online, checking domain registrations tally with registered office etc so unlikely. Phishing emails, if they are lucky to even make it as far as my mailbox, get laughed at and deleted in milliseconds. Trojans, keyloggers etc... err no.

 

2) The card details have been scanned by card reader or noted by hand - Again, I watch people swipe my card like a hawk. I check all chip and pin machines and ATM's for readers. Unlikely.

 

3) I had willingly given the card details - very rarely I place orders by phone. I don't like doing it unless there is no other way and I hadn't done it for months... oh but hang on... I had. I had tried to renew a membership online recently... They have an online joining page but couldn't see any way of doing a renewal and so called the membership line instead (more on this later)

 

 

Then, a few days later, a statement from Littlewoods arrived. Someone had used my name, address and CORRECT date of birth (this was all they needed btw) to secure themselves an online littlewoods account with £1,000 of credit. Yes... one THOUSAND pounds of credit! They had fortunately only ordered a computer game worth £50. Apparently the M.O. is to order something small, get it delivered to my real address... Littlewoods then, after the first transaction, allow them to order stuff to other addresses! Caught just in the nick of time.

 

When I looked at the dates of the dubious debit card transactions and the date the computer game was ordered they were the same, and they were the same day I had processed my membership over the phone. An organisation that also has my name, address and date of birth.

 

 

 

Which organisation is this I hear you ask?? Whilst the evidence is substantial, it is still circumstantial so I can't name names, but it is a well established shooting organisation and I maintain they have at least one fraudster in their renewals department. The bank/littlewoods have written it off, the police didn't want to know when I called them so there is nothing more I can do however I am very curious to see if anyone else has recently renewed their membership to a shooting organisation and suffered credit card/identity theft shortly thereafter?

 

Be careful out there!

[Poacher]

have you contacted this organisation to let them know your suspicions ??

[alexm]

have you contacted this organisation to let them know your suspicions ??

 

Not yet. To be honest I'm really not sure

 

a. who to contact or

b. whether I have enough 'evidence' to be taken seriously

 

hence I am interested if anyone else has suffered the same!

 

What are your thoughts?

Edited January 15, 2008 by alexm

[Mungler]

The problem is that they can catch these people but they don't for a variety of reasons, however, with on line fraud to obtain goods a delivery address or a pick up point is required.

 

The banks log all fraud and then cross reference previous usages of the card - if X amount of people who have been the vicitims of fraud and who all happen to have renewed their shooting subscriptions then an alarm goes off.

 

I would do nothing and do not name names. It's not your money and don't get wound up about it. It's not until the banks get properly hit with the fraud that they will pull their fingers out and put pressure on MPs to stiffen up criminal detetcion and sentancing or improve their own security.

 

The most likely cause is that someone has been through your bins, nicked your post, compromised a database of somewhere you have shopped at or as in my case simply phoned up my credit card company and pretended to be me and then had everything redirected (including a new card and pin number) to their hooky address in Middlesex.

 

EDIT:

 

Someone you know could have lifted the card out of your wallet at work and copied it. It's that easy. I wouldn't sully the reputation of a business on speculation.

Edited January 15, 2008 by Mungler

[pin]

The banks get stiffed for many many millions, thing is it comes down to simple economics. It simply isn't worth trying to catch everyone, if someone or some group get greedy they might do something about it. I've pulled skimmers and card retention devices off cash machines and the banks don't want to know simply saying give it to the police or throw it in the bin.

 

It costs a fortune to build a case against a small time scammer, given that only 0.141% of transactions with plastic cards are fraudulent it's just a numbers game.

 

HSBC have a market capitalisation of 3/4 of a trillion pounds (£750,000,000,000). 0.141% of that number is £1,500,000. You couldn't even run a team of 5 fraud investigators for that. It won't even be order of magnitude close to that large number, the total of card transactions, so will be a lot lower than £1.5m - just shows why they couldn't care less.

Edited January 15, 2008 by pin

[alexm]

The most likely cause is that someone has been through your bins, nicked your post, compromised a database of somewhere you have shopped at or as in my case simply phoned up my credit card company and pretended to be me and then had everything redirected (including a new card and pin number) to their hooky address in Middlesex.

 

EDIT:

 

Someone you know could have lifted the card out of your wallet at work and copied it. It's that easy. I wouldn't sully the reputation of a business on speculation.

 

Fair point, hence I have specifically said I shall not name names.

 

Although if you can find any paper with personal details in my rubbish that hasn't been through a crosscut shredder I'll give you my credit card details for nowt... Seriously, I am anal about that sort of thing.

 

As I said, the evidence is circumstantial... however statistically speaking you have to admit it is compelling!