My bank card has been hacked into
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
United States
January 13, 2012 8:59am CST
Oh gosh, I am so upset right now. When I tried to tell my daughter what happened I got so upset I couldn't even talk to tell her. I had to calm down enough to tell her.
When I talked to the bank I had to keep telling myself to stay calm so I could tell them what happened to my account. If I had lost my ability to talk, I would not have been able to report this crime.
What happened was, when I woke up to log on to my bank account... I go there almost every day to check my balance... I found that there was a charge for $42.92 for Apple iTunes. I never have bought ANYTHING from iTunes. Never!
I called the bank and they put me through to the fraud department and they said they will dispute the charge when it posts. They said it hasn't posted yet... but of course it bounced on my account. They stopped my card so no more charges can be made on it, and a new one will be sent to me in about 5 business days.
I hope whoever did this has the gall to try using that card again, because they will get caught, I hope. The bank asked if I would prosecute if they catch the perpetrator, and I said yes.
I want to know... how can this happen? How can someone go to my iTunes account and make a charge with my card number. This means that someone has been able to hack my computer. If they can do that, they could get into my bank account. I just had a small balance but now it is in overdraft. The bank said the charges will be reversed once they dispute the claim.
The bank said they may send me some forms to sign for me to mail back to them.
But how does that happen? How can I protect myself from this happening again?
4 people like this
13 responses
@MaryLynn321 (2680)
• United States
13 Jan 12
It is evident that either a hacker or someone else got a hold of your password to your account. This person also knows of your bank account and also of your iTunes account. I do not do visit my bank on the internet as hackers can get into your computer and access anything you do online. And if you use a charge card online they can get a hold of that too. I only buy from sites that have secure accounts.
Hopefully it was not someone close to you that has got into your accounts.
2 people like this
@MaryLynn321 (2680)
• United States
14 Jan 12
That is good to hear. I hope your bank finds out who has done this with your information.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
No no one close to me did this. This transaction was done yesterday. No one close to me uses my computer or knows any of my passwords. I've never made a purchase at iTunes. My bank is investigating and will dispute the charge when it posts.
2 people like this
@hopejordan (3561)
• Australia
13 Jan 12
hi there PointlessQuestions
i am so sorry it happened to you you must of been totally shocked when you heard that you were hacked is everything ok now?
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
I'm not over the anxiety of it yet. I won't be until this is ironed out and my money is back in my account.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
13 Jan 12
It happened to Matt too, on his credit card, he had the card cancelled and got a new card. It happens to certain people now and then there really isn't much one can do to protect themselves. Hackers are very sophisticated. Be careful about having your banking info on line is about the only thing to do to protect yourself.
2 people like this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
I have online banking. That’s how I pay my bills each month. I changed my password for my banking info after the Kevin fiasco… so it hasn’t been too awful long ago… what about 3 months? Maybe a little longer?
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
13 Jan 12
Hi Pointless,
I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I'm not sure just how they do it but I have seen it happen to so many people. Its one of my fears because I never have that much money in my account and even though the bank will make it right with you, it takes time. Like you said....now you have no money and won't until this all gets straightened out. I think there are a number of ways this can happen and you won't know until when and if the person gets caught. I'm glad that you check your account regularly and caught it early on. I think you may have prevented a worser problem for yourself by being alert. Let's hope so anyway.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
13 Jan 12
Oh geez yes...anyone with your full card number and your name could do some damage if they were dishonest. They could even go into a store and make purchases and have the clerk punch in the numbers. A lot of clerks won't do that because of the fraud potential but it does happen.
2 people like this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
Yeah, Sid, I check my bank account almost daily. I don’t know how it was done, but if they try to use that card number again they should get caught. The card has been canceled now, and the bank’s fraud department will get an alert on that card number if anyone tries to use that card number.
I buy pizza using my card sometimes. I wonder if they can steal it… they get the card number, the expiration date, and the security 3 digit number when I order pizza by phone. It seems that anyone who is dishonest could steal those numbers. I wonder if they could have opened an iTunes account in my name with the card number? It’s been a few weeks though since I’ve ordered pizza. I order from Amazon once in a while but that is about it.
A couple of people said something about a piece of malware that can record your keystrokes… I don’t understand that. I just did a full scan and my computer is safe.. so there is nothing bad on it.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
I'm still so upset about this. I think I should do what others suggest that I buy a debit card to use for such purposes instead of using my bank card.
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
13 Jan 12
If you store all your information on your computer it can be accessed by anyone with the knowledge to get into your computer. Security measures that we have on our computers ie. passwords, don't really protect this data.
There is also a way that thieves can record your numbers when you use an ATM. They put some kind of device on the ATM that looks like its part of the machine. It reads and stores the numbers and then the thieves come back and get it.
It is a shame but for every way invented to secure our property and information there are criminals that work out a way around the security.
2 people like this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
That’s true… as technology advances, so do the criminals. I don’t know how they did that. I’ve never had that happen to me before. I have been duped by a fake site before and I had to dispute that years ago.. but this is something entirely different. I was so upset… the only thing putting my mind at ease is talking to you all here at Mylot.
@GardenGerty (160626)
• United States
14 Jan 12
You need to regularly change passwords on all accounts and make sure they are not simple passwords but are strong. We have had some stuff like this happen. We have had to fill out the paperwork for prosecution. Be careful when you use your bank card any place like a restaurant. Make sure you keep an eye on anyone who takes your card to ring up a purchase so they cannot skim it and get the numbers.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
14 Jan 12
Yes, I'm learning a lot here. I'm going to buy a prepay Visa card for all online purchases now on. I have ordered pizza from Papa John's frequently by phone. I need to give the number, expiration date, and security code with each purchase. This has scared me into rethinking how I handle my financial stuff.
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
14 Jan 12
From what I know for hackers who do this kind of fraud is that they can use your bank card even from old charge slips which we sometimes throw away without any thought of it. Even a small purchase online from legal shopping sites like eBay they can get your bank card. Whoever has used your bank card is a small time hacker, probably a teenager because they used it for iTunes. Professional hackers usually buy big ticket stuff.
I hope your bank will be able to trace the culprit and that person gets prosecuted. I don't have any idea though on how to stop this from happening again, aside from using cash instead of a bank card to make purchases. A lot of people no longer carry cash with them and use a card to shop instead. I am one of those and in my country, this crime is a rarity and I also don't place a lot of money on the card that I use to shop.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
14 Jan 12
I don't know how they did it, but you are right. It really is risky to throw away bank card receipts. Yeah it might have been a kid because of it being iTunes. I'm going to get a prepaid visa card when I make online purchases. Thanks so much for talking with me.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Jan 12
hi poinglessquestions I am glad the bank is working with you
and now I am wondering. I have an e accont on line with my bank
pf America. I am told its really secure and has the symbol loxck
and key for a secured account. so yes how could anyone get into
your account as they must have your credit card number? how
could they get it?This I want to know too in case my own account
is at risk. did you give your credit card number out to any site?
they would have had to get it somehow to make that apple itunes
purchase?doers your bank account have a symbol lock and key for\a secured account? keep us posted as I would like to know more.
hugs from hatley.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
Hi Hatley,
I give out my number when I make purchases to Amazon.com and other trusted sites. I have also ordered pizza by phone and given out my number… and of course they ask for the expiration date and the security code… but I haven’t ordered a pizza in a few weeks. I know there are crooks out there that don’t even have to pick your pocket.. they can use a scanner thingy to get your card information… I saw that on TV.. there are just so many ways thieves can steal from us nowadays.
@Chevee (5905)
• United States
14 Jan 12
Hi PointlessQuestions. I am sorry this happened to you. I had an incident happen to me where, I had ordered something off the internet with my bank card, didn't receive the product and was billed for it and it was taken out of bank account, well that taught me a lesson. I do not, and will not order anything else using my bank card. What I do no is purchase a pre-paid card, put the amount that the purchase cost and thats that. I also had that card canceled and got a new card. I pray that everything turns out good for you and you get this taken care of.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
14 Jan 12
I bet you were victim of a phishing site. You think you are on a secure site and you are on a phishing site. I learned about these things happening.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Jan 12
I sympathise so much as this happened to me when I bought a CD via a link to Play.com over a year ago now. My account got hacked, my computer broke and someone bought a Sony Playstation with MY cash!
It took a while to sort out but a new debit card was sent to me by the bank and my other card cancelled like yours was..and my overdrawn bank account had money paid back into it by the bank itself.
When I told someone at Direct Banking what had happened she was NOT sympathetic and told me that it was me who had made the transaction. I told her to come round to the house and see if I had a Sony Playstation installed if she didn't believe me. I knew about this as I saw emails on my new computer bought last January showing this low-life purchasing a Playstation!
It was a very trying time getting it sorted out and - despite me saying that I would agree with the person being prosecuted if found..I've heard nothing since. However, my account hasn't been hacked into either.
My advice to anyone is..if they use the internet to buy stuff don't do it so much over Christmas-time as that's when the hackers are at their busiest. Easy pickings on the most-used sites. Also, iTunes is extremely popular.
As for Play.com. They were useless. So I don't buy anything from them anymore.
If I remember rightly, I filled a few forms in. If you have evidence of this rogue transaction, send that too.@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
Wow! You were really put through a mess! In sorry that happened to you and that they didn't try to help you very much. I will buy a visa prepaid card to buy things in the future.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
13 Jan 12
Sorry to read this PointlessQuestion. It is a good thing for you that you are checking daily your balance. You have possibly a key logger installed on your computer. A spyware is not a virus, and is not always detected by an antivirus. A drastic firewall watch or a key logger detector will find it.
. You have possibly a key logger installed on your computer. A spyware is not a virus, and is not always detected by an antivirus. A drastic firewall watch or a key logger detector will find it.1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jan 12
I have Norton Antivirus. I don’t know what that is that you are talking about. I also have a firewall… and my antivirus always says I am protected, and when it does find something, it takes care of it. I just don’t know what happened, and don’t know how to protect myself.
1 person likes this
. An AV uses classically signatures to detect a malware, when a key logger detector works like a firewall and detects the spyware when it sends information from the computer. It is the way to go here. @moneywinner (1864)
• Brazil
14 Jan 12
This can happen from anything you do from your computer and unfortunately we can't do much unless we also know as much as the hackers. The only thing we can do is to have a good antivirus and always update it.
I had one credit card account hacked too and they spent more than $1k in a plain ticket. We contact the bank and after 1-2 months, we had the money back, but sorry to say, it's very difficult that they catch who did this, specially because it was a smaller value. The companies prefer just return the money than really go into who do this type of thing.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
14 Jan 12
Wow! You list a lot more than me. I hope this never happens again. I have no malware on my computer. I don't know how this was done.
