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  Geebo 8:00 am on March 20, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: credit card ( 9 ), cybersecurity ( 37 ), debit cards, e-skimming, online shopping ( 35 ), Scams ( 1,405 )   

  FBI warning about shopping scam 

  

  With many of us staying home these days while practicing social distancing, a lot of us will be ordering items online so we can avoid the crowds at stores. As can be expected, scammers are trying to take advantage of this situation too. The most concerning part is that this particular scam can affect legitimate retail sites and gives no indication that your information is at risk. This is why the FBI is warning consumers to keep an eye on their billing statements to make sure there are no unwarranted charges on your statements.

  According to the FBI, in an attack known as e-skimming, cybercriminals are injecting code into the websites of retailers. This code then allows the scammers to copy the information on your credit or debit card. With the way e-skimming works, neither the retailer not the customer will know that they’ve been scammed until it’s too late. The scammers will then sell the card information online to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, there is no way to detect if the retail site you’re using has been infected by the e-skimming code.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb5aML–Mik%5D

  While these types of attacks are usually caught by retailers within a few days there are steps you can take to protect your information. One of the ways is only using a credit card online as credit cards have better fraud protection than most debit cards. Your bank may also be able to provide you with temporary one-time card numbers that you can use once and won’t work when copied. If your bank does not provide this service there are legitimate online platforms that can provide this service.

  While the odds of e-skimming happening to you are small, they’re not zero. It’s better to have the protection and not need it than needing it and not having it.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on January 7, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: credit card ( 9 ), debit cards, online shopping ( 35 ), Scams ( 1,405 )   

  Your old credit card numbers may still be online 

  

  When you use any one of many online retailers they may ask you if you want to save your payment information with them in case you use that vendor on a frequent basis. This can be quite convenient especially if it’s a vendor that you use all the time. However, with many things online, convenience can come at a cost of security. If you use the vendor long enough, you may have changed your credit or debit card information several times. Each of those card numbers could still be listed in your online account. Even if the numbers have expired they could still mean potential disaster for you.

  According to LifeHacker, there is a scam that relies on you leaving your old card numbers on your online accounts. For example, they talk about how if an Amazon account becomes compromised a bad actor may find old and expired card numbers linked to the account. Scammers will then try the expired numbers to see if they can still be used to make online purchases. Some card companies allow their users to make purchases even if the card is expired in case the user has just forgotten to update their information. The scammers know which cards and which vendors have more liberal policies when it comes to these purchases.

  In some cases, these purchases can show up on your doorstep. The scammers will normally keep an eye on your porch to try to grab the purchase but sometimes just knowing that the old card number works is enough. The best way to prevent this kind of fraud is to make sure that you delete your old card numbers from your online shopping accounts. It’s also recommended that you use only one card for all your online purchases as it makes it easier to keep track of any discrepancies. There are also services you can use that give you one-time use numbers that you can use for online purchases. It would mean you’d have to enter a new number with each purchase but sometimes it’s worth going the extra mile to keep your information secure.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 6, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon Prime ( 6 ), Cable ( 5 ), debit cards, gift cards ( 102 ), Scams ( 1,405 ), social security ( 29 ), tech support scam ( 51 ), texas ( 22 )   

  Is there really something wrong with your Amazon Prime account? 

  

  Today, we’re bringing you scams that are happening locally in communities around the country. As we always say, if it’s happening there it could also be happening in your community.

  First up is a report out of Westchester County, New York where police there are warning residents about calls claiming to be from Amazon. Residents have complained about receiving calls from someone claiming that their Amazon Prime accounts have been compromised and need to be renewed. Victims of the scam are then asked for their financial information to resolve the non-existent issue. In one case, a victim was asked to remotely give control of their computer to the scammers so they could ‘improve the security settings.’ So this scam appears to be a hybrid of phishing and the tech support scam.

  A student at Texas A&M recently found herself scammed out of $10,000 in a Social Security scam. She received a phone call with the caller claiming that her Social Security information was misused with some drug issues in El Paso. They threatened her with arrest or she could pay them $10,000. The student was then instructed to transfer money to the scammers by way of BitCoin and gift cards. No government agency will call you on the phone like this and they especially wouldn’t ask for payment in BitCoin and gift cards. If you suspect there may actually be an issue with your Social Security, call the Social Security Administration yourself at their official customer service number of 1 (800) 772-1213.

  Lastly, if you get an unsolicited phone call from someone promising you a great cable deal, it’s more than likely a scam. The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers of these fraudulent phone calls. The caller will promise you a discounted deal on your cable bill if you pay a certain number of months upfront. As with many scams, they ask you to make the payment by using pre-paid debit cards. Like gift cards, one the scammers are able to get the money off of the pre-paid debit card there’s no way of getting it back.

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    marsha barish 11:27 am on November 26, 2022 Permalink

    is there anything wrong with my amazon prime account…received a notice saying …prime alert accoount rejected..reactivate your account….want to know if this is a scam or if there is really something the matter with my account…please advise…

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    Geebo 11:33 am on November 26, 2022 Permalink

    It sounds like it could be a scam. We recommend not clicking on any links in the message. Instead, sign in to your account at the Amazon website to see if anything is wrong with your account.

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  Geebo 9:02 am on April 21, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: coin ( 2 ), credit card ( 9 ), debit cards, plastc   

  Add Plastc’s name to the startup graveyard 

  

  Plastc promised its backers a credit card-like device that you could pre-load all your credit and debit cards to it, along with your various discount cards. They promised you would only need your card and it would make your life a utopia of convenience. Check out what the features of Plastc were intended to be in their own YouTube video.

  Wow. Doesn’t that look like an amazing device? It’s no wonder they were able to obtain $9 million in funds from pre-orders alone. This doesn’t even take into account they were entering into a market where there were already players who had shipped product. Coin was a company that promised a similar device and even shipped units. Coin left the market after their device couldn’t overcome technical problems that caused its users to have to continue to carry their cards with them, totally negating the purpose of it. Yesterday, Plastc announced that they were declaring bankruptcy, and it seems like they’re taking the $9 million and going home without ever delivering a single unit.

  So far Plastc has not given any reason why they’re declaring bankruptcy or what is going to happen to their backers’ money. What could have been a contributing factor to Plastc’s demise was the new chip and pin form of credit and debit cards. Instead of swiping, if your card has one of the new chips you have to insert the card into the machine. Could Plastc have failed to foresee the surprisingly quick adoption of this new technology? Could they even have changed the technology used in their devices to accommodate chip and pin?

  With technology developing at an ever-increasing rate, the time between being the next hot thing and the proverbial buggy whip manufacturer is becoming even shorter.

   
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  Geebo 11:28 am on September 21, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ATM ( 4 ), atm skimmer ( 5 ), debit cards, Periscope ( 2 ), Safety ( 45 ), security ( 46 )   

  New type of ATM skimmers appear in US 

  

  In case you’ve never heard of an ATM Skimmer it’s normally a device that a suspect will insert into the card reader of an ATM. This device will read all the information off your ATM card,including your PIN. It’s not just ATMs though, these skimmers can also be attached to gas pumps and any other stand alone machine that accepts debit cards. These type of skimmers can be usually thwarted by firmly pulling on the slot where the card is inserted, If a part slides out, it’s probably not safe to use that ATM or other machine.

  Recently, the Secret Service released an announcement to financial institutions that a new type of skimmer has shown up in the US and isn’t as easy to spot. The skimmer, called a periscope, is a piece of hardware that is installed inside the ATM. According to the announcement, the suspects access the ATM from the top in order to install the skimmer. The Krebs on Security blog post that’s been linked to recommends that you should only use ATMs that are embedded into the bank’s walls and can’t be accessed from the top.

  Unfortunately, there’s no absolute way to always protect yourself from ATM and debit card fraud. However, you can avoid problems by just using some common sense and if a ATM machine or any other card reading machine feels shady or unreliable just pass it by.