![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Okay, so I've always heard horror stories about people getting their identities stolen and credit card #s getting stolen as well but of course I never wouldve figured that it would happen to me. after all, who does?
so here's my story. I decided to chop up all of my credit cards a few years ago after I paid them all off. I figured that if I couldnt afford to pay for something in full (with cash) then I couldnt afford to have it period. but I quickly learned that you need at least one major credit card for simple things like car rentals and such where just having an ATM check card (with the VISA logo) just isnt good enough. so I decided to get a Mastercard at the beginning of this year.
this credit card has a $7500 credit limit. I have only used this credit card online to pay for my computer upgrades and what not. I have never used it at any retail stores.
okay, so this month's credit card statement hasnt came in yet which is what threw the first red flag. I usually get the statement between the 10th and 20th day of every month. so here we are on the 26th and still no statement. so I told myself that I was going to call my credit card company tomorrow and see why I havent recieved my statement yet.
so just this morning, I needed to order something online and my order for $15 was denied by my credit card company. I then called my CC company to ask them why my order was denied. they told me it was because my balance was already over my limit by $35! yes, my CC already has a balance of $7535 on it which is all unauthorized, fraudulent charges. the customer service lady also told me that the reason why I havent recieved my statement this month was because someone had called in and claimed that my address was changed to somewhere in Miami, FL. this is where all of these bogus purchases have been going to. I live like 6 hours north of Miami so I asked the customer service lady what the address in Miami was because I was tempted to drive down there and beat the shit out of someone for stealing my credit card number and changing my address.
the customer service lady told me that she couldnt give me the address and she also told me that I wouldnt be liable for any of the unauthorized purchases. there were only two companies that were used on my credit card. one was from a company called "Express Video" and the second was a company called "Varizoom". both of these companies sell video equipment and they both sold over $7500 of stuff to my credit card # that was stolen.
how this happened is a complete mystery to me other than someone got into my computer and got my valuable information. this is the kind of thing that you read about but you never imagine that it could happen to you until in fact it does happen. thats when you go ballastic like I did and you start to wonder what else can and might go wrong....
moral of my story is this: be very carefull when you use a credit card to make your online purchases. things can and quite possibly could go wrong just like things did with me. fortunately for me my CC company told me I was protected and that they would be sending me a new credit card and that I wouldnt be liable for any unauthorized charges. hopefully this will be the end of the line and nothing more will happen like this to me. what a freakin' nightmare...
Mod Edit: While this is unfortunate and identity theft is a growing problem, it isn't an issue really for The General Hardware Forum.
The issue, as a topic of it's own, is more suitable for discussion in General Mayham:
http://www.hardforum.com/announcement.php?f=85&announcementid=50
Good Luck in resolving the matter.
so here's my story. I decided to chop up all of my credit cards a few years ago after I paid them all off. I figured that if I couldnt afford to pay for something in full (with cash) then I couldnt afford to have it period. but I quickly learned that you need at least one major credit card for simple things like car rentals and such where just having an ATM check card (with the VISA logo) just isnt good enough. so I decided to get a Mastercard at the beginning of this year.
this credit card has a $7500 credit limit. I have only used this credit card online to pay for my computer upgrades and what not. I have never used it at any retail stores.
okay, so this month's credit card statement hasnt came in yet which is what threw the first red flag. I usually get the statement between the 10th and 20th day of every month. so here we are on the 26th and still no statement. so I told myself that I was going to call my credit card company tomorrow and see why I havent recieved my statement yet.
so just this morning, I needed to order something online and my order for $15 was denied by my credit card company. I then called my CC company to ask them why my order was denied. they told me it was because my balance was already over my limit by $35! yes, my CC already has a balance of $7535 on it which is all unauthorized, fraudulent charges. the customer service lady also told me that the reason why I havent recieved my statement this month was because someone had called in and claimed that my address was changed to somewhere in Miami, FL. this is where all of these bogus purchases have been going to. I live like 6 hours north of Miami so I asked the customer service lady what the address in Miami was because I was tempted to drive down there and beat the shit out of someone for stealing my credit card number and changing my address.
the customer service lady told me that she couldnt give me the address and she also told me that I wouldnt be liable for any of the unauthorized purchases. there were only two companies that were used on my credit card. one was from a company called "Express Video" and the second was a company called "Varizoom". both of these companies sell video equipment and they both sold over $7500 of stuff to my credit card # that was stolen.
how this happened is a complete mystery to me other than someone got into my computer and got my valuable information. this is the kind of thing that you read about but you never imagine that it could happen to you until in fact it does happen. thats when you go ballastic like I did and you start to wonder what else can and might go wrong....
moral of my story is this: be very carefull when you use a credit card to make your online purchases. things can and quite possibly could go wrong just like things did with me. fortunately for me my CC company told me I was protected and that they would be sending me a new credit card and that I wouldnt be liable for any unauthorized charges. hopefully this will be the end of the line and nothing more will happen like this to me. what a freakin' nightmare...
Mod Edit: While this is unfortunate and identity theft is a growing problem, it isn't an issue really for The General Hardware Forum.
The issue, as a topic of it's own, is more suitable for discussion in General Mayham:
http://www.hardforum.com/announcement.php?f=85&announcementid=50
Good Luck in resolving the matter.
