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Credit Card Fraud

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creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Credit Card Fraud

Most likely this is the result of inside activity. The chances that the information was obtained by wireless net hackers is infinitesimally small. It's much more likely to be a key logger spyware program if it is computer based. I have zero concerns about wireless net hacking.

 

The virtual card numbers are excellent. They stop the insider dead in his tracks. I have used them both from Discover and Citi and they're the best!

Message 11 of 14
Uborrow-Upay
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit Card Fraud


@creditwherecreditisdue wrote:

Most likely this is the result of inside activity. The chances that the information was obtained by wireless net hackers is infinitesimally small. It's much more likely to be a key logger spyware program if it is computer based. I have zero concerns about wireless net hacking.

 

The virtual card numbers are excellent. They stop the insider dead in his tracks. I have used them both from Discover and Citi and they're the best!


 

I agree that a computer user is much more likely to inadvertently download a key logger than is he/she likely to be individually targeted by a hacker.  But sometimes networks get hacked for no other reason than just to see if it can be hacked. Teenagers with too much time on their hands find this entertaining, and if a wireless router is broadcasting its SSID 24/7, it can become a target just because it's there.  It's no great feat to sniff the traffic and crack a network password.

 

Poorly secured wireless networks aren't even a challenge for someone who makes this a hobby.  Even well-secured networks allowing wireless access can be cracked in a relatively short time by someone intent on doing it (I've done this myself for demonstration purposes at a large insurance company, from my car in their corporate parking lot...took me 23 minutes, and I'm not even good at it.  I was trying to impress upon my friend, their main IT guy, that they needed additional routers and protocols to limit unauthorized wireless access to sensitive databases).

 

Hotel internet access, whether wired or wireless, is usually a security risk nightmare, too.  I use a wireless travel router when I'm in the hotels to keep my traffic as secure as possible, and I route it thru a VPN on top of that.  Never did that until I saw a demo at a convention a while back, where various hotel guests' internet traffic was intercepted and displayed in real time on a large monitor in the meeting hall.

 

Just so you know, the guests involved were all IT security experts...and they didn't know their traffic was compromised until they were told about it.

 

Like I said, the more I learn, the more paranoid I get.


So, like you, I give a big round of applause for virtual account numbers, and I highly recommend folks using them if that feature is available on their account.

 

 

 

 

(OP, sorry if I turned this into tech-talk...again, your situation may not even be related to technological issues.)

Message 12 of 14
creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Credit Card Fraud

I hack wireless networks all the time. It's done for access, not for any malicious purpose. If you put the signal out there it is in the public domain. Those kids down the block are usually just hacking access and not really mining for information. My biggest fear as a provider of a hackable wireless node (which I am not) would be having a perv route some kiddie porn through my IP address and getting an unexpected visit from the FBI executing a seizure warrant for my equipment.

 

Go virtual card numbers! Every issuer should provide them!

Message 13 of 14
Uborrow-Upay
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit Card Fraud


@creditwherecreditisdue wrote:

I hack wireless networks all the time. It's done for access, not for any malicious purpose. If you put the signal out there it is in the public domain. Those kids down the block are usually just hacking access and not really mining for information. My biggest fear as a provider of a hackable wireless node (which I am not) would be having a perv route some kiddie porn through my IP address and getting an unexpectedvisit from the FBI executing a seizure warrant for my equipment.

 

Go virtual card numbers! Every issuer should provide them!


Excellent point, CWCID!  Kinda like if you leave the keys in your junker car, because you really don't care if someone steals it...until you find out someone did steal it, used it in a bank robbery, then brought it back...and now the cops are banging on your door looking for you...very tough to explain.

 

 

Message 14 of 14
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