topic Re: Why Kroger? in Credit Cards

Why Kroger?

p- — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:38:32 GMT

Yesterday I noticed a fraudulent transaction on my Chase from 6-23 for 59 bucks at a Kroger in Tennessee. I disputed, and then today Chase declined another fraudulent charge at a Kroger in VA. It was a "card present' transaction so someone has a clone of my card. Lovely. July is the gas and amusement parks bonus category, and we're driving to Disneyland...

On the upside, Chase was all over it. They cancelled the cards, and are overnighting new ones to arrive at my office tomorrow.

So... Why Kroger? Weird. Of all the things to use a stolen 10k credit card for, you bought 60 bucks worth of groceries?

Re: Why Kroger?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:44:32 GMT

this is scary. How do people get this information?

find out which kroger, i live in tn, ill go find them for ya

Re: Why Kroger?

09Lexie — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:47:53 GMT

Glad they caught it! Sometimes they put a reader over a terminal and voila!

Re: Why Kroger?

p- — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:50:16 GMT

09Lexie wrote:...Sometimes they put a reader over a terminal and voila!

Yeah, I'm a pretty tech-savvy guy. I think I'd see it. I wonder if someone scanned it while they had it in hand at a restaurant or something...

Re: Why Kroger?

cottoncrown — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:51:44 GMT

Likely they were using it through a self check out. Probably buying items with a high resale value like alcohol or tobacco. They go to large chains so that the transaction doesn't seem strange and won't get declined. I mean they aren't going to walk into Gucci and buy a handbag with it. I work at a grocery store and sleezebags come through all the time doing stuff like that. They might have even tried to buy gifts cards with it.

Re: Why Kroger?

StartingOver10 — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:52:27 GMT

IMO I think they do a small charge first to see if it will go through and if it does, then they go for the big charges....

Maybe someone in law enforcement or other experience can jump in with their specific knowledge regarding cc number theft. Seems like a sophisticated operation that they would clone your card.

i just had a similar experience last month with a Barclay's card and I got a phone call instantly when the charge came through from the fraud dept. They cancelled that account instanntly and sent a replacement card overnight too. Glad to see these card companies are right on it.

Re: Why Kroger?

09Lexie — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:01:16 GMT

Which is why I hate it when my cc's are out of my eyesight. My DH thinks I'm paranoid

Re: Why Kroger?

cottoncrown — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:07:40 GMT

The one that freaks me out is discover because at self check out you can get "cash-over" with just a signature and no cashier. So if I lost my card someone could go buy a chocolate bar and get back up to $120 at the u-scan robot.

Re: Why Kroger?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:09:03 GMT

@09Lexie wrote:
Which is why I hate it when my cc's are out of my eyesight. My DH thinks I'm paranoid

Not paranoid at all. I have BillGuard which allows me to look through all of my transactions on all of my cards on one app. And all of the cards that aren't in my wallet are locked in a safe.

Re: Why Kroger?

flan — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:22:12 GMT

@cottoncrown wrote:
Likely they were using it through a self check out. Probably buying items with a high resale value like alcohol or tobacco. They go to large chains so that the transaction doesn't seem strange and won't get declined. I mean they aren't going to walk into Gucci and buy a handbag with it. I work at a grocery store and sleezebags come through all the time doing stuff like that. They might have even tried to buy gifts cards with it.

And if the card is declined, no one thinks much of it, because it's a big busy store, and people always have problems with a card...

Re: Why Kroger?

lg8302ch — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:25:51 GMT

@09Lexie wrote:
Which is why I hate it when my cc's are out of my eyesight. My DH thinks I'm paranoid

You are not Lexie..better safe than sorry. My only fraud case ever was from a restaurant that copied the magnetic stripe. All other transactions were chip and pin and therefore it was easy to find the source where this fraud ocurred.

Re: Why Kroger?

09Lexie — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:32:28 GMT

I didn't think I was being paranoid either. Thanks for reassuring me!

Re: Why Kroger?

NCGirl — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:57:07 GMT

Which restaurant?

Re: Why Kroger?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 21:13:04 GMT

My guess is Gift Cards too and with Kroger you slide your own card, so they could easily make their own card with an altered magnatic strip

Re: Why Kroger?

lg8302ch — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 22:26:44 GMT

Re: Why Kroger?

p- — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 23:04:17 GMT

09Lexie wrote:..Which is why I hate it when my cc's are out of my eyesight. My DH thinks I'm paranoid

Or not paranoid enough. This was a cloned card, so they definitely scanned the strip. But it's easier than you think. When I worked in retail, my company used a point of sale program that used a usb plug in swiper. It communicated to the computer just like a keyboard. If you were in notepad or word or something instead of having the POS open, you could actually use it to decode the magnetic strip and leave a character string that included the card number, exp date, and other data. I know that company went to something more complex, but how many restaurants and retail shops have cheap bottom dollar POS systems? All it takes is one bent employee that is a little tech savvy and the info is out there.

We need chip and pin.

Re: Why Kroger?

BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 01:45:47 GMT

There are lots of stores that arent even asking for I.D. anymore. especially grocery stores. I also tell my fam to keep their cards with them and not hnd it to anyone.

Re: Why Kroger?

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 01:48:41 GMT

It against the card agreement to ask for ID

Re: Why Kroger?

BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 01:49:54 GMT

oh really?^ thats new foe me.

Re: Why Kroger?

takeshi74 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 02:14:30 GMT

@p- wrote:

So... Why Kroger? Weird. Of all the things to use a stolen 10k credit card for, you bought 60 bucks worth of groceries?

Does it really matter? They use stolen cards for all sorts of things. My company card had fraudulent transactions for world cup souvenirs purchased in South Africa during the world cup.