topic Comenity Williams Sonoma (edit: Synchrony Amazon, Discover IT too!) fraud alert in General Credit Topics

Comenity Williams Sonoma (edit: Synchrony Amazon, Discover IT too!) fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 13:46:03 GMT

Just got an email that someone changed my email address on my Comenity WS Store Card. I used a different computer and went directly to the comenity website and it wouldn't let me log in using my user name, either.

I called Comenity and they changed my shipping address as well as all my information and requested a new card. Some scammers in the Bronx.

Just wanted to let others know that Comenity was awesome on the phone (fraud department) even on a Sunday!

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Meanmchine — Sun, 13 May 2018 18:42:46 GMT

Lets review this for a moment. Someone.....

a) called into WS and told them their card was stolen/lost and needed a new card

b) at the same time changd the email addr

c) changed the address

d) and most likely changed the phone number

ALL THIS and no red warning lights went off at Comenity??

For the record, I had scammers do this to me 3x on my Walmart card. Bank security systems are almost useless at times

Good thing you caught it ABCD

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

HeavenOhio — Sun, 13 May 2018 18:53:32 GMT

@Anonymous, now that you have access again, make sure you change your password to something that's really, really good. And set up two-factor authentication if you haven't done so already.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Sun, 13 May 2018 19:16:22 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
@Anonymous, now that you have access again, make sure you change your password to something that's really, really good. And set up two-factor authentication if you haven't done so already.

Appears the hack was done entirely by phone. Someone obviously knows my home address, phone number and SS# and used a phone call to change it over to theirs. If Comenity didn't email me that my email address had changed, I never would have known. They changed my email address to my first name, some numbers, my last name at a basic throwaway email service like hotmail.

I always set up 2FA when available -- didn't realize Comenity even offered it though. When my new card comes I'll do that for sure.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Sun, 13 May 2018 19:18:16 GMT

@Meanmchine wrote:
Lets review this for a moment. Someone.....

a) called into WS and told them their card was stolen/lost and needed a new card
b) at the same time changd the email addr
c) changed the address
d) and most likely changed the phone number

ALL THIS and no red warning lights went off at Comenity??
For the record, I had scammers do this to me 3x on my Walmart card. Bank security systems are almost useless at times

Good thing you caught it ABCD

Yeah insane that they allowed someone to change it all just like that, but at least they did send me an email confirming the address change. Whoever did it didn't have my card number, so they requested a new card to some address in the Bronx. Inept that banks allow this to happen but at least I did have email notifications set up to let me know.

I'm going over all my cards and bank accounts now to check to confirm that all of them have a solid notification on account changes.

No surprise that my SS# is out there -- I've opened so many businesses in 25+ years that my SS# is probably in the hands of hundreds of people. No real way to avoid trouble there. This is the first account hack I've had to deal with in probably 10 years!

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

HeavenOhio — Sun, 13 May 2018 20:22:15 GMT

I wouldn't know for sure if Comenity has 2FA. I just assumed that everyone did. It seems to me that with my banks, skipping it may not even be an option.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Sun, 13 May 2018 21:33:24 GMT

Have you had any mail that you believed wasn’t delivered in the past six months?

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Sun, 13 May 2018 21:40:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Have you had any mail that you believed wasn’t delivered in the past six months?

I'm sure I have -- I live on my sailboat most winters in the Caribbean so I wouldn't be surprised if mail slipped through the cracks. It's a risk for sure but I refuse to live in fear.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 02:31:50 GMT

I can't say this enough always use another computer when doing banking, buying stuff online

or you will get infected specially on a windows box lot's of leaks.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 12:17:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I can't say this enough always use another computer when doing banking, buying stuff online
or you will get infected specially on a windows box lot's of leaks.

While I tend to agree, in this case I believe it was mail theft of some sort as I haven't actually used that card ever online. It's not a Mastercard/Visa either, just a store-only card.

I don't fret about this too much since I'm not liable for fraudulent use of the cards -- more concerned with my mail getting pilfered if that's the case. I did recent install a new remote camera that aims at the mailbox and walk-up because I like to have a record of who visited my property when I'm traveling, so hopefully if anything like this happens in the future I'll have a record.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 12:38:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Meanmchine wrote:
Lets review this for a moment. Someone.....

a) called into WS and told them their card was stolen/lost and needed a new card
b) at the same time changd the email addr
c) changed the address
d) and most likely changed the phone number

ALL THIS and no red warning lights went off at Comenity??
For the record, I had scammers do this to me 3x on my Walmart card. Bank security systems are almost useless at times

Good thing you caught it ABCD

Yeah insane that they allowed someone to change it all just like that, but at least they did send me an email confirming the address change. Whoever did it didn't have my card number, so they requested a new card to some address in the Bronx. Inept that banks allow this to happen but at least I did have email notifications set up to let me know.

I'm going over all my cards and bank accounts now to check to confirm that all of them have a solid notification on account changes.

No surprise that my SS# is out there -- I've opened so many businesses in 25+ years that my SS# is probably in the hands of hundreds of people. No real way to avoid trouble there. This is the first account hack I've had to deal with in probably 10 years!

The whole situation is just unreal

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 12:54:32 GMT

Going through my credit card logins and this morning my login to Synchrony's website for the Amazon Store Card was also locked out.

Called the bank directly and they informed me that none of my information matches (surprise!). Someone called to report the card lost which is hilarious because there is no physical card, lol!

The fraud rep let slip that someone called over the weekend, got a new card number generated over the phone (!!!) and put in a $1 pending charge on the card. So that card is shut down and I have to wait 48 hours to get a new card number generated so I can go into my account to check it out.

I wonder if Comenity and Synchrony cards are especially targetted lately.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 13:45:37 GMT

Also wanted to mention that I noticed on CCT this morning that my reported utilization is 2% instead of 1% as it should be.

The reason for that is my Amazon store card (which updated May 2, 2018 on statement cut of $0) re-updated because these hackers changed information on my account, so instead of $0 balance it reported $838 because that's what I charged last week.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2018 13:49:13 GMT

One more card had the address, email and phone number changed by telephone hacking: my old Discover IT card which I no longer use and have since replaced and sock drawered with my Discover IT Miles card.

I could no longer log into Discover web with my username and password, but I could log in to the iPhone app with my fingerprint. I called and they looked over the IT Miles account (newer) and said nothing had changed, so she reset my password with a one time password to email, I got that, changed it, and upon changing it I noticed that only ONE of my 4 Discover accounts had a different email address (same format as the other 2 cards that got changed by phone).

Discover's fraud department was nice, she got it all wrapped up, changed the address, email and phone number back and is sending a new card via expedited mail.

Downside is that there is absolutely no reason why Discover of all banks shouldn't have emailed or texted me confirming an account change.

There were no pending charges on the Discover because they don't issue a new card number over the phone, they mail it out.

Calling all the other banks now to confirm that everything is OK with those accounts.

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

Anonymous — Thu, 17 May 2018 20:35:30 GMT

Updating this...

Discover overnighted me a new card which was nice -- I didn't request that at all.

But...they called me today to tell me that someone tried to change my address again and ask for a new card. So I told them it wasn't me. I had added a "verbal password" to my Discover account for any calls I make to them -- but that verbal password is only per card, not global. So I have to call in and add a verbal password to all my Discover accounts.

I then called Synchrony Amazon store card support and they told me that someone called Tuesday and closed the newly opened account I had opened upon finding out the previous one was hacked. So after talking to them on the phone, they don't offer a "verbal password" or any specific way to verify my identity. They are rushing a new card # to me but who knows if there will be another hack attempt.

I called Comenity (Williams Sonoma store card) after that mess but they also had a "verbal password" and had no attempts to change it again.

It's too bad that Synchrony doesn't offer a verbal password to secure the account info :/

Re: Comenity Williams Sonoma fraud alert

iv — Sun, 20 May 2018 20:18:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@HeavenOhio wrote:
@Anonymous, now that you have access again, make sure you change your password to something that's really, really good. And set up two-factor authentication if you haven't done so already.
Appears the hack was done entirely by phone. Someone obviously knows my home address, phone number and SS# and used a phone call to change it over to theirs. If Comenity didn't email me that my email address had changed, I never would have known. They changed my email address to my first name, some numbers, my last name at a basic throwaway email service like hotmail.

I always set up 2FA when available -- didn't realize Comenity even offered it though. When my new card comes I'll do that for sure.

And there's the problem with most 2FA systems - the human backdoor vuln. Doesn't matter how well-setup and secure the tech side of the accounts, 2FA, geoIP, IDS, etc, etc are... if you can step around all of it by sweet-talking a phone rep into resetting everything.

I've got a few things (domain registration and "cloud services") setup to specifically bar email password resets, any 2FA-bypassing "alternative login options" (disabling the "Don't have your token? Try this instead..." prompts), and very clear account notes that NO PHONE/EMAIL INTERACTION IS ALLOWED, at all.

Yeah, if I lose the (carefully backed-up) TOTP seeds or SSH keys, it'll be a world of hurt (fallback is notarized letters via a lawyer, with phone confirmation, and a cooling-off period), but since breaches to those services are far harder to deal with than a "mere" CC, it's worth it.

It's good that some banks allow the voice-password option... until the scammer sets one for you first!

Turn on your account security options before someone else does...