I was checking my credit card account online and saw a couple pending charges that weren't mine. I called in to report it, and while I was on hold, I went to the section of the account website where you can have them email you alerts. I picked that I wanted to be emailed whenever the physical card was not present for a purchase, and it asked which email address to send the alert to, and I noticed that there was a second email address that wasn't mine on the account!
When I got through to customer service, after a little looking around, they transferred me to the "account alerts" department (I think that's what they called it).
It turns out that someone had updated my address, phone number, email address and everything! It must have been really recently because I just got a letter from FNBO about the benefits of the card last week, so they had my address then. But all of my account information had been changed.
I've had fraud on my debit cards before, but it's always just been that they had my card number and were trying to make small purchases on Netflix or Playstation Network (I guess to see if they'd go through), and my actual online account was never compromised. The lady said that they had created a new account online (using the strange email address) and she didn't know how that was possible.
I'm very weirded out by the fact that they changed all my information on my account, as though it was someone who knew me or something. I'm probably overthinking it, but that part just really creeped me out.
At any rate, I'm glad they staff their phones 24/7 because I'd have lost some sleep tonight worrying about it. They canceled my card, and are sending a new card and said that I wouldn't be responsible for the charges. She also locked out my online account so I'll have to create a new one when I get the new card, and I had to set up a password that the operator will ask me when I call in so hopefully that will deter the fraudsters from doing anything else.
@Anonymouswrote:dlister30 share your feelings ... how did they get in and change all that information?
They somehow made another online account with a different email address but linked it to the same credit card. The person I spoke with at FNBO said she didn't understand how that was possible because when she got locked out of her own account one time, she wasn't able to create another account with the same card.
Once they had the other account set up and linked to my card, that was apparently the "default" account so any calls/mail/email would have gone to them instead of to me even though my account was still active and I was logging in and checking on things on my real account.
I just got the card back in December, and I've only used it a handful of times. I looked back and it's been used at only 4 places, though a couple of the places were multiple times. Two were at the same gas station, and I wondered if there was a card skimmer at the pump (although I do tend to pull on the reader before using the card there to make sure).
The person from FNBO said that sometimes the fraudster has a computer running thousands of different number variations and the computer will report back which ones seem like they will actually work so that the person can try those. In that event, they would never have been physically close to the card.
However, the fake email that they used had my real name as part of the email, so they would have had to know my name and not just the card number.
@Dino good for you glad they got the card shut down... Something I do always and maybe it will help others if you have a laptop or another computer that is clean use that instead of your main PC for banking,etc. hope this helps. 
WhatTickaWhat great information! Never would have guessed ... now I know there really is little that can be done if they are running computer generated programs using random numbers. Being vigilant and hoping the lenders have good screening software! Appreciate the insight 
Possible you have a keylogger virus that reports your moves to the fraudster. Also possible its an inside job.
