Hmmm. Fraudulent charges on my credit card.

[agnes]

Last night I got a text from my credit card company saying there was a suspicious charge at Ulta.  I called them and there were two more, one at TJMaxx and another at Ulta.  They told me it was at an Ulta in San Rafael, CA.  They canceled that card and are sending me a new one. Anything else I should do? 

So do you think that means some one I physically came in contact with stole my card or could it still have been stolen through amazon or something?  Hmm.  

I have some thoughts...  I don't use this card that much.  Last month I did use it for all my Christmas shopping on Amazon, in store at Target, and for my hair cut on Saturday.  

A Starbucks I go to alllll the time recently had an employee caught stealing a customer's credit card info.  Though, I haven't used a credit card at an actual Starbucks in a while.  I recently started just reloading a gift card through the app. 

It's the hair dresser, huh?  Too much of a coinky dink with timing. 

[sailorgray]

I immediately thought hairdresser, too.

[niki]

There may be a skimmer on the hairdresser's card reader. She may not even be aware of it. I guess they take about 10 seconds to install and don't make the reader look any different than before.

[knx9211]

Ugh, I'm glad you caught it early.

Our fraud protection is TOO good, apparently. My bank repeatedly blocked a charge that *I* was trying to make yesterday. I had to call 3 different people to finally get it to go through.

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 10:41:21 GMT -5 @themommymonster said:

I don't know. I had fraudulent charges in May. We were on our way home from my sisters wedding and I got an email. I called when we got home. Someone tried to pay a $500 Geico bill with my card. LOL. It was declined.

The next day I got a call about another card. Someone tried to make purchases at CVS and Walgreens in CA. They were declined. Card was closed.

I closed everything at that point and put a watch with the credit bureaus.. I have no idea how they get my info, but someone did. One card I rarely used and the other I used frequently.


ETA: I see now that you live in CA and the charges were also in CA. Then yes. I lean toward the hairdresser.

San Rafael is very far from me though. It's north of San Francisco. And I admit to stalking the hair dresser on FB and she has no mention of going anywhere and had appointments yesterday.

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 10:42:50 GMT -5 niki said:

There may be a skimmer on the hairdresser's card reader. She may not even be aware of it. I guess they take about 10 seconds to install and don't make the reader look any different than before.

She had one of those gadgets that goes on your phone to swipe my card.  Could she have been hacked?

[y4m]

Or it could have been stolen from one of a billion hacks and have nothing to do with anywhere your card was.

[thedude]

Check all your other cards and accounts. Check and monitor your credit report. Could've been anything- skimmer, hacker, hairdresser. Since you've used it for online shopping recently, that'd be my guess, but you may never know how or even when your account number was stolen. Sometimes stolen card numbers aren't used for a while after they're stolen. Sorry you're dealing w this but glad you caught it quickly!

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 10:52:47 GMT -5 y4m said:

Or it could have been stolen from one of a billion hacks and have nothing to do with anywhere your card was.

Yeah.  I hope it's this.  Because I have shopped at Target and Home Dept and Michael's and and and.  It's just weird timing and quite the coincidence. 

I figure that when I got back to the hair dresser in a few months, if it happens again, I'll know she's the source.  I really liked her.  She was too fucking sweet and funny.  

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 10:53:23 GMT -5 thedude said:

Check all your other cards and accounts. Check and monitor your credit report. Could've been anything- skimmer, hacker, hairdresser. Since you've used it for online shopping recently, that'd be my guess, but you may never know how or even when your account number was stolen. Sometimes stolen card numbers aren't used for a while after they're stolen. Sorry you're dealing w this but glad you caught it quickly!

I already do this.  I look at all of my accounts at least once a day, usually more.  And I have monitors in place since the whole dealership/yelp scandal. 

[niki]

I would give her a call and tell her about the incident. She may be completely innocent, but may need to check her own accounts if there is a breach in her system.

[dottyblue]

I would think that Target would be the bigger chance of being the problem than your hairdresser. Every time I have had issues with fraudulent charges, it has come down from major retailers.

If it was the hairdresser and not Target, it's unlikely the hairdresser had been hacked, but the company that processes the charges (Square?) may have compromised data.

It's practically impossible to know unless if you had only used your card in 1 location in the last several months.

[jlt19]

There really is no way to know. Don't call the hairdresser and scare the crap out of her. It could have been stolen through a skimmer (they are everywhere, gas pumps, atms, and you can't even tell) it also could have been stolen months ago, then put on a new card. There is no way to know. Just keep doing what you're doing (heavy monitoring) and hope it doesn't happen again. But, it probably will, b/c that's the world we live in and all that. It sucks, but it's so much easier to take care of on a CC than a debit card.

[nikki25]

Do you physically have the card? Or was the actual card stolen?

[emoflamingo]

Mine was used for an XBOX subscription. Before that, it was used for home renovations and for a flight somewhere nice (I assume, it was $951!). I shop at a few places that have had breeches (Target, Goodwill, Home Depot) so I would assume it's that for you too.

[flex]

Jan 6, 2016 11:10:01 GMT -5 lake said:

I think it's weird to even consider the hairdresser/salon.

No, it's not "weird".  She just doing some sleuthing.  Jeez.

[pantsparty]

I didn't use my debit card for well over 6 months and it spontaneously got hacked. On the other hand, one of my Amex cards got hacked 3 times and a lot of people on a local Facebook page complained it was coming from a gas station near us. Since I stopped using it, I haven't been hacked.

So, who knows.

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 11:13:30 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

There really is no way to know. Don't call the hairdresser and scare the crap out of her. It could have been stolen through a skimmer (they are everywhere, gas pumps, atms, and you can't even tell) it also could have been stolen months ago, then put on a new card. There is no way to know. Just keep doing what you're doing (heavy monitoring) and hope it doesn't happen again. But, it probably will, b/c that's the world we live in and all that. It sucks, but it's so much easier to take care of on a CC than a debit card.

Tru dat.  I'm so glad I've stopped using my debit card for the most part.  I had to use it last night since I cancelled the card while I was at the vet and forgot my other credit card at home.  Bad timing.  

eta: And I wouldn't call the hair dresser unless I knew for sure it was her.  There are too many things involved.  Like the Starbucks employee and hacks. 

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 11:16:02 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

Do you physically have the card? Or was the actual card stolen?

My physical card has not been stolen.  Just the information. 

[lovebeingmama]

Jan 6, 2016 11:19:39 GMT -5 flex said:

Jan 6, 2016 11:10:01 GMT -5 lake said:

I think it's weird to even consider the hairdresser/salon.

No, it's not "weird".  She just doing some sleuthing.  Jeez.

Ok, maybe it's not weird to consider the hairdresser, but I think it's a little crappy to come right out and accuse her (even if just on a message board). Just because it happened on the same day as the haircut doesn't make her guilty, which is sort of what OP is implying.

[speckledfrog]

My info was stolen recently, too. It was used on a $60 bill at Dollar General. Who knows how they got the info. I'm always impressed by the fraud department. How do they know? Our new card has a chip and I do not like it. Pain in the ass.

[flex]

Jan 6, 2016 11:32:03 GMT -5 lovebeingmama said:

Jan 6, 2016 11:19:39 GMT -5 flex said:

No, it's not "weird".  She just doing some sleuthing.  Jeez.

Ok, maybe it's not weird to consider the hairdresser, but I think it's a little crappy to come right out and accuse her (even if just on a message board). Just because it happened on the same day as the haircut doesn't make her guilty, which is sort of what OP is implying.

It's probably just a coincidence the OP happened to have a hair appointment around the time this happened, but if it was me, I'd be looking at every single angle.  But we all know it's futile to point the finger at any individual.  More than likely it's a hacking situation.

[Deleted]

Shoot, I thought this clip was longer.  In the show, he goes on to point out that everyone's credit card is on the internet somewhere basically just waiting for thieves to randomly pick it out and use it. 

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 11:33:24 GMT -5 speckledfrog said:

My info was stolen recently, too. It was used on a $60 bill at Dollar General. Who knows how they got the info. I'm always impressed by the fraud department. How do they know? Our new card has a chip and I do not like it. Pain in the ass.

My cards have chips too!  Why is it a paint in the ass?  

[nikki25]

Jan 6, 2016 11:30:22 GMT -5 agnes said:

Jan 6, 2016 11:16:02 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

Do you physically have the card? Or was the actual card stolen?

My physical card has not been stolen.  Just the information. 

Sorry, one more question- was the card used online or in-store?

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 11:33:51 GMT -5 flex said:

Jan 6, 2016 11:32:03 GMT -5 lovebeingmama said:

Ok, maybe it's not weird to consider the hairdresser, but I think it's a little crappy to come right out and accuse her (even if just on a message board). Just because it happened on the same day as the haircut doesn't make her guilty, which is sort of what OP is implying.

It's probably just a coincidence the OP happened to have a hair appointment around the time this happened, but if it was me, I'd be looking at every single angle.  But we all know it's futile to point the finger at any individual.  More than likely it's a hacking situation.

It also could be the Starbucks employee.  There's a viral video of a customer who caught the employee.  The employee has worked there long enough to have gotten my card at some point. 

I'm not JUST accusing the hair dresser.  I just thought it was weird timing.  And she seems too good to be true. 

[agnes]

Jan 6, 2016 11:40:02 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

Jan 6, 2016 11:30:22 GMT -5 agnes said:

My physical card has not been stolen.  Just the information. 

Sorry, one more question- was the card used online or in-store?

Both.  In the past month it was used on Amazon, in store at Target, hair dresser's phone.  

[speckledfrog]

Jan 6, 2016 11:39:20 GMT -5 agnes said:

Jan 6, 2016 11:33:24 GMT -5 speckledfrog said:

My info was stolen recently, too. It was used on a $60 bill at Dollar General. Who knows how they got the info. I'm always impressed by the fraud department. How do they know? Our new card has a chip and I do not like it. Pain in the ass.

My cards have chips too!  Why is it a paint in the ass?  

I often forget that it has a chip and try to run it through the reader.  I've also run into places where the machine has a chip reader but it doesn't work and that's irritating.  Maybe pain in the ass is being dramatic, but it's not as easy as just mindlessly running it through everywhere.

[nikki25]

I ask because you do have to be quite sophisticated to make a duplicate credit card with an active magnetic strip to use in person. I highly doubt it was the hairdresser. The numbers could have been stolen months ago unbeknown to you. Think about the breaches where millions of numbers were stolen. They can't use all of those that same day and will often test the card making very, very small purchases for.05 or 1.00 which are easy to overlook.

It sucks but at least the card company picked up on it. We have had a total of 6 card numbers used/stolen within two years.

The funniest was last year. I get a phone call from chase asking about a 200 purchase from Victoria Secret on my husband's card. That same day there was another in-person charge for nearly 400 at a high end restaurant. I was like, ummm....no, I didn't get any gifts or have dinner. The guy went silent, I was thinking what the actual fuck Matt. But, we find the purchases were from northern Canada on days we were down the shore together so I didn't have to kill my H, lol.

Anyways, a new card was made with an active strip and clearly these people were having a romantic time.

Sorry, I totally made that about me, but, I am glad they caught it.

[MixedBerryJam]

Jan 6, 2016 11:13:30 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

There really is no way to know. Don't call the hairdresser and scare the crap out of her. It could have been stolen through a skimmer (they are everywhere, gas pumps, atms, and you can't even tell) it also could have been stolen months ago, then put on a new card. There is no way to know. Just keep doing what you're doing (heavy monitoring) and hope it doesn't happen again. But, it probably will, b/c that's the world we live in and all that. It sucks, but it's so much easier to take care of on a CC than a debit card.

Absolutely this. I recently got the letter from the OPM about my data being included in that big hack we heard about months ago. Turns out my data was included in my husband's background check. Well, my husband's been dead for almost SIX YEARS. So that data that was stolen in that breach goes way back. Which is all only to say the fraud could have been from anywhere, any time. It's nuts.