Know Your Battle Drill…
You receive a voicemail from your bank or credit card company that states that they need to verify some recent transactions on your account and to call them back at a certain number What do you do?
Well, if you answered “Verify the call back number first,” congratulations, you are aware of the security implications of the above message. Always verify a call back number, either through a known customer service number or some other communication from a trusted source.
I had to do just that the other day. I received a message very similar to the one above. I didn’t panic as I have received calls like this before based on my sometime erratic buying patterns. I verified the number and I even logged into my online banking system…I was mortified by what I saw. My account was missing about $2050. I knew then the message on my voicemail was very real.
I immediately called to verify some transactions with an automated system. While the system was prompting me for information about these transactions, I had my online banking screen in front of me to help. There were three transactions. One for about $650 and the other for about $1400. The other charge was a “test” transaction where only $1 was charged to the account to see if it was valid.
Once I flagged the first transaction as suspicious, I was immediately transferred to a live operator for further verification. After confirming that I did not make these purchases, the debit card was frozen and all future charges to that account would be denied. In addition, Visa cancelled the pending authorizations totaling over $2000.
I called my bank to notify them. The account consultant took action immediately upon hear of what happened. He cancelled my debit card and issued a new one with new information and a new PIN. He opened a case regarding the unauthorized charges and reversed them from my account. He advised me that I should have my money back within hours, and I did.
So, how did it happen? To be honest, I have no idea where the thieves got my number from. I use my Visa Debit card for everything. Yes, I mean everything. Well, that is going to change right now. Below are some tips to protect yourself during this holiday season:
- Be careful of where you shop. Whether it be online or brick & mortar, know the merchant. Know their policies and how they will handle your private information. If you are uncomfortable about the transaction or store, trust your gut…there is a reason.
- When shopping online, be sure you are on a secure site when entering personal information. Always look for the https: before a website. For example: https://www.reputablecompany.com Remember, just because a site is secure doesn’t mean you can trust the company. It is rather trivial now-a-days to get a secure site as security certificates are relatively inexpensive, even for scam artists. (See the first bullet about knowing the company. 🙂 )
- Do not store your credit card number with the merchant when shopping online. While it may be convenient for you, it is also convenient for hackers should they figure out how to grab the merchant’s database.
- Be on the look out for “card skimming”. This practice involves grabbing your credit card or debit card & PIN by using various techniques. This is much easier than it sounds. Please look at this article on Snopes (a rumor debunking website) http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/atmcamera.asp that discusses ATM skimming and the Volusia County, Florida Sheriff’s website about another form of skimming: http://volusia.org/sheriff/skimmers.htm
- Check your bank accounts on a regular basis and check your credit report at least annually. You can order a free annual credit report here: https://www.annualcreditreport.com
- Use a credit card or separate bank account with limited funds for online shopping. You may want to check to see if your bank or credit card company offers one-time use credit card numbers. Here is an interesting article from the Washington Post about single user card numbers:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001679.html
I know I will be looking into this.
These are just some steps to help you prevent fraud. As I think of more, I will post updates.
I would like to give kudos to Visa and PNC bank for their early detection and prevention. My life would be chaos right now without their help.
