DANGER !! Internet fraud linked to Bulletin Board

M

Mikey

New member
ALL MEMBERS - PLEASE READ THIS...

On 30 June 1999 I received two e-mails confirming orders placed over the internet for x-rated type material using my e-mail address and credit card information. Today, 21 July 1999, I received three more e-mails concerning more orders and a call from my credit card company asking about unusual usage of my credit card.

The reason I'm posting this here is my bulletin board username, "Mikey" was used in one of the orders. I only use this username on three bulletin boards:

thefiringline.com

ar15.com

gunspot.com

I have to believe someone visiting one of these BB's is using member profiles to commit fraud. I have disable the credit card (which has never been used on the net by me) and turned the e-mails over to my ISP for action by the TBI and FBI for investigation and prosecution. One of the orders captured the IP address of the computer used so the TBI will try to track it down.

I am trying to see if the particular board that is being used can be identified. If you have had a similar situation lately please post here. Maybe we can nail this scumbag!

Mikey
 
NONE AT ALL! That card has never been used on the web - none of mine have. I've used it over the phone...Cabella's etc...but never on the net.

Mikey
 
:(

A while back on AR-15.com, someone posted a scary thread. He said he followed a link to a pro-gun site he never heard of, found it to be pretty lame and left. A few minutes later, someone was downloading from his computer! (he had some sort of software that could detect it). He couldn't disconnect so he had to literaly pull the power cord to his PC.

Do you have a reference to your card number or bank account access info (the bank where your card is from) on your PC? It wouldn't surprise me if the anti's are trolling pro-gun sites like ours to find their victims. They would see credit card fraud as a justified attack against people as evil as us.
 
I'm not a computer expert (those who are, help me out here) but there are alot of nasty little programs floating around in cyberspace. Applets, Active X, and my favorite- Back Orifice. Many of these are hidden in downloads, and allow dishonest citizens to view your financial records, password files, etc... all without our knowledge. Plus, you never know who is "sniffing" when you place your order over the internet. I know of 2 people who had their credit cards compromised after ordering online at amazon.com (Of course amazon.com denies any could happen because there sooo secure... yeah, right.)

I run the Cybermedia Guard Dog program on my system. It seems to work well. It blocks hidden files, unauthorized program access to the internet, disables cookies, and cleans out our temporary internet file and history file when you exit your Netscape, Explorer, AOL, etc... (Keeps the wife from finding out where you been!)and does a bunch of other things. Check it out at www.cybermedia.com. It can be purchased over the internet or you can get off your lazy arse and go to the office supply/ computer store (and stop by the gun shop on the way back :) )
 
Make sure that "File and Print Sharing" in the "Network" section of "Control Panel Settings" is off. Many viral codes exploit this to allow remote access to your system. Maybe it's just me, but I would not trust a downloaded executible to protect my privacy.

And, as always...run silent, run deep.
 
Mikey,

Sorry to hear about your problem. I am very confused about how someone could have gotten your CC# based on information here at TFL (or any other board for that matter) given the generally limited info we actually have.

I will be very anxious to find out what you turn up.

However, I think it is a bit of a stretch to suggest that this has something to do with an anti-gunner conspiracy.
 
This has happened to me also.
I began receiving X-rated CD-ROMS and my credit card showed charges to some co. back east.
I had used this card to purchase a Japanese Anime video from a legit. co.
The distributor I had delt with had no knowledge of how my card info. may have been stolen.
No big problem, the CC company cancelled the charges, and the next time I received one of the CD's I sent it back with a very strongly worded letter. Never heard from them again.
 
Two years ago my husband traveled back home (NC) from NJ on Easter weekend. He stopped to take money out of the ATM with our 'check' card Visa, and the ATM machine read that our funds were completely depleted. After several days we found out that somebody had 'charged' over $1700 worth of airline tickets (from 2 different airlines) on our card. Now, doesn't this seem easy to track?

My husband had to borrow money to get home, we went the entire holiday weekend penniless, checks bounced, credit suffered, and somebody took some very nice vacations on us. We felt we were entitled to the compensation of prosecuting our robber. We did get all of our money back from our bank, (and money back from an airline too! shhh... we're sure it was an oversight), but we were told that the bank "couldn't be bothered" to invest the case any further. They did not know who the guilty party was (those anonoymous ticket holders on flights really worry me), and there were too many cases for them to keep track of, so they would just write it off.

On the merchant end, we are ulitmately responsible for making sure that the purchase is authorized. The bank card company provides us with the authorization tools and we get that pretty "green light" to charge a customer's card... BUT that customer can at any time say they didn't purchase/didn't receive the goods and the bank will immediately take the money back from the merchant and return it to the customer (which is why they put forth virtually no effort to prosecute the actual criminal), and then it is up to the merchant to prove otherwise. The card service holds no responsiblity for unauthorized purchases, even if all of their authorizing tools have given you that false sense of security. The card company cant lose money, so why should they care?

Protect yourself how? Call your issuing bank and have them put a security tag on your card. Anytime you use your card the merchant would be required to obtain a picture ID or some form of absolute security that it is an authorized purchase. Now, of course this means that telephone/internet orders would be very difficult to place.

Also, never sign the back of your card. Instead write "check ID". Any merchant that does not check your ID, ask to speak to their supervisor.

Geri Weaver



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BlackHawk Authorized Dealer (BAD) - "Better than catalog" prices & free shipping http://www.geardup.com/gearedup.htm
 
"The best laid plans of mice and ...". My wife wrote "ask for Identification" on the back of her credit card. TWICE this year she has been asked for ID. The other times the minimum-wage clerks just ran it through and never blinked an eye when they turned it over to check the signature. A couple of times this was pointed out to them and we got a "Yeah, whatever" type of response.
 
Mickey,
Sounds like your card # was stollen by some one who knows you.

Educated Guess...

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Every man Dies.
Not Every Man Truely Lives...
FREEDOM!

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
 
I try to never use a cordless for important transactions/conversations but who the heck knows? I could have :o

The only other way I could think of is a store employee collecting numbers and selling them but that doesn't explain the "Mikey" nickname. None of the transactions used the name that appears on my card - Mike is my middle name!

I appreciate the alternative methods posted. I might learn something. I already have a feeling that the BB link is weak and probably a coincidence since no one else has had a problem that seems related.

Mikey
 
I,too,have had problems with credit card fraud on the net. This was two years ago- I went to visit my girlfriend at her college and I tried using my Visa to get a hotel room. It kept coming back with rejections and I KNEW I had enough in there. So,I called the card issuer and they went through the spiel 'whats your full name' 'Mothers maiden name' 'Ph number' etc etc. and I was like what the heck?! Finally,after being thoroughly interagated,they said that someone was using my card and that they had caught it before I even KNEW it! I guess one of the big branches was even involved,secret service or FBI or something! But I had to get a new number and I never found out how or where it was being used,only that it was and they had put a lock on the account because of it. Thats why it did'nt work. I still do purchase things over the net,but boy am I very leery about doing it!
 
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