I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

Last weekend we were camped at a campground that offered free wi-fi.  Sunday morning we got a phone call from credit card company A saying there was suspicious activity on our account; someone trying to make charges through Skype.com.  They issued a  new account number and are sending new cards.

On Wednesday we got notification from credit card company B that someone was trying to make international charges through Skype.com.  Changed account number and issuing new cards.

I have changed all passwords on all accounts since then.  The only thing I can think that happened is that somehow someone hacked into my computer on the free wi-fi network.

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any ideas on how this might have happened so we can avoid it happening again. 

Actually this is one of my biggest fears using an unsecured camp network.  I'd be interested in hearing from the long-timers/full-timers regarding this.

Hope you didn't suffer any major losses.  Thank goodness your credit card company was on the ball with noticing the activitiy.

Jo

If someone wants your information bad enough they can get it .That being said this is one reason I only use my Private Verizon card for any financial transactions.When you go to a site do you make sure the little lock shows up in the bottom right corner and do you make sure the address starts with https which denotes a secure web site ?.I'm far from an expert and they will soon chime in,but the only time I've ever been compromised was on E-Bay. I've heard of people using something called a keystroke reader or some such thing but will defer to the people who actually know something.

I get very suspicious when anybody calls me, you have no idea who is really on the other end of the line. Not saying that's what happened here, but it's something to be aware of as possible phishing scam. The weak link in the wifi chain is the park router. Some parks install their own wifi system and they know nothing about security. The router, if compromised, would allow an intruder access inside the firewall and allow snooping the data. It would be a lot easier for someone to find your bank info in the trash.

You need to be careful about using free wifi. Make sure your computer shows it as an access point and not ad-hock or peer-to-peer. A lot of times, those are people trying to pirate your personal information by pretending to be free wifi and using a man-in-the-middle attack to see all the data you send through forms. Your best bet is to ask the park/store/hotel/etc whist their wifi network's name is and only use that one. Generally speaking you're usually safe as long as you don't connect to an ad-hock network, or as safe as you are using a cable modem in your s&b, more so actually.

I'll hush now, but IT security is one of my specialties. If anyone actually wants the educational lecture, I will write it up, but in essence, don't use ad-hock networks unless it's a trusted friend running it. And to be extra safe, don't do online banking, purchases, etc. from any public type connection, use your aircard, satellite, etc. (and no, public libraries are NOT safer).

I can't add insight as to how your account was compromised but I can tell you over the past twenty years my credit cards have been cloned twice. By that I mean that I still had my cards but the account number was being used elsewhere and actually on another card. I agree with one of the posters above, that even when you get a call saying there is suspicious activity, to tell them you will call them back, hang up and call the number that you have for your credit card. If it is legit, the records will be there regardless of who you speak to. Twenty years ago when it happened, I used to carry many credit cards. Not knowing how it impacts credit rating I thought it was the cool thing to do until of course they all got cloned! Since then I only carry two, Amex and a MC or Visa which I terminate after one year in order to get another card that allows me to make purchases interest free. Have not paid a cent in interest in over 8 years. Refuse to. BTW, also make sure you close all accounts and verify it through the credit bureaus and if you suspect cloning or your privacy compromised, you can go through the credit agencies to put you on fraud alert for 90 days.

That stinks! Glad the cc companies caught it. Beware also of "phishing" emails that look like they're from eBay or Paypal or even your bank. Never reply. Instead go to your account to check messages/info. I get them all the time from paypal saying my account is suspended and I must enter my info into the form in the email (or at a dummy site) in order to restore it. I don't even open them. Also beware emails from Facebook. I got one saying I'd been tagged in a video and when I clicked the link I got a trojan.

I always wonder about this and sorry it happened to you.

Once thing that bothers ME lately, while traveling, is that some fuel stations insist that you leave your credit/debit card with them while you fill up (the pay at the pump isn't working or something of that ilk), and then you go back to get your card when you are all filled up. PERFECT opportunity for someone to get your card numbers AND the code on back of card necessary to make many online or phone purchases. I told my husband that if a gas station needs to "hold" our card while we pump fuel, then we do not need to use that gas station. Keep our tank filled so we don't run low on diesel and never use that kind of station. He did it again yesterday and I was not a happy camper (sorry)!

We had our checking account info stolen a few years back. There was an actual scam going on in a three state area. Turned out that someone working at a hospital of all places was passing this info on by selling the numbers off of checks. Fake checks were then printed up and Viola!

 I was alerted first by a WalMart that there was a flag on my checking account. Then our local grocery store said that there was a flag on our account and said they had several names attached to my account that were not me or my husband. I went to their corporate. They pulled up reports and told me that this had been happening in a three state area. All was cleared in my case, but I was pretty upset.

I really dislike con artists. Anyway, so sorry that this happened to you and thanks for the warning!

If we find ourselves in the situtation where we need to take our card inside while we pump diesel, I'll take the card in, show the attendant and hold the card until the tank is full. Works for us and avoids the situation you speak of. I don't like to think of people as dishonest. But rather not give them the opportunity if we can avoid it.



-- Edited by Ckerr on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 09:49:37 AM

If I find that kind of situation occurring too often, I will just buy a prepaid, refillable visa and use that for fuel. These days, my cards don't leave my sight.

Remi wrote:

---

If I find that kind of situation occurring too often, I will just buy a prepaid, refillable visa and use that for fuel. These days, my cards don't leave my sight.

---

THAT is not a bad idea at all!  Just put what cash you need on it for the day or days you'll need it and use it. 

 

Oui, I've told helped several identity theft suffers setup to do that so they don't get burned again. Also is good if your credit is iffy or bad and you can't get a credit card Ora good rate, but need a visa or mc for purchases (fuel, online, etc). Lastly, it's a good thing for those who perpetually lose cards. At least with this kind, the most you lose is what you had loaded & not the full credit limit on your card for the person who finds it to rack up charges on;)

I leave them my Drivers License instead.Have not had any trouble doing that yet.

I just leave my card and don't worry about it. The few times in my life that I've had bogus charges on my card, I've reported it to my credit card company and the charges were removed without any problem. And we do almost everything on the card, we average between $2-3,000 a month. Going through life worrying that everyone is a crook just waiting to rip you off must be very stressful day in and day out. I choose not to go down that path, and thankfully have been lucky so far in my almost 74 years.