The problem with the above theory is that there are instances of this happening very recently where no card was used at any of the associating sites.

Might be an indicator of something on a larger scale than just vendors. :-)
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Yes, they do...several of us called them and their response was "we don't keep any cc info that it is destroyed after each purchase"....BS
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Seems like it's not a problem with the vendors, per se, but with the common credit card processor used. I believe that the *vendors* don't keep the credit card information (or even see it); but the processor they use have traces (records) of that in their system.

But the instances where no card was used at the offending sites might be just an example of a different kind of fraud. It seems that there are distinct/different kinds of charges that are coming up, which might indicate completely separate criminal rings. An unfortunate coincidence that they're happening at the same time ... in part because it confuses the issue.

Scary stuff....
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Sheesh. Always gotta be worrying about something.
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can someone pm me the name of this vendor? I had the Skype BS about two weeks ago and have no Idea which vendor to be careful of.
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Just checked my card again, and still safe.

Anybody hear of and/or use the SafePass from Bank of America. It sounds like they assign a 6 digit number to the end of a partial card number for each transaction, thereby eliminating the chance of this type of thing happening.
They either text the 6 digits to your mobile phone or you can buy a stand alone card for a one time fee of $19.95. It may be worth checking into.

Anybody have or use something similar?
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Have not heard of that. But I did some checking out, I went to creditcards.com and looked into a prepaid card. The one I'm looking into only accepts transactions when you have a balance on the card. So if you only want to use it for certain purchases, run the balance out when you're done and if your card gets compromised, it shouldn't run up a bunch of charges in theory at least.




Sounds like you got hit too by the same people as us. I think I need to clarify that its not the vendor but the billing company. I'm not sure if we're allowed to even say which one without getting shushed. This is a very serious epidemic that is facing fellow BOTL's. It's not gonna take long to put 2 and 2 together by the people who will be investigating the credit card frauds.
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Got the call from the cabelas visa today for a $349 possible charge for a telecommunications company overseas. Glad the company actually looks out for its customers. Closed down the card:-) Will definitely have to look into some other way to pay in the future if I ever order anything else. My last order was in early march, so don't think you are out of the woods if you haven't made a recent purchase.
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Just noticed 4 charges, 2 days apart each on my card......all fixed and card no good anymore. Some company in England.:-)
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My account is still clean, but I'm still looking for more security.

Bank of America also has a free service for online transactions called ShopSafe. They generate a unique card number for each transaction that bills to your usual number. One use, and the number does you (or nobody else) any good to try to re-use. I am definitely going to try that out with the next order. Check into it. I would think other bank cards should have something similar. :-)
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There have been a lot of people experiencing unauthorized charges recently, myself included. Mine was 6/9 to moneybookers for over $300. All scam victims have used one of the vendors from the same processing area. The unauthorized charges usually show a few days to about a week after a legit purchase. Please watch out.
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I just placed an order using ShopSafe as described in my previous post. It took about 2 minutes to generate a new number with a credit limit and expiration date of my choosing. Scammers are welcome to the $2.48 left on the card. Sweet. :-)
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Be very carefull to read the fine print on your TOS. On the prepaid card I have it says it may place a charge even tho you don't have the full funds to cover it.

The best way just might be to run the card down to nothing when you're done using it.

Also has everyone that has been having trouble with this vendor been emailing them to let them know they have a serious breach of security with their processing system? It makes you wonder wtf is going on if they are still having problems. Could it be that they just don't care....
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A few months ago I got a letter from my bank saying that the debit accounts were "possibly" hacked. I soon recieved a new card with a new number. I still am getting calls from companies saying that they can lower my interest rate on the card that is no longer valid. I feel good knowing that the company wasted threir money on CC numbers that are not valid. :-)

Sarge
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I guess I can comment on this. Some merchants can and do have access to full credit card numbers and exp. dates. They can have this info on their reports as long as it is under lock and key somewhere. But there has been a large movement to make all reports truncated, meaning that all the merchants have access to ONLY the last 4 digits of the card. My company, Heartland, strongly recommends this and really frowns upon merchants having access to all numbers and exp. dates.

When we had our breach there were serious rumblings about the Russian Mob being heavily involved in this kind of activity.
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I don't think they care...a few of us called and never got called back...many people getting burned. Thanks for keeping this alive Shadow!
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