Someone got into one of my credit cards.

Darn, and double-darn. A rep from my card company just called me up and told me the shocking news. One of my cards have been extensively used just this week-end. Yes, mutiple charges into one credit card from different locations across the US. It was very suspicious so they called me up to verify these charges. And indeed they were fraudulent.

The card company told me they had put the card on hold and will send me a new one this week. *whew* Now, I am tracing down where and how could that have happened.

[tags]credit cards, online security, hacking, phishing, spyware, keyloggers, crackers[/tags]

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

16 Comments

kai says:

20 years ago

dang. that sucks. your card from which card company?
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Abe Olandres says:

20 years ago

Metrobank Mastercard. I rarely use it so the card company got alerted right away.
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Fleeb says:

20 years ago

Phishing, or maybe you accidentally posted your account in the internet, or maybe some hackers maybe infiltrating metrobank and goes on to commit identity theft.
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lauren says:

20 years ago

hello! just read the article sa manila bulletin. wala lang.
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mjerome says:

20 years ago

(congrats on the manila bulletin feature!)

that card misuse would really be dangerous. how on earth would have they gotten the number?

if fleeb was right, then metrobank has got to do some twitching with their tech staff.
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hoop says:

20 years ago

Definitely it has to be an inside job with one of the sites you used it at. Any idea what these sites were?

btw, ano daw and mga ipinagbili sa card mo? hehehe :-)
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retzwerx says:

20 years ago

baka na-wire-tap ka yugs! :D
well atleast nahuli nila at nahalata yung transactions.
BTW. Lufet nga pala (Abe Olandres on MB) celebrity status na, Baka makalimutan mo ang mga loyal fans mo ah, hehehe :)
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Abe Olandres says:

20 years ago

I am checking which legit sites I used my card before it was illegally used last Saturday. I am not sure how or why but it could be possible one of the PCs I used had a spyware, a keylogger or something else.

I have previously used them to pay for the servers in our Data Center but when the credit limit did not suffice, I used another card. I’m still blank at to what could have caused it but it is possible that one of the sites I used it for could have been hacked.
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mrniceash says:

20 years ago

you should be careful next time. maybe someone is not just watching on you. hehehe.. ganyan talaga pag sumisikat na. marami ng naiingit at kumukontra. :)
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Abe Olandres says:

20 years ago

I’m sending out emails to the last two companies where I used the card. It’s most likely their databases have been compromised or something.
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brianpog says:

20 years ago

Simple lang nman yan , sabi mo gumamit kc ng PC , dun ka nagbabayad , nakuha credit card thru dat , is a keylogger fortunately. Tapos right away pinambili ng mga product sa ibang bansa. Madali lang nman gawin yun , sa susunod lang ingat kayo. Wag mag type na kahit anong confidential info mas lalo na pag hindi nyo sarili PC nyo.

***Hehehehe… ako din dati madami na nabili sa credit cards
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hoop says:

20 years ago

I see a niche for internet cafe operators, plastered on the outside window… “Secure Surfing… we format everyday to get rid of pesky spywares” or “anti virus installed and security patched regularly”

that would be a good enough reason to jack up the price … hehehe

:-)
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Abe Olandres says:

20 years ago

Just found out the source of my tapped credit card. It wasn’t any of my doing but one of the online companies I regularly remit payments to. Apparently, their database has been tampered with. Got emails from other people who also got tapped.
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jt says:

20 years ago

Yes, I see ‘ploghost’ twice in the warning email from Dan Moses, maybe because you used two cards. I’m also one of the victims. :( Luckily, Citibank rejected all attempted charges after the first one. Next time I’ll use my $182-limit AIG card to be on the safe side. :D
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hoop says:

20 years ago

Just read this from CNET.

Here.

might be the same thing.
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Ell says:

17 years ago

Once I faced the same problem and also asked myself how could it happen. Now applying for a new card I always ask representatives of the company how fast they alert and what the measures to protect my identity are. But still things can happen…
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