Hey all,
This may be nothing, but I found some illegal activity on my bank account. The first two charges were to a company that I can not verrify even exists, Mesopia.com. Their customer service line is actually a hair salon in OK and has been for over 1yr. The number attached to the transaction is some chicks cell phone number in OK, 405-641-8251 her name is Madonna and she does not return calls

So I tried to email customer service to no avail. Then, last night, I found two new charges on my card for porn sites. The least they could have done would be to provide me with the passwords for the sites I was paying for
Why does this matter to all of you?

Great question. Because I found out about the other charges via bills emailed to my email address! I have my now cancelled card in my posession and think that maybe the perp hacked into some businesses computer and got my info. Since I only buy parts on line with my card at Pelican, GPR, and similar places like you good folks, I was thinking that you may be at risk as well. What made me also think this is that the info on the account was out dated. They used my CA address. I hope that I am the only one with this problem, but I would like to know if anyone else has had similar reacently. Maybe we can pin point which site got hacked, if one did.

Any other ideas how this could have happened?

You hear of credit card leaks all the time. It doesn't mean any particular company did it (it may even be unfair to point the finger without proof).

Here are some examples:


mastercard (13.9 million cards lost) - http://news.monstersandcritics.com/busines...ter_1016215.php
Card Systems (they process transactions for you - 40 million cards lost) http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050923/...1312255_F.shtml
BJ's - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4516301
petco (500,000 credit cards lost) - http://www2.theregister.co.uk/2003/06/30/p...edit_card_leak/

I am NOT pointing a finger. I do not think that these companies are bad or anyhting. I am just putting an FYI that someone may have gotten to their stash of info. As for just being lost, if that were so I would not be getting emails about my cards purchases. Only the parts places that I buy from on line have that info for the most part.

QUOTE (terrymason @ Dec 7 2005, 11:28 AM)

it may even be unfair to point the finger without proof

the leak could very well be at your CC company ...

Andy

Alright guys,
Am I needlessly getting the feeling that you are all thinking that I am persecuting said companies? I am not.
If it were my CC company then it would have been my new address that I have had since July. The aformentioned companies have my old address and my email address. It is not conclusive, it is just more likely than other mentioned sources.

Check your statements or don't, I don't care. I was trying to be considerate and I feel like you guys are calling me out for being either stupid, or slanderous. No well intended post shall go unpunished

Have I got you wrong?

Hey, thanks for the notice. My wife always check the CC account/balance at least once a week. If there's a charge she doesn't recognize, we talk. If something comes up recently, I'll let you know.

Thanks again for the heads up....

-- Rob

Thanks for the heads-up Mike....I'll be checking my statements.

QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 11:42 AM)

I was trying to be considerate and I feel like you guys are calling me out for being either stupid, or slanderous.

chill out, Dr. E. !!!

your post was/is very much apprechiated! i just wanted to point out that a lot of leaks in the past have happened at the CC companies and not all of them inform their customers of breaches.
they also keep old records, so someone could have gotten your old info from hacking into a CC company ...

many (small) companies (like our very own eComm) *never* even save your CC number. waaaaaay too much liability ...
we just pass you on to paypal which handles the actual transaction and we don't request the CC number back from them.
we never get to see it and it certainly is not stored anywhere on the eComm computer ...

i would hope most small parts outlets do exactly the same ...


got out of bed on the wrong foot?
Andy

I guess my blood sugar is low That is why I put questionmarks after my comments. I have been know to take internet banter the wrong way as inflection is difficult. Especially with your typing and thick German accent.

Sorry for being so cranky

True, most ecommerce applications I've developed or worked with, function with no user intervention. In other words, no one sees your credit card information. It gets authorized and either disposed or encrypted and stored.

Most card theft comes from brick and morter establishments, where an inDUHvidual actually handles your card.

Thanks for the heads up

I agree, the leak could very well be from the CC company. I had something like that happen to me a number of years ago.

I had a new CC issued to me from BankOne. I quite litterally had only used it twice, both locally in Colorado. Once to pay for gas, and another for lunch. I then recieve a phone call asking for confirmation of my order. Who's the call from? And for what order? It was Victoria's Secret, and it was for over $400 to be shipped to a Phoenix address. Well, needless to say I cancelled to order and contacted the police to sick 'em on the reciepient. Nothing came of that, but I did find it interesting that the order was being shipped to the same city where BankOne has their headquarters...

Suffice it to say, I don't use BankOne anymore...

I like my local Credit Union, where I always interact with a human being, and where they know me by name and I know them. < theme song to "Cheers" playing in the background... >

-Josh2

Thanks Mike, I'll keep an eye on my statements, I very rarely look at them.

Thanks, I check that stuff pretty closely, but I am paranoid. I had "someone"charge a bunch of cell phones to a money market account that I had literally never written a check on. When I went to the bank, they tried to tell me I wrote a check to the wrong person who ran the scam with the account info. They then refunded my money cheerfully, but did not investigate further until I told them they could call the FBI, or I could. Got a nice little report about the person, an employee of the bank, who had done the scam. They got an all expenses paid vacation in a nice federal facility in Texas.

Someone hacking your computer to get your card info is not the most likely way they got your information - it is just one of many.

The truth is that there are a gazillion ways to get that information; the most trivial of which is to simply guess it. Think about it - to run a card - most of what you need is a 16 digit number (which has self verification built in making it even easier to guess) and an expiry date.

Oh yeah - the above posts are totally right - most fraud happens from WITHIN the banks, not people on the outside!

i did a "whois" on the owner of the domain name mesopia.com

Registration Service Provided By: Netbunch.com
Contact: support@netbunch.com
Visit: http://domains.netbunch.com

Domain name: Mesopia.com

Registrant Contact:
Mesopia.com
MESOPIA COM (support@mesopia.com)
+1.4052862757
Fax: +1.4052862757
11100 N. Stratford Drive
Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73160
US

Administrative Contact:
Mesopia.com
MESOPIA COM (support@mesopia.com)
+1.4052862757
Fax: +1.4052862757
11100 N. Stratford Drive
Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73160
US

Technical Contact:
Mesopia.com
MESOPIA COM (support@mesopia.com)
+1.4052862757
Fax: +1.4052862757
11100 N. Stratford Drive
Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73160
US

Status: Active

Name Servers:
cns1.dr2.net
cns2.dr2.net

Creation date: 22 May 2003 01:49:42
Expiration date: 22 May 2007 01:49:42

Whois-Services: xa7ac2pyh4bh.Mesopia.com@whois-services.com

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMISter Evil, sorry to hear about the CC scam.

Michelle and I deal with CC's in the sense we both have one, but only have $1k limits on them. Plus, we don't use them much. That is one way to protect yourself I guess?

This was actually my check card, thus the funds disappeared rather immediatelly. They had my expiration date correct, address, email, kinda freaky. If they didn't hack my computer then I am not all too concerned. I am double firewalled, though. Its something, I guess.

There is a lot of good info here that I did nto know. I jsut spent much of today cancelling purchases, "Yes, I am sure that I did not subscribe to 'enter pornsite name here'."

I wish I had $49.95 to blow on porn, but I need books

bd1308, their site is non responsive and those numbers are for a hair salon in OK.

Check card!? That IS freaky! I don't have any money in there anyway, which is probably worse since my bank would just pay everything and then charge me $27 for everything they paid.

that salon in OK has some perv's buying porn then....

this information is legally-binding information.

that contact information is the real identity of the person who registered the domain....

for my domain, it lists my name, address and phone number

if the number matches, you can hold them liable for this.

check with the domain regristrar....netbunch.com

that info is the exact info of that place.....

its a built-in unix command...and a popular web feature too.

b

Yo b,
The site sold something to someone who used my card. They didn't use it on their own. Sorry if I confused.

okay...sorry then. or something.

b

Sorry Doc, it was me. My bad.

My subscription to www.blondes-in-heat.com had expired, and all my other stolen credit cards were maxed out. I called and got some CC numbers he had pinched in his past employment, and I got yours. I figured you were gonna be a rich guy doctor anyway, so you wouldn't mind.

I'll use a different CC next time I have to renew. But since you paid for it anyway, you might as well enjoy it for now. My password on Blondes in Heat is "914SRUST"


























PS: for all you FBI / HSA guys monitoring this web site, that was all a joke.

QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 10:18 AM)

Their customer service line is actually a hair salon in OK

Looks like they tried to scam the wrong guy

QUOTE (lagunero @ Dec 7 2005, 02:44 PM)

QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 10:18 AM) Their customer service line is actually a hair salon in OK Looks like they tried to scam the wrong guy

puedes lamer mis huevos!

Ya got me laughing on that one.

I got my own blonde in heat, why would I want to look at others?

QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 01:50 PM)

QUOTE (lagunero @ Dec 7 2005, 02:44 PM) QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 10:18 AM) Their customer service line is actually a hair salon in OK Looks like they tried to scam the wrong guy puedes lamer mis huevos! Ya got me laughing on that one. I got my own blonde in heat, why would I want to look at others?

I just got that - the hair thing.

QUOTE (aircooledboy @ Dec 7 2005, 02:40 PM)

My subscription to www.blondes-in-heat.com had expired

well, what do you know ...

*not safe for work*
http://www.blondesinheat.com/

A lady friend just had over 10K worth of airline tickets charged to her CC. Last time she used it (over a month ago) was to book a hotel room for her mom. Like why airline tickets? They check your id at least 3 times before you get on the plane and if it doesn't match the ticket you don't get onboard.

QUOTE (GWN7 @ Dec 7 2005, 03:11 PM)

Like why airline tickets?

buy ticket with stolen CC, return actual ticket to agency, get refund in *real* money ...

Andy

QUOTE (Root_Werks @ Dec 7 2005, 02:57 PM)

QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 01:50 PM) QUOTE (lagunero @ Dec 7 2005, 02:44 PM) QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Dec 7 2005, 10:18 AM) Their customer service line is actually a hair salon in OK Looks like they tried to scam the wrong guy puedes lamer mis huevos! Ya got me laughing on that one. I got my own blonde in heat, why would I want to look at others? I just got that - the hair thing.

If they were bought at a travel agency (don't know) they would just issue a credit back to the CC company and I don't know of a airline that will refund you any money, they will give you credit for future trips but no cash.

I used my company credit card one time in Tokyo for a cab. 2 months later I had $500 worth of cab fares on my card where the number was apparently stolen. Have a new card now. A while back, we got a call from our credit card company that BJ's Wholesale Outlet's computer security was breached. We had bought stuff there so they gave me a new card and turned the old one off. There's always someone trying to scam or steal from others.

The worst part about these things is that the monetary value of the loss ($500 for my company CC) is not great enough for the CC company to do anything to the thief except turn the card off and issue me a new card. Meanwhile, we feel violated, pissed, and the clown is still on the street doing it to someone else.

Spoke

Keep the card valid and nab the sucker the next time they try to use it. Someone took my discover card #s and bought some furniture and delivery pizza in Idaho a couple years ago. I know exactly who did it too...

about a week prior, I'd called one of those ginsu knife ads that they air late at night. I ordered the knives, and then he tried to sell me a knife block.

I said "No, that's okay."

and he replied "Yes?"

"No, that's okay, I don't want it."

"Oh, okay. Can I interest you in a cutting board?"

"No, that's okay."

"Yesss???"

"No! That's okay, I don't want it. That was my polite way of saying It's okay, I don't want it!"

"Okay, well your order is on it's way, and you'll be getting it shortly."

Well, I never got my knives (my card was never charged for them), but someone in Idaho got some couches and pizza.

Jen

Happened to me, some scumbag charged me for 5000 long distance minutes. Found out he had over 10 company names, was under inditment in 27 states. When I called the BBB and asked about this company, they laughed, when I asked why, they said they get calls about this guy everyday. Then they went on to tell me how to get my money back, they also sent me copies of this guys file. His file was unfuckingbelivable, and he's not in jail wtf.

I check and balance my accounts every month, never did before. Today's world, I think it's a good idea. The scams never stop.

Later, Don

Ok so dish ...what is the bank or CC co?

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Dec 7 2005, 05:02 PM)

QUOTE (aircooledboy @ Dec 7 2005, 02:40 PM) My subscription to www.blondes-in-heat.com had expired well, what do you know ... *not safe for work* http://www.blondesinheat.com/

That is too funny.

20 years ago, my college roomate had a porn collection that would've made a hooker blush, and one of the magazines he had a subscription to was Blondes in Heat. I haven't seen a copy since then, but it has always been my "go-to" pretend porn title when I am making something up. I had no idea it actually still existed.