What a way to start the day - my business card info has been stolen and used, card now blocked, fuck
 

So, I have a card that I only use for this business. I checked on it today, thinking I would pay it down some - and discovered I had about $500+ in strange charges on the card, for things like bus tickets and European Skype credits

Sometime in the last two months somebody got the number, from somewhere, one of the places I make payments to do business, and then last month went crazy making lots of charges for things under $100 a charge.

I freak out, and start looking at all the statements, make sure I understand what is going on, then call the company stolen card department and go thru this long crazy routine with their rep.

Long story short, the card number is now blocked, I will have to go thru fraud processes, new account number started and new card coming, blah blah blah.

In the months before the charges on that card are very predictable and reliable. Godaddy, hosting, godaddy, hosting (colo), godaddy, hosting.

In feb I bought some European content thru segpay. I paid my UPS store mailbox fee.

One place I used the card that I am not all that certain about is domainnamesystems. And moniker. There is nothing else in the last year that seems like a possibility.

What a fucking hassle. Who knows what sort of bullshit I have yet to go thru with dealing with these charges with the CC company. The rep seemed nbice enough and was assuring me that I would not have to pay them, but who the fuck knows.

This has happened to me more than a few times with a few of my cards.

Other than being a bit of a hassle it has never actually cost me anything.

Most of the time it has been after using a card locally. Happened twice on a card that I never used. Cancelled that card after the second time.

You can add having my SS number stolen to file a fake tax return. Now I have a PIN with the IRS.

My US Visa Debit card with Royal Bank in Georgia is in the mail as I type this because the same thing happened. Thankfully the bank did catch it before more than a $100 got spent on it but it's a pain in the ass since I had to us my Canadian credit card to pay bills with and they screw you on the exchange rate.

Boy, sorry to hear that Bill, and damn Cleo, your SS #. I've been pretty lucky I guess, but my spending is pretty targeted, and I have a pocket full of plastic. I have good cards though, I do get contacted at times when my spending doesn't fit my profile, Amex is a good card like that.

ID theft is a royal bitch, but we're going to be seeing a lot more of it I suspect. Now they don't require a signature if it is a purchase of $20 or under, at least here in NY.

Other than having my purse stolen many years ago all my CC thefts have been after using a CC someplace local. I'm pretty sure my SS was stolen at the hospital that I went as a few workers were arrested there for ID theft and the thefts were in the thousands. Even it happened to my CPA's wife. They use them to file a fake return and get a huge amount back.