Tis the season. Check your bank accts

[kketterling]

I usually look at my checking account on a regular basis and today noticed a charge that didn't look right. Checked with the DW to make sure she didn't buy me something at Sears for Christmas and she said no. Turns out someone used my ATM card to make a purchase in Fresno for close to $200. Talked to the bank and they are issuing a new card and put a stop on old. So check your accounts on a regular basis cause Santa's not the only one busy this season.

I do purchase things on line so I guess someone could of shared the number but DW say's I should not use the phone to buy stuff even if company is reputable. Don't tell me she's right?

[calico]

I do know there are scanners out there that pick up cell phone conversations, we have one. It only picks up one person talking, but that may be enough for someone to hear your account numbers. We had a debit charge from Amazon a couple months back. We called Amazon, they said they had transposed a couple numbers on someone else's order and gave us the credit back. I check our accounts each week on line. You can't be too careful.

[Mr_D]

I'd be more worried about using the Internet than the phone. Especially if you phone them.

[texnet]

A couple of months ago my Mom & Dad had several checks written to the tune of about $3,000 on their account with my Dad's name signed on the check. My Dad has not written a check since 1990!! The checks they were passing were actually created by the thief on their computer. They caught the thiefs, a man/woman team, on Tuesday of this week. They were taking mail out of mail boxes and looking for checks, then duplicating the checks. Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes are the #1,2,3 places that criminals pass forged/counterfiet checks!

Calico.... I wouldn't be broadcasting that you have a scanner that picks up cell phone signals as it is illegal in the US to own equipment that will do that unless you have a special license issued by the FCC

[hondo122]

Saw a video about a piece of equipment that can read the magnetic stripe on you credit cards in your pocket while walking close to you. That's frightening

[Wayne M]

There are no special licenses that I'm aware of that are issued by the FCC to monitor Cell Phone activity. Although there are laws, per say, that regulate the interception of communications, what one listens to on any device manufactured, or built by the individual that is broadcast over the "Ether," is a fundamental given right under our Constitution. I am not sure if it has ever been challenged, but the story goes that somewhere in the late 1990's a congressman was overheard on his portable phone (cell) talking to his "girl friend," and the conversation was heard by the press and released. His wife did not like it and he did not like his wife finding out about his girl friend. So, law was made. Search warrants for "wiretapping" are necessary. Wiretapping was originally considered to be placing an object "in-line" to receive and record conversations. In the "old days," placing a suction cup pickup device on a telephone receiver was not considered wiretapping or illegal. Maybe today some official has declared it such.

To say there is a law is one thing. To enforce it is another. Now if someone listening uses that information in an illegal way, criminal or civil law may come into play.

Here is a good article about it: Privacy Rights

Personally, if I were to monitor any communications I would be very careful of who I informed of whatever I may have heard.

Any lawyers out there care to comment?

[jzick]

Good friend of mine is a detective with fraud division of a state law enforcement agency and spends all his time dealing with cc fraud and identity theft. He told me that credit card numbers are most often stolen at restaurants and stores than anything else - clerks and wait staff can carry some kind of electronic scanner in their palm and store card information. He said stolen valid credit card and debit card numbers are so plentiful that they can be bought for very little money. He suggests being careful, not letting cards out of your sight, and watch your accounts carefully. BTW, he uses credit and debit cards personally.

[paz]

It's also a good idea to go online every week or two, especially when traveling for extended periods, to check your credit card transactions. Look for anything that looks out of line.

We just got a call today about suspicious activity on one of our cards. The credit card company had detected an attempted transaction and blocked it. They cancelled our old cards and issued new ones.

[texnet]

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanner_(radio)

A law passed by the Congress of the United States, under the pressure from cellular telephone interests, prohibited scanners sold after a certain date from receiving frequencies allocated to the Cellular Radio Service. The law was later amended to make it illegal to modify radios to receive those frequencies, and also to sell radios that could be easily modified to do so.[5] This law remains in effect even though few cellular subscribers still use analogue technology. There are Canadian and European unblocked versions available, but these are illegal to import into the U.S. Frequencies used by early cordless phones at 43.720–44.480 MHz, 46.610–46.930 MHz, and 902.000–906.000 MHz can be picked up by many scanners. The proliferation of scanners led most cordless phone manufacturers to produce cordless handsets operating on a more secure 2.4 GHz system using spread-spectrum technology. Certain states in the U.S., such as New York and Florida, prohibit the use of scanners in a vehicle unless the operator has a radio license issued from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (Amateur Radio, etc.)[6][7] or the operator's job requires the use of a scanner in a vehicle (e.g., police, fire, utilities).[citation needed]

[Dixieray53]

Are there any HARD #'s that give #'s of CC info stolen.. $'s not recovered? I am 58 years young.. I have owned a retail company for 14 years and have been in RETAIL from age 14..... I have not had one personal experience with any theft of any of my customers info or my employees or mine.. I do not believe anything about ID theft.. They are selling a service...they want you to be afraid.. Check your accounts daily.. Report transactions that are not yours, have the bank investigate ... The NEW World is not scary.. we all must be smart... Peace and HAPPY HOLIDAY'S To You and Yours.. D&T

[gray ghost]

I can attest to the reality of identity theft. I am on my fourth AMEX card due to folks stealing the numbers. The company was very good at working with me on the problems, so I have only been out the aggravation. The reality is that all honest people are affected due to the increase in costs and fees retailers and card companies charge in order to cover their losses.

The incident that took the cake for me was discovering a unexpected charge by Best Buy once. Someone using my card number online had shipped something to Illinois. When I disputed the claim I was told by BB that they could not tell me the address it was shipped to because it would violate their privacy policy.

[bucks2]

Originally Posted by texnet

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanner_(radio)

A law passed by the Congress of the United States, under the pressure from cellular telephone interests, prohibited scanners sold after a certain date from receiving frequencies allocated to the Cellular Radio Service. The law was later amended to make it illegal to modify radios to receive those frequencies, and also to sell radios that could be easily modified to do so.[5] This law remains in effect even though few cellular subscribers still use analogue technology. There are Canadian and European unblocked versions available, but these are illegal to import into the U.S. Frequencies used by early cordless phones at 43.720–44.480 MHz, 46.610–46.930 MHz, and 902.000–906.000 MHz can be picked up by many scanners. The proliferation of scanners led most cordless phone manufacturers to produce cordless handsets operating on a more secure 2.4 GHz system using spread-spectrum technology. Certain states in the U.S., such as New York and Florida, prohibit the use of scanners in a vehicle unless the operator has a radio license issued from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (Amateur Radio, etc.)[6][7] or the operator's job requires the use of a scanner in a vehicle (e.g., police, fire, utilities).[citation needed]

So from your post it's not illegal to listen using my old scanner that happens to pick up those frequencies. It is illegal to sell new equipment that will pick up those frequencies. I have 2 scanners that still pick up those bands and since no one has offered to buy them back, and since the law cited doesn't prohibit listening I don't know why someone couldn't say they did.

[texnet]

I can't find it but I believe there was a FCC law passed that banned listening to cell phone conversations. In any event, none of the older scanners can decode the modern digital cell phone signal. The old analog cell phone transmitted clear voice that you could listen to without any decoders. The current technology is converting the analog voice to digital then transmitting the digital signal to the tower. You would need to purchase or build a decoding device to actually allow your ear to understand what the transmission was... If you actually hear a conversation it is probably a two way radio.

[jzick]

Originally Posted by Dixieray53

Are there any HARD #'s that give #'s of CC info stolen.. $'s not recovered? I am 58 years young.. I have owned a retail company for 14 years and have been in RETAIL from age 14..... I have not had one personal experience with any theft of any of my customers info or my employees or mine.. I do not believe anything about ID theft.. They are selling a service...they want you to be afraid.. Check your accounts daily.. Report transactions that are not yours, have the bank investigate ... The NEW World is not scary.. we all must be smart... Peace and HAPPY HOLIDAY'S To You and Yours.. D&T

Maybe we are the only ones, but we know from personal experience that identity theft is real. DW's identity was stolen and used to get credit cards that were then used to purchase some very expensive air tickets (to Saudi Arabia, Holland, Turkey). A mortgage was applied for in her name. Because we keep a close eye on things we discovered the problem before it had been ongoing for long. Clearing it up and getting the negative information from credit reports was a bit of a hassle and took some legal help, but frankly, we have dealt with bigger problems. BTW, did you know that most full coverage homeowner's policies have coverage to cover identity theft expense?

Through the last 25 years or so we have had several credit cards compromised - seems to happen every couple of years. Again, a bit of a hassle but dealing with it is straightforward. We are probably a bit more vulnerable since DW travels 80% of the time (planes, hotels) and we live in the motorhome on the road for 2/3 of the year.

Life isn't simple any more.