Stolen Credit Card--Again

Lounge By costumeczar Updated 11 Oct 2017 , 1:46am by tonirepko

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 1:00pm
post #1 of 24

My business credit card was stolen yet again...If you've had your card number stolen (not the physical card, just the number) could you send me a private message? I'm curious about where the theft happened and I think I know, but I want to compare notes to see if anyone else shopped at a specific site and had their number stolen afterward.

23 replies
-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 1:03pm
post #2 of 24

i'm so sorry -- dirty bums!

i thought about using gift cards -- maybe you gave that idea once on here?

anyway not all merchants take those but dang that's abominable 


gscout73 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
gscout73 Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 8:27pm
post #3 of 24

Global Sugar Art had a prob a while back. As far as I know they've resolved it and now give you the option of using Paypal.

Webake2gether Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Webake2gether Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 8:44pm
post #4 of 24

I recently ordered through global Suagr art and had no issues and didn't use pay pal :)  

kakeladi Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kakeladi Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 9:06pm
post #5 of 24

I did once but never figured out for sure where the problem was.  Most likely at a WalMart superstore in my town.

gscout73 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
gscout73 Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 11:05pm
post #6 of 24

I really like GSA. The are very responsive to customers and addressed it.

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 13 Aug 2016 , 11:26pm
post #7 of 24


Quote by @gscout73 on 19 minutes ago

I really like GSA. The are very responsive to customers and addressed it.

It wasn't GSA, I don't shop there...When they were having that big stink a few years ago there was another one people were saying also had trouble and I think it was that one.

MBalaska Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MBalaska Posted 14 Aug 2016 , 3:06am
post #8 of 24

Oh you'll like this one....... Someone in Chicago, Illinois used my (old) number to pay himself $1,800, twice!

and billed it to "The Alzheimers Foundation".  Pretty tricky huh??

gscout73 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
gscout73 Posted 14 Aug 2016 , 3:23am
post #9 of 24


Quote by @MBalaska on 16 minutes ago

Oh you'll like this one....... Someone in Chicago, Illinois used my (old) number to pay himself $1,800, twice!

and billed it to "The Alzheimers Foundation".  Pretty tricky huh??

How crazy is THAT???

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 14 Aug 2016 , 11:27am
post #10 of 24

mb, that is nuts -- crooks suck! and I hate that that happened to you -- 

Cevamal Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Cevamal Posted 14 Aug 2016 , 11:33am
post #11 of 24

What's the issuing bank? Some offer virtual account numbers where you create a one time number to give a merchant. Citibank offers it and I use it for any one off orders for a site I'm not 100% confident in.

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 14 Aug 2016 , 4:45pm
post #12 of 24


Quote by @Cevamal on 5 hours ago

What's the issuing bank? Some offer virtual account numbers where you create a one time number to give a merchant. Citibank offers it and I use it for any one off orders for a site I'm not 100% confident in.

I wish they did that. One of my personal cards did that for a while then they stopped for some reason. 

@MBalaska ‍ someone once charged a bunch of solar panels and camping gear to one of my cards. I don't camp, so that was a definite fake, but I felt bad for the solar panel guy because it sounded like he was really excited about making such a huge sale then having it denied :(

Apti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Apti Posted 15 Aug 2016 , 1:12am
post #13 of 24

Ahhhh.... bummer, costumeczar.  My cards/accounts have been hacked so many times it just seems routine now. 

In 2013 I was invited to give a demonstration at a cake show in Chicago.  While I was there I went to use my credit card to pay for dinner and got denied.  "Huh?", I said.  "I have a $10,000 limit on this card."

Turns out that two neighbor boys (ages 11 and 14), reached through my tiny dog door, turned the deadbolt, and let themselves in each day while I was gone.  They used my computer (which did not have a pass code since I live alone) to order about $12,000 of vaping and electronics stuff.   It took about 80 hours of dedicated time and about 9 months before my life got back to normal. 

When I was in my teens to mid-twenties (ah hem.... about 40 years ago---egad) I lived in a rural area that had a bad reputation.  Our family was robbed about 5 times.  I guess hacking and computer crimes are just a new version. 

Heavy sigh....

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 15 Aug 2016 , 2:18am
post #14 of 24


Quote by @Apti on 1 hour ago

Ahhhh.... bummer, costumeczar.  My cards/accounts have been hacked so many times it just seems routine now. 

In 2013 I was invited to give a demonstration at a cake show in Chicago.  While I was there I went to use my credit card to pay for dinner and got denied.  "Huh?", I said.  "I have a $10,000 limit on this card."

Turns out that two neighbor boys (ages 11 and 14), reached through my tiny dog door, turned the deadbolt, and let themselves in each day while I was gone.  They used my computer (which did not have a pass code since I live alone) to order about $12,000 of vaping and electronics stuff.   It took about 80 hours of dedicated time and about 9 months before my life got back to normal. 

When I was in my teens to mid-twenties (ah hem.... about 40 years ago---egad) I lived in a rural area that had a bad reputation.  Our family was robbed about 5 times.  I guess hacking and computer crimes are just a new version. 

Heavy sigh....

Did you get to prosecute the brats?

Cevamal Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Cevamal Posted 15 Aug 2016 , 11:02am
post #15 of 24

Wow. You have to wonder how parents could fail so thoroughly.

Apti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Apti Posted 15 Aug 2016 , 6:57pm
post #16 of 24

Long story that I'll try to condense:  Single mother of 5 kids, rotten husband, tried with kids and took 'em to church and tried with mentors at the church etc., but, she had to work and couldn't afford a baby sitter.  

I was a friend of both boys and the entire family and when all was said and done, it was only stupid mischief by stupid kids.  I figured Amazon had insurance.  I was reimbursed by the mother over 3 months for the $413 I paid for new locks [double deadbolts] and a cleaning lady.  They had actually accrued 17 felonies each (multiple home break-ins and over $10,000 in robbery/fraud) and I asked the Sheriff if he could try a version of "scared straight/behind bars" with handcuffs and all and not formally prosecute.  He said yes, it was my call.  The Sheriff said this was their first offense and maybe there was a slight chance they might learn not to repeat the behavior.  So I didn't formally prosecute.

woozy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
woozy Posted 24 Aug 2016 , 4:48pm
post #17 of 24

A giant retailer had thousands of numbers hacked recently. I found out because my bank made me go by and get a new card, since I had used it at that store. 

She wouldn't tell me who. 

I've been hacked at Ebay and Amazon, too. I never leave a card on file, now.

The card issuers are now barely ahead of the hackers. 

Gerle Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Gerle Posted 24 Aug 2016 , 5:28pm
post #18 of 24

I've had my card hacked so many times I hate it!  It's really a shame that people have nothing better to do, and it sure makes for a lot of work on your part to get it all straightened out!  It's happened online and in stores, so it doesn't seem to matter where you shop.  It's just so darn inconvenient to have to straighten it all out!

ElizabethsCakeCreations Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ElizabethsCakeCreations Posted 24 Aug 2016 , 5:31pm
post #19 of 24

@Apti ‍ did the parents do anything?

SugarArtbyAngela Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SugarArtbyAngela Posted 24 Aug 2016 , 6:56pm
post #20 of 24

I have had my credit card and bank check card hacked so many times.   Every time I would get a new bank check card, it would be hacked.   I'd wake up to plane tickets, Uber, Match.com, pizza orders.... you name it.   I finally got a business credit card through my bank, and guess what... It got hacked too!   My online shopping was done mostly at GSA and Sweetwise.   The last time that I got a new card, it was hacked within days.  I was called by my bank's fraud department to ask if I was trying to put an $8000.00 down payment on a car.    I had only used it a couple of times that month, with the only online shopping at Sweetwise, Fondant source and locally @ Hobby Lobby.   (I'm new to shopping @ Fondant Source.)  Sweetwise seemed to be the constant denominator throughout the whole 2 year event.  I started shopping through Paypal there and so far, knock on wood, I haven't had a problem.   

Apti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Apti Posted 25 Aug 2016 , 1:30am
post #21 of 24

           @Elizabethscakecreations - The mom repaid me every penny I was personally out-of-pocket and made both boys work for her to pay her back.  The dad wasn't around.  The mom moved away from my neighborhood (yay) and enlisted the help of a mentor for the boys who had been in similar trouble as a teen, then straightened himself out.  After they moved, I've had no contact.   Unfortunately, Amazon and the individual vendors never got their money back unless it was in the form of insurance for items obtained through fraud. 

Interestingly, since I did not formally press charges and have the boys convicted of 17 felonies each from the multiple break-ins to my home, it took forever to convince Amazon that it wasn't me that suddenly ordered $11,000 worth of vaping stuff and earbuds and phones.  Apparently our entire justice system is predicated on a police report/court report with little to no room for mercy.   All I can hope is that, maybe, just maybe, the 11 year old could be 'saved'.  I think the 14 year old was already lost.    Additionally, had I proceeded with formal prosecution/conviction, it would have destroyed what little economic stability the single mother had to keep the remaining 3 siblings/home intact.  It would have cost the mom about $144 a day for approximately 3-8 weeks to place the boys in juvenile detention, plus the cost of attorneys, missed work, etc. 

Also very interesting was that since I did not formally prosecute, the Sheriff would not let the mom return the stolen items to the Sheriff's Office since they had no 'paper-trail' that these were stolen items.    Crazy.....

cakebaby2 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cakebaby2 Posted 25 Aug 2016 , 9:02am
post #22 of 24

Our justice system in the UK is the same Apti, no prosecution no insurance or compensation..as the poor vendors (Amazon and their shareholders) found out?

Mercy is cool if you take the hit personally, otherwise it does look as though you, the victim kind of profited from the crime (no personal loss plus a warm glow of the righteous?) I'm not suggesting for a minute that you "profited" but it is kind of how it looks to the people who DID lose out because someone always does, even if its just the little folk dabbling in shares down the line.

Apti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Apti Posted 25 Aug 2016 , 9:26pm
post #23 of 24

@cakebaby2 -- It was surprising that even the Sheriff who encouraged me to let him "scare" them with handcuff &, sitting in the police car & confrontation in my front room with the mother, didn't know that a "report of contact" wasn't nearly the same as an official arrest record. 

If I had formally prosecuted the minors, both the vendors and Amazon and I would have had exactly the same outcome:  "insurance covers the loss".   There is/was zero mechanism for return of the goods.  The vendors were immediately notified by me and submitted their claims to their insurance.  The mother of the boys actually called and spoke with each of the vendors when I provided a specific list of the amazon purchases and asked if they wanted her to return the items by mail.   Every single vendor said no.     I had to ask other people what the vaping and electronics stuff was since I'd never heard of about most of the stuff.    I thought "cherry flavor" was for cakes, lol.....

tonirepko Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tonirepko Posted 11 Oct 2017 , 1:46am
post #24 of 24

I sound like a few of you.....card fraud 7-8 times in past 2 years, same business card, narrowed it down to 2 possible sites,  one of those being sweetwise.com! I will do PayPal from now on with them and see what happens

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%