A lesson learned with my credit card

Just thought I would share a quick story that might waken someone else up like it has me.

I am part of a membership at a local golf driving range near me and have always enjoyed it. Each month, they run my credit card number, which they keep on file, for the amount of my dues. Well about three months ago, I was notified by my bank that there had been suspicious looking activity on my account. Oddly enough, the person that had used the card bought around $1,200 worth of, get this... Golf Equipment. Ironic I thought. Luckily, the bank didn't hold me liable for anything and sent me a new card. Several days after I received my new card I took it by the range and informed them of what happened and gave it to them, albeit a little reluctantly. I was assured that the number was kept safely on a piece of paper in the managers office. I made a purchase on Amazon in that period of time and a local gas station also. Then, two days later I get a call from Golf Galaxy customer service informing me that someone was trying to buy stuff using my new card number on their website. I was furious. I called my bank, they confirmed the attempts and shut down my card again. This time they were not quite as congenial, probably because they thought I was trying to pull a fast one. At this point, I can't say with 100% certainty that the point of compromise was at the driving range but it sure looks that way. I contacted the range and spoke with the head manager. He heard me out and said he would start an investigation on his end. Surprise surprise, nothing surfaced. I filed a police report with my local law enforcement agency, but it seemed hopeless from the start. The officer was less than hopeful anything would come out of it. I know it didn't have the excitement of a CSI episode, but it is important to me. hehe I have heard absolutely nothing from them. Again, surprise surprise.

I didn't lose a dime thankfully. The problem is that my trust for using my credit card is gone. In addition, my favorite range near my home is now one I am avoiding on premise in some ways and paranoia in another. I will insist in the future that anything like this is paid annually and the card is swiped in my presence. HARD LESSON LEARNED.

Dude that sucks! Glad you didn't lose anything!

Yep its a sad day with all of this technology. Two years ago someone made a fake CC with my number on it and bought like 1500$ worth of stuff from Victoria's Secret in Calilfornia (I live in Iowa). The customer service rep told me they card had been swiped so someone had to have made a duplicate at one time. The best part came when she asked me if I was sure I hadn't bought something for my wife or girlfriend. I told em there was a Vicky C about 10 min from my house I wouldn't need to drive to California.

On a side note this is why I NEVER use a debit card for online purchases or anything other than small stuff. With a stolen CC you have recourse and may lose nothing in the process....with a debit card they can wipe you out in minutes.

WOW! Glad you didn't lose any money and this is why I don't use my credit cards at all. I use my debit card for everything and if I need to buy something online its paypal. Stories like this and the other ways people steal stuff is the reason my security business is booming, I could go on all day about the ways I have seen people try and steal other peoples hard earned money.

i agree with JROD - you should use a CC for all purchases and just pay it off or whatever. I was hit by the CC hackers in november. Someone got my card number, no idea how, and ran up 3 purhcases each for over $800! The conversation with my chase was pretty funny - so you didnt travel to hong kong this weekend Mr. xxxx, well no i sat on my ass and watched football.. hahah

But they wiped the purchases off immediately and restored it - i couldnt imagine if that had been cash from by bank! that would have really sucked!

i agree sounds fishy at the ol range - maybe if you are so inclined you could set them up - get two cards and give one to the range - (dont use it at all) then it when it comes up say look - you were the only one with that number haha
but then again its been twice already - probably some punk kid trying to get away with it - and i doubt they would try a 3rd time?

About two years ago I received a call from a security firm wanting to know if I tried to make a purchase in Indiana.I live in NC and have never traveled much-Lead a dull life! Apparently someone had cloned my debit card and swiped it for $1.00 at a auto parts store.This threw a "red Flag' with the bank's security dept and they notified me advising me to cancel the card and get a new one from the bank issued.They never asked me for personal info but I was still skeptical and before talking to them much ,I called the bank and was told they couldn't confirm the transaction on the phone but they did admit that they used that security firm.That evening I received another call asking if I was in Indiana,where someone attempted to swipe my card for $1.00 again.I immediately canceled the card.I eventually figured out that the only place the card was out of my sight was a local steak house and after talking to friends,I found out another person hasd used their card there and it was discovered to have been cloned.Apparently this was a thing college wait staff needing money did.They swiped the cards on a seperate reader and sold the information to third parties who made new cards.

cg13 said:

probably some punk kid trying to get away with it - and i doubt they would try a 3rd time?

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If only only person had the numbers, the manager, it is probably the manager doing the scam. Especially because you informed him of what happened previously. He knew he could go buy some sweet new irons from golf galaxy online and not have to pay for them.

I'd be finding a new range instead of giving them another card to use. Or pay quarterly or something and have them swipe it then and not keep the record of your number (a new again number). (I see that you said you stopped using that range. Good idea!)

I've dealt with Identity Theft and wouldn't give the place where you are virtually certain someone stole your number from (twice even) with my credit card again. I've had accounts opened in my name with phone companies and Lowe's in Florida (before I ever went to Florida) and also someone made a copy of my card and used it at ATM's all over Connecticut (where I've never been!). Everything is taken care of (except I am still dealing with the phone company one) and I didn't have to pay a cent of any of them. Expecting the last one to be the same, but it is still messing with me.

I put a lock on my credit report so no one can get an account on it unless I unlock it. It works, I tried it, and they couldn't get in. When I got my car I had to unlock it, and the bank still needed to talk to me and get personal info before they would give me the loan. Then I locked it back up when I got home from the dealership.

That range certainly wasn't PCI compliant, keeping CC numbers on a sheet of paper is pretty archaic...

I have problems similar to this. My citi card lets me generate one time use card numbers. It also lets you know if someone tried to use it twice. This may be a way to catch the thief.

I had a similar experience of credit card theft except they actually had my physical card. A friend of my college roommate snuck into my room and stole my credit card, went on a shopping spree. I never even got a call from the credit card company, but I check my balance frequently so it was pretty easy to figure out something was wrong considering I have never spent $3000 at Walmart and another couple of thousand at other places. Anyways, I contacted the police and they told me there wasn't much they could do. This blew my brains because the guy who stole it actually went to the stores and made the purchases in person. So I contacted the stores personally and all but walmart was willing to let me come and check out their security video. It was super easy to figure out who it was who made the purchase considering the time of purchase was on the credit card history. I took the videos of the perpetrator (who I was able to positively ID on three separate store videos) to the cops, along with name, address, phone number, and place of work. They went to confront him (which was another huge debacle. When the detectives showed up at the dudes house, he denied that he was the guy they were looking for, of course. So the detectives called me and said that I gave them the wrong address. Which required me to drive to the dudes house and personally confront him with the cops before they would pick the guy up. He confesses at the police station and then they let him go. I later find out the he did the same thing 10 more times before

JNRadio said:

That range certainly wasn't PCI compliant, keeping CC numbers on a sheet of paper is pretty archaic...

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+1 for sure.

Funny you should bring this up JN, you are exactly right. I have had to spend thousands of dollars and countless man hours making sure that my biz is PCI compliant. I don't understand how I am scrutinized yet a business like that can continue to scribble down card numbers and run them like the like it is 1987. If it were me I would be getting fined out the wazoo.