Home Depot credit card info security breach!

[Clayt]

My credit card number got hit because of the Home Depot security debacle!

My CC company texted me yesterday at 3:30AM to ask if I was buying anything in Argentina @ $700. A closer look revealed that there was a $2200 purchase of cosmetics in Texas as well. (Being a French model, I would never by cosmetics domestically, DUH!)

I spend the whole day yesterday chasing that around
I even filed a police report

Oh the joy.... NOT!

[Hellrazor]

Just wait until the delivery of the cosmetics shows up....

[Kirbydoc]

We got new cards so that wouldn't happen. I did it before when Target got breached too.

[versifier]

I try to just use cash unless I'm ordering something online from a trusted business or using a debit card locally with limited funds in the account. I never use a credit card at a big box store or a restaurant, but I have not been in active business for many years so have no need to. So far the worst that has happened to me is both my email accounts were hacked and the passwords changed. I am suspecting a disgruntled family member with the requisite skills for that though I have no proof. Aggravating, but not financially serious. One daughter learned the hard way not to use a credit card in a sketchy location and to be very careful who has access to personal info - she's still dealing with the resulting mess almost two years later - took her a year to get her credit reports straightened out.

A friend received a dozen deliveries from UPS and FedEx of various inflatable girlfriends all charged to one of his credit cards. I suspect it was a practical joke but no one has come forward to claim credit, so it might have been a certain vindictive ex.

These incidents run the gamut from amusing to aggravating to downright criminal. If you're in charge of cyber security for a large retailer, how can you tell if a data breach is an inside job or an outside hacker with millions of transactions to monitor? Sometimes it's days or weeks when it's discovered, and then not some internal alert, but rather from feedback from affected customers, the way Clayt got stung. No one at all trusts checks anymore, not that you can blame them I suppose, but the resulting increasing reliance on credit/debit cards for simple everyday transactions plays right into the hands of electronic thieves. And the local police are more than likely to get a call if you want to make a large purchase with cash while they try to delay you. That just pisses me off and has cost more than one local business many good customers when word got around.

Sometimes there are no easy answers.

[Hellrazor]

hmm... maybe his cosmetics order are a few blowup dolls. That would be funny....

I use my CC for almost everything. I refuse to use a debit card.

[Clayt]

The delivery address was in Tampa.
Crack for cosmetics is what the Tampa PD said.