Dear Lifehacker,
I recently discovered several unauthorized charges on my credit card. I called the credit card company and they're investigating, but what other steps do I need to take to protect myself?
How To Get Free Valid Credit Card Numbers! 8-5-02 Finally I found a hack that really works to get free CREDIT CARD NUMBERS! I bought the information off ebay for $5.00. You basically send a coded message to the hotmail account information computer database. All the account information still active is in this computer. Database hack credit card top up score upgrade money transfer. All information should be free and accessible to all. Seeing how you are being monitored by most of these tech companies. And also needing cyber help in many areas of your day to day activities, we at INTEGRATEDHACKS have come come up with a team of highly motivated and dedicated.
Signed,
Fed up with Fraud
Dear Fed up,
We're sorry that's happened to you. Unfortunately, about 4 out of 10 US cardholders report having had the same nerve-wracking experience as you. Identity theft and credit card fraud have been on the rise in recent years, thanks to the growing horde of hackers who are smarter and more capable than ever. All hope is not lost, though. With time and patience—and the steps below—you can secure your accounts and credit information, and get back your peace of mind.
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Step 1. Call the Credit Card Company
This is the very first step to take (so kudos on acting quickly). In some cases, your liability for fraudulent charges depends on how soon you report them to the bank. Besides that, the sooner you notify the bank, the quicker they can start working on your case and getting this resolved.
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During the investigation, the credit card company will usually reverse the charges (so you won't have to pay for some stranger's $5000 shopping spree on your billing statement). They should also issue you a new card (with a new account number) and close the old one so further fraudulent charges can't be made to it.
When you get your new card, remember to update any accounts where the card is used for automatic or recurring billing.
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This process should only take a couple of days (sometimes just one day waiting for the new card), but in some cases it could take a month to resolve.
Step 2. Monitor Your Credit Card Accounts
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In most cases, putting a stop to the charges and getting a new account number are all you need to do, but you should also monitor all your credit card accounts just in case this is more than just a singular event or a sign of even more damaging identity theft.
To monitor your accounts, you just need to keep an eye on your statements or regularly check recent activity. Be especially on the lookout for even small charges. Fraudsters know that amounts under $10—like the recent $9.84 scam—often go unnoticed.
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There are also other easy ways to stay vigilant, long after your credit card fraud case is resolved:
- Set up activity alerts on your accounts. Most bank and credit card online accounts let you set text or email alerts for all kinds of activity, such as charges over a certain limit.
- Use free financial tracking apps.Previously mentioned BillGuard watches for charges flagged by other BillGuard members, and notifies you if your card(s) have similar ones; it also now tracks your finances, Mint-like. Speaking of Mint, the financial tracking app can also alert you to unusual activity on your accounts. If you usually only spend $50 a week on shopping, for example, Mint will let you know if a charge greatly exceeds that. (If you're—understandably—concerned about security for these credit card and bank tracking services, know that both use bank-level encryption and only have read-access to your account activity, so money transfers and changes to your account aren't possible even if someone could hack into one of those accounts.)
- Use free credit monitoring services.Previously mentionedCredit Karma and Credit Sesame keep an eye on not just your credit score, but also new credit inquiries and balance changes. (Credit Sesame's report is from Experian, while Credit Karma provides scores from TransUnion.)
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Step 3. Know the Signs of Bigger Identity Theft—and What to Do If Someone's Stolen Your Identity
Fraudulent charges on your credit card don't necessarily mean a data thief also has access to other personal information that could do more damage, like drawing down your bank account or social security fraud, but it still pays to know how identity theft works so you don't end up with even bigger issues.
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Read more ReadTo clarify: Credit card fraud is a form of identity theft that happens when the thief uses your card number to buy things. That can happen when someone gleans your credit card number (and signature) from a receipt, gets access to any other document with your account number on it, or your card comes into contact with fake ATM or other skimmers.
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Read more ReadEven more debilitating identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information (which can include your credit card number) to not just make charges, but also perhaps open other financial accounts, get government documents, and/or otherwise impersonate you for their benefit. It's even less funny than the Jason Bateman movie Identity Thief and can be terribly expensive and trying to repair.
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(If there's any silver lining to your credit card fraud experience, it may be that kick in the butt to check if any of your other information is compromised. According to Daily Finance, most people don't spot identity theft on their own; most of the time, financial institutions notify the victims. 20 percent of people do find it after spotting fraudulent charges on their statements, but only 8 percent of other identity theft victims discover the fraud themselves.)
Besides suspicious credit card charges, identity theft red flags include: withdrawals from your bank account that don't make sense, applications for credit or other accounts being turned down, collection notices for debts that aren't yours, and unfamiliar accounts on your credit report (which you can check for free every year at annualcreditreport.com). See a whole list of red flags at the Identity Theft Resource Center.
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If you suspect you might be a victim of identity theft, in addition to contacting your credit card about fraudulent charges and monitoring your credit card and bank accounts, you should take action to correct the problems immediately:
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- Place a fraud alert or credit freeze with the three credit bureau agencies (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion). A credit freeze is generally more foolproof, as it usually stops all access to your credit report, whereas a fraud alert simply requires more verification of your identity before granting credit in your name. There may be a cost to place or lift the freeze, though, depending on your state laws. Learn more about these two protections at the FTC.
- Review your credit reports from the three bureaus. If you placed a fraud alert or credit freeze, you should get a free copy. Dispute all inaccuracies.
- File a police report and a report with the FTC. Depending on the nature of the identity theft, you might need records of the police report and information you report to the FTC to show creditors and others proof of the crime.
- Contact any company that might have been affected. For example, if your Social Security Number might have been compromised, contact the Social Security Administration and the IRS. Also contact companies that have a fraudulent account open in your name to have the account frozen.
- Keep good records of each communication with creditors, credit reporting agencies, and other companies while trying to fix this problem.
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What about identity theft protection services? In general, the ones offered by credit card issues aren't worth the money. The Wall Street Journal notes that third-party services like LifeLock and Trusted ID will run you at least $150 a year, but their most common tactics are setting up fraud alerts and credit freezes on your credit reports—things you can do yourself. (Note, however, that if you were a victim of a breach, like the Target one, you could be eligible for free credit monitoring, in which case go ahead and use it.)
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Step 4. Stay Safe Going Forward
Most people never find out exactly how their credit card numbers (or other personal information) got into the wrong hands. While some things, like data breaches, are beyond your control, there are several things you can do to minimize your security risks.
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We've talks about most of these online and offline protections before, but consider this a security checklist review:
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- Only shop on secure HTTPS sites belonging to merchants you trust (we recommend using the HTTPS Everywhere extension for Firefox, Chrome, and Opera).
- Use virtual credit card numbers if your bank offers them—or consider switching to one. A virtual number hides you actual account when you shop online and can also limit additional charges.
- Don't save your credit card information with online merchants. This is a hassle, because you have to enter the card manually every time you shop online, instead of saving the card in the account, but it's an extra precaution that could give you more peace of mind.
- Make sure your computer is up-to-date with anti-malware protection. Our favorite for Windows is Avast, but we also recommend occasionally manually running another anti-malware tool like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to catch and fix anything that's slipped through.
- Check ATMs and other card readers for signs of tampering. These include obscured flashing lights on a reader, cameras above the machine, or loose keypad or other parts. You should also always cover your hand when you enter your PIN in the machine
- Consider getting a RFID-blocking wallet. Thieves can scan your cards that have radio-frequency identification chips (RFID) without you even noticing. There are lots of RFID-blocking wallets you can buy or you can make your own(even an Altoid tin could work).
- Never give our your social security number unless you trust the organization and know it's necessary (for example, for your tax forms).
- Shred all sensitive documents before you toss them out, and keep those you can't shred safely locked up. (If you've gone paperless, make sure those files are encrypted on your computer.) Sensitive documents include financial account statements, medical information, anything with your social security number on it, tax documents, and so on.
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Stay safe.
Love,
Lifehacker
Photos by evryka (Shutterstock), PSDgraphics, Alliance (Shutterstock), Credit Karma.
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What constitutes a Valid Credit Card Number?
A valid credit card number (also known as Primary Account Number - PAN) has several fields and each of them has a meaning. For the technically inclined, this number complies to the ISO/IEC 7812 numbering standard. An contains a six-digit issuer identification number (IIN), an individual account identification number, and a single digit checksum.
The first digit of the issuer identification number is the major industry identifier (MII). It identifies the industry where the card will be most used in. If this digit is 9 the next three digits are the country code from ISO 3166-1.
Free Credit Card Information Hack Account
The issuer identification number also known as the bank identification number (BIN) is the first six digits of the credit card number. These identify the institution that issued the credit card to the card holder. Here's a list of known IIN prefixes.
Afterwards comes the account number, digit 7 to last minus one. The maximum length of the account number is 12 digits. This is an individual account identifier.
The last digit is the checksum which we explained how to calculate using the MOD 10 algorithm. It is used to validate the primary account number to protect against accidental errors.
What do we mean by Valid Credit Card Numbers?
The credit card numbers you generate on this page are completely random. When we say they are valid, we merely imply that they are a possible combination of characters which will validate when passed through the MOD 10 algorithm. You can also generate valid credit card numbers for specific Issuing Networks by utilising their particular prefixes. However, we do not provide you (obviously) with the correspondent verification code for these cards, as they are completely fake and made up randomly.
To be completely clear and spell this out, these fake credit card numbers should not be used to try and purchase stuff. They merely respect guidelines of a valid credit card number. I advise you not not to try to use these for any actual transactions, only for testing purposes! In order to complete a purchase a combination of data must be had, and merely a card number is not enough. Information such as expiration date, card holders name and CVV numbers. Merely typing a valid credit card number into a form is not enough to purchase anything and you should not attempt to.
Read more about CNP transactions and how you need more information about a card to make a purchase remotely. We do not condone nor support fraud.
Some terms and their meanings
- Credit Card - Credit cards are a form of revolving loan by where the cardholder can access a line of credit to make purchases, cash advances, or balance transfers. As the outstanding balance is paid, the available credit line is restored for use again.
- Cardholder - an individual to whom a credit card is issued. Typically, this individual is also responsible for payment of all charges made to that card. Corporate cards are an exception to this rule.
- Issuer - an institution that issues credit cards to cardholders. This institution is also responsible for billing the cardholder for charges.
- Merchant/Accepter - an individual, organization, or corporation that accepts credit cards as payment for merchandise or services.
- Credit Limit - The amount of credit made available for you to use.
- Billing Cycle - The date that your statement is produced every month. The payment due date is at least 22 later. This same date appears on every statement, regardless of holidays. Interest accrues at the time the statement cycles.
- Personal Identification Number (PIN) - The number used to access their account to get cash at an ATM machine or make other PIN verified transactions. A number automatically generated by the computer, then sealed and sent to the cardholder. (Ex. Gas station charges)
- See more of these over at the credit card glossary