Fergie's Tech Blog

Credit Card Scam Requires No Credit Card

Maxine Bernstein writes on The Oregonian:

Before heading out for a weekend trip to Seattle with his wife, Aaron Reed checked his bank account online.

Puzzled by a credit card authorization from the Lloyd Center shop Things Remembered, Reed walked to the bedroom to ask his wife whether she had bought any jewelry or gifts lately. By the time he returned to his computer, more unusual transactions had popped up: a $15 Broadway cab fare and $270 for five nights in an Econo Lodge Motel.

"It weirded me out because I had my card," said Reed, 35. "It wasn't like I had lost my card."

The thief didn't need Reed's bank or debit cards, financial records, mail or credit card receipts. She hit on his account number by chance.

Like mathematicians searching for the right formula, such thieves painstakingly try out combinations of 16 digits until they come up with a series that fits someone's card number.

posted by Fergie @ 4/02/2008 10:40:00 AM