[PSUfan]

I wasn't really sure where to post this, but I just wanted to warn everybody.

About six months ago a friend of mine had his credit card number stolen. He is an older fellow, and he has a single credit card that he only uses for ordering stuff by mail. He hadn't used the card in several months, then he ordered from CTD. A few days later he got a phone call from his credit card company asking him if he was vacationing in Mexico. Needless to say he wasn't.

I ordered from CTD about two weeks ago, and I got my shipment in a timely manner, and I was happy with the products I ordered. I was checking my e-mail yesterday, and I got one from my credit card company that said my account had been suspended due to possible fraudlent activity. I called them up and they read me off a whole list of charges that I had not authorized. They were all done either over the net or phone.

I use my card a little more often than my friend, but it isn't an "everyday" use type of card. I usually only use it to order off of the net, and I have an automatic payment for my cable and internet charged to it. Other than that, the only other times I have charged to it in the last three months were to Amazon.com and AIM Surplus.

It seems a little bit to much of a coincidence to me. I have already e-mailed CTD and told them to remove me from their e-mail and mailing lists, and that I would no longer be ordering from them.

 

[finestkind]

If you or you friend suspect your cards have been stolen then close ther account and get a new card. If these cards have been stolen they are probably int the hands of someone in the ukraine at this point. They will continue to use them as long as they can.

Chuck

 

[jjk308 In Memoriam RIP]

That's standard with any card. The issuer will cancel it after telling you of the problems and asking for confirmation. If they dont, tell them to cancel it. if you have any unused accounts, close them.

Keep an eye on ALL credit cards. IMMEDIATELY contact the number on the back - usually says lost or stolen cards, and tell them about the fraudulent charges. They are there 24/7.

Do not take any crap about YOU paying for any fraudulent charges. It isn't your responsibility and they do not have a prayer of collecting from you. Usually its standard to have an immediate chargeback and payment of any late fees incurred. BOA Visa did this for me recently when they stopped my account due to a security breach, transferred everything to a new card account, and messed up one automatic monthly charge a company made just after the account was closed, before I had a chance to change it.

I've had 4 charge account problems in the past couple of years, one an internet company - iKitchen.com - that strung me along with promises to ship any minute now. They didn't formally cancel the order until I filed a charge protest by email to BOA. One was the security breech I wrote about above, two were spurious charges that appeared from nowhere - may have been honest mistakes in reading the numbers.

I've also had money ADDED to a similar account as the fallout from someone's attempt to scam an internet auction - they tried to appropriate my little used account to transfer scammed funds.

The problems seem to be increasing exponentially. I never had any trouble until 2 years ago, and they may be related to the economic problems. i guess if you can't sell cardboard condos built in the Everglades to idiot investors or the mortgages on those condos to idiot international banks you're reduced to credit card fraud. So keep an eye on everything, once a week or so - even if you don't use it.

 

[DirkDiggler6903]

PSU thanks for the heads up.

 

[ncreptile]

Thanks.
Never liked cheaper than dirty, I guess the name refers to the people working there and not the product price.

 

[jdub]

Same thing

Same thing happend to me about a year ago. I am pretty sure it was CTD. Somebody tried to purchase airline tickets for $2k...

 

[AK_CZ]

CTD used to be a decent place to shop and order things from, but not anymore.
Their new name should be “expensive as $hit”.

 

[texaggie77]

Yeah, I agree. I live in Fort Worth, so I mosey on over to CTD every once in a while. Their gun prices were always ridiculous, so I can't imagine what the prices are now. Cheaper Than Dirt is definately NOT cheaper than dirt.

 

[SturmGrenadier]

CTD was one of the first places to start price gouging after the election.

This security warning (thank you) and that fact will "secure" I wont order anything from them ever again.

 

[LVSteve]

You and your buddy should report it to the FBI. They love identity theft cases because they often lead into lots of other criminal activity. They just took down a major ring here in Las Vegas that was getting card info with collusion from restaurant employees. Given the nationalities involved, I suspect that case has a ways to run.

 

[Guest]

I always check my activity .I once ordered from Florida gunworks for a milled russian kit .It wasnear 3 months and they never shipped anything .Then one day they finaly answered an e mail .It was shipped and you got it and signed for it was their reply .Well that didnt happen . So I contested with my credit card company and told them the story and they investigated the claim .Well FGW had nothing saying they shipped anything ,or proof of it .So my credit card company pulled the funds back out two months after I made the claim .So now 5 months since charged on my card .So i thought it was finaly over ...or was it ...I looked at my monthly statement and guess what ??? FGW simply took my card number after all of this 5 months of B.S ( guess they keep these numbers on file) and charged me for the kit again .This time my credit card company immediatly returned the funds .Changed all my account numbers and filed fraud charges for using my card number the second time without my authorisation ..

 

[BubbaG]

Holy crap Vlad! For them to try it again is insane. Was there a specific person they could point the gun at, no pun intended.

 

[PSUfan]

Follow up...

My credit card company did a great job in alerting me. They suspended my account, and them immediately canceled it as soon as I called and confirmed that something fishy was going on. I had them mark all charges after the CTD order as fraudulent, and they are going to send me a list of all charges made to the card since my last statement. I am suppossed to check it out and make sure that there wasn't any fraud before the CTD order. (I am 99.9% chance there isn't.)

As far as me e-mailing CTD to tell them what was going on....................................... silence. They never bothered to respond to me.

If something changes I will let you guys know. Unlike EBAY, we pretty much rely on each other as far as buyer feedback goes.

 

[BubbaG]

You know I think of all the online companies the wife and I have given are VISA card numbers to, not to mention when we use the cards just regular shopping, that it almost makes sense to cancel our card and have VISA issue us new ones.

 

[hagar]

I try and generate a one time only number for internet purchases.

Had a similar experience with Tapco a couple of years ago, used a card I seldom use, and not a week later somebody transferred a couple of 100 $'s to somebody in Russia via Western Union. They had ALL my details, address, phone, dob, everything. CC paid me back, but it was a hassle.

Another great thing about these one time use cc numbers, if you have an account with aol, american greetings or internet fax accounts that you can never cancel because they refuse to do so, can never find a human on the other side of the phone, and even if they do cancel you, they "forget" that they are no longer supposed to deduct money from you - create a one time use number, change your cc number with them and plug this in, and then cancel the number.

 

[tbird255]

What Browser were you using? If you were using a Microsoft product, that could be the source of the problem, more so than the vendor.

I use open-source mozilla firefox which is much more secure than IE Especially with the newly discovered security problem with IE.

Windows is full of holes (back-doors) so that Microsoft tech support can access your computer for "on-line support" Basically, if someone cracks the codes, it is game over.

Also- Never have your browser remember paswords and user ID for site where there is a secure transaction.

At least you managed to recover your losses, and thankfully you have fraud alert.

TC