From online hacks to plastic fakes: The strange life of a stolen credit card

FreddyFreeloader · Dec 28, 2013

Six days before Christmas, Shaw Lash's debit card was used at a Toys R Us in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

The problem? Lash wasn't at Toys R Us buying gifts. In fact, she had her card with her when Chase Bank sent her a text message warning that someone had just tried to make a suspicious purchase for $379 using her account numbers.

"It was kind of sad," Lash, 33, a video producer from Manhattan, told NBC News, noting the holiday timing. She had, however, been shopping at a Target in Vauxhall, N.J., during the first week of December. That convinced her that she was one of the up to 40 million Target customers who had their credit or debit card information stolen between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 from retail stores throughout the United States.

Like other bank customers, she wasn't told exactly where her debit card data had been stolen from, so the timing could just be a coincidence. Still, that doesn't change the fact that someone with a fake version of her debit card nearly got away with boosting some Christmas loot until the purchase was rejected at the register.

"The thing about it that makes me uncomfortable is that you don't use credit cards online at vendors that aren't reputable," Lash told NBC News. "You want to use Amazon, or go to Barnes & Noble or Target because they give you a sense of security and safety."

So, how did a fake debit card with Lash's number end up in someone's else hands? Here is what usually happens when your financial information is hijacked by hackers.

How do credit and debit card numbers get stolen?
Here is what we do know about the Target hack: The company's point-of-sale (POS) system was infected with malware, the company confirmed earlier this week. That means instead of being stolen from a database, information was sent directly from Target's physical checkout system to the criminals — a breach some experts are calling unprecedented for its combined size and sophistication.
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Reade more here: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/online-hacks-plastic-fakes-strange-life-stolen-credit-card-2D11803344

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From online hacks to plastic fakes: The strange life of a stolen credit card

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From online hacks to plastic fakes: The strange life of a stolen credit card

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