Geico266

Geico266

Well Known Member
Just a heads up about using a credit card at airshows.

I had my CC denied when I tried to use it on my way home to get fuel. Seems when I used my card at the show some low life was picking up the WiFi signal as the vendor ran the card for authorization. (We assume this is how they got it.) The charges were caught immediately by the credit card company and they closed the account. One was for aviation fuel so the thief was possibly a pilot. I feel bad for the FBO, but I didn't buy fuel on Thursday.

I'm sure this can happen anywhere WiFI is used so be sure to check your CC statements closely and challenge any suspicious charges.
 
You should contact each vendor you used your credit card with and let them know so that they can double check their security. If it was sniffed over wifi then the vendor wasn't using SSL encryption to process your card. WiFi is safe within reason if it's done correctly, otherwise it's very dangerous.

schu
 
Not to steal the thread but there was a guy trying to sell a BUNCH of stolen items in the flymart, including one of my best friends' Garmin stack, which was recovered. If you got something at the flymart from account 119 it was likely stolen. The guys running the flymart flat-out DON'T CARE if an item there is stolen, and that poor attitude earned them the attention of the sheriff's dept. and the Lakeland police so expect big changes next year.
 
Credit cards sure are convenient but can a royal pain in the butt.

Several years ago at OSH I charged the registration fees for being there, something like $239, and by the time I returned home there was a hairy letter from the card company demanding the immediate payment of $23,900 billed at OSH. I called the cc company and asked how this could be since the card limit had been exceeded by a huge amount. They said it was bounced twice but the third time the OSH bank sent it through with a special code and it was paid.

It took weeks to get the matter straightened out. OSH never admitted the screw up and performed some kind of internal audit to get to the bottom of it. Eventually it was resolved with a credit to my account including the various charges the transaction triggered. Evidently a clerk placed the decimal point in the wrong place.

Life goes on, right, one experience after another. :)
 
Wifi isn't the problem, per se. The terminals should be encrypting the data themselves and not depending upon Wifi to do it.

Larry, why not tell us which vendors you patronized with that card so that we can be watching out too?
 
Maybe it was at one of the resturants I went to. All I know is someone was buying $3K of stereo equipment on my CC.
 
Geico266 said:
SNIP

One was for aviation fuel so the thief was possibly a pilot. I feel bad for the FBO, but I didn't buy fuel on Thursday.

SNIP
Click to expand...

How would one buy aviation fuel with just a CC number? I'd think you would need the physical card, to either give to the line guy or put into a self serve machine.
 
The equipment to read and write the magnetic strips on cards is easily obtained. A quick search online can find you readers, writers, and blank magnetic cards. I CERTAINLY DO NOT approve of the nefarious activities people use this stuff for, but I think it's important to know it's out there. You can't protect yourself from the unknown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud

http://consumerist.com/5200818/reader-finds-card-skimmer-on-bank-atm

I hope this isn't too far OT, but as pilots we travel more, and I believe we may be more likely to run into these sorts of things.
 
Last year my Wife got her info stolen at JFK New York. She used an ATM at the airport. Jet Blue security said that the person responsible had a device that fit over the face of the card reader on the ATM and he was near by recieving the info to his lap top. They caught the guy. thanks to the security camera's .... We got our $3,784.00 back.

Thank Goodness

Rich
 
Geico266 said:
Just a heads up about using a credit card at airshows.

I had my CC denied when I tried to use it on my way home to get fuel. Seems when I used my card at the show some low life was picking up the WiFi signal as the vendor ran the card for authorization. (We assume this is how they got it.) The charges were caught immediately by the credit card company and they closed the account. One was for aviation fuel so the thief was possibly a pilot. I feel bad for the FBO, but I didn't buy fuel on Thursday.

I'm sure this can happen anywhere WiFI is used so be sure to check your CC statements closely and challenge any suspicious charges.
Click to expand...

Geico266 said:
Maybe it was at one of the resturants I went to. All I know is someone was buying $3K of stereo equipment on my CC.
Click to expand...

Wonder if the title of this thread should be changed?
 
I'm amazed at the number of home wifi that are set up without security.
At lunch, my iPhone always detects and patches into unprotected networks all the time.

Your credit card data may also have been stolen at any restaurant. You leave your card with the waiter to run the transaction. It only takes a second to swipe your data by using a secondary card swiping device and applying to another card.

This is why I prefer to use a credit card vs a debit card. The credit card offers more protection against theft & fraud. I am really amazed that the credit card card company can detect questionable transactions and apply a stop.
I had a card stolen in Vegas a few years ago and by the time I notified them in about 6 hours, they had already stopped transactions.
 
For those using certain credit cards, with the 3 digit security code on the back, you should memorize that and scratch it out (it takes a knife, usually, and don't damage the mag strip):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_Security_Code

This won't protect you from merchants that aren't required to have the code (it's not encoded on the mag strip), but it may protect you from someone who has copied the card info (via reader or physically copying) and it trying to make an online purchase (most of which require the code).
 
DanLandry said:
I'm amazed at the number of home wifi that are set up without security.
At lunch, my iPhone always detects and patches into unprotected networks all the time.

Your credit card data may also have been stolen at any restaurant. You leave your card with the waiter to run the transaction. It only takes a second to swipe your data by using a secondary card swiping device and applying to another card.

This is why I prefer to use a credit card vs a debit card. The credit card offers more protection against theft & fraud. I am really amazed that the credit card card company can detect questionable transactions and apply a stop.
I had a card stolen in Vegas a few years ago and by the time I notified them in about 6 hours, they had already stopped transactions.
Click to expand...

Same here. A waiter at a food joint not far off the interstate ripped off our number. By the time we got to our destination in Florida 2 days later the card was no good - the cc company detected an "unusual pattern" and closed it down. The crooks buy card numbers from the people who lift them, make a card, and sell it for $50 or $100 and off they go on a quick spending binge knowing it won't last long. In this case the number was lifted in southern Illinois and used in Atlanta the next day at a Wal-Mart to buy a TV and some other entertainment stuff.

That was last year. This year the card company notified us there had been a breach of security and the card was cancelled. They sent another one without ever explaining what the breach was.

Credit card fraud is rampant. It is amazing how many crooks breath the same air the rest of us do. The problem is they seldom get caught and when they do, the penalty is not a deterrent because they are not executed. I agree with you on debit cards. Crooks love them because they can clean out a bank account in one fowl sweep.

What is really disappointing with Geico's incident is it may have been a fellow pilot.
 
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