Ever have a credit card number stolen???

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BendBrewer said:
Yeah me too. Went to see what that would do to the cost of some fittings that I need and WOW, 9.89 for a Street Elbow?!?!?!?!? Marked down from 12.99 for a Female Camlock?!?!?! I'll stick with Fastenall thanks.

AHS has some pretty damn steep prices for the exact same thing others are selling. Just an FYI. I highly suggest shopping around before ordering.
Click to expand...

No store can have the lowest price on everything. We are working hard to order parts directly from China. We are trying to eliminate as many middle men as possible and pass the savings on to you.

I also just hired a full time price adminstrator to adjust pricing and source products. Most of the kegging and all-grain parts originally come from China and India. If we source the parts directly we can lower prices.

The price administrator started last week but I am looking forward to offering better prices and selection of products on top of the free shipping and flat rate shipping deal.

Just this week we had a couple order almost $450 worth of merchandise. The order cost us over $300 to ship but they paid $0 for shipping. Everything on our website qualifies for free shipping if your order is over $100.
No exceptions.

Forrest
 
BendBrewer said:
No, just saw they were trying to sell Cam Locks for double what others were. Even there Special Price is higher than the others. I don't think that I had realized how high priced they were. Not trying to bag on them. Just pointing out they they might want to look at their prices and compare them to their competitors'.
Click to expand...

Our camlocks are 316 stainless steel imported directly from China. The bottom has fallen out on camlocks and everyone is selling them at thier cost. They are a loss leader. No one is making any money on camlocks. If I look in the general direction of the camlocks I have lost money. They are being sold at my cost. Some other stores may have found a lower cost that I havent found. With the fact that they are 316 stainless I could probably scrap them and make some money.

You should always buy where you get the best deal. People kept asking for camlocks so I brought them in to sell them at my cost.

Forrest
 
Can you pay using paypal at AHS? I appreciate the 10% coupon and would love to use it. I just don't feel comfortable using my debit card for ANY purchases online anymore, not just there. I guess you could say I have a heightened awareness now lol.

I was really pleased with AHS, the kit I ordered was great and the packaging was the best i have ever seen.
 
brew2enjoy said:
Can you pay using paypal at AHS? I appreciate the 10% coupon and would love to use it. I just don't feel comfortable using my debit card for ANY purchases online anymore, not just there. I guess you could say I have a heightened awareness now lol.

I was really pleased with AHS, the kit I ordered was great and the packaging was the best i have ever seen.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the support. Yes, you can use paypal as an option when you check out.

Forrest
 
Yup. Got a new debit card in the mail and tossed my old one. Turns out the old one was still valid. I threw it out at work, which was really stupid, so either the night janitor here picked it up or some creep went dumpster diving out back. Found 4 transactions for Skype coming out of London totalling $80 and a bunch of associated overdraft protection account transfer fees.

My bank was good to me, though. Cancelled my card right away, and reversed all the charges and fees. Much better than my previous bank when it happened again back in 2007. They reversed just the charges but not the fees, leaving the balance negative so I couldn't close the account and open a new one, and leaving me open to another attack.

Something tells me I need to be more careful with online security!
 
Happened to me with AHS thing too. Not their fault and definitely appreciate the 10% offer. I had charges at apple.com and money orders in the UK. CC company took care of everything. I just had to wait for a new card. An inconvenience for sure, but not really a big deal. Im actually pretty happy because now Sirius radio wont be able to automatically charge me when I inevitably forget to cancel in time.
 
I got burned too. Just spent an hour on the phone getting my card reissued. They had 4 bogus transactions totaling around $200 on the card. They also had 3 more preliminary charges under $1.00 that hadn't been approved yet so they were getting ready to hit it up some more. That was how it worked on my statement. A small amount followed by a larger one to the same place.
 
Austinhomebrew said:
Emjay - Tried to respond to your pm but your box is full.

Forrest
Click to expand...

Well, I literally just sprang for a premium membership in order to delete the post that was unfair and I wasn't particularly proud of, so go ahead if you want (I have 5,000 times the space now!) but at the same time, I don't want to continue any mudslinging.
 
It just happened to me, I don't really trust making another purchase with AHS now. I don't want to deal with trying to get my money back again by using this vendor.
 
Guys at AHS, if people are having card numbers stolen after purchases on your website you need to get in touch with whoever is hosting your ecommerce solution (if you haven't already). They very likely have been hacked and it will continue. It's probably a larger issue than just your site and affecting other merchants at your hosting provider so it's possible the card brands have already notified them as well. I do IT credit card security for a living at a Fortune 50 company...these kind of exploits are a LOT more common than you would think.
 
mhibbs said:
Guys at AHS, if people are having card numbers stolen after purchases on your website you need to get in touch with whoever is hosting your ecommerce solution (if you haven't already). They very likely have been hacked and it will continue. It's probably a larger issue than just your site and affecting other merchants at your hosting provider so it's possible the card brands have already notified them as well. I do IT credit card security for a living at a Fortune 50 company...these kind of exploits are a LOT more common than you would think.
Click to expand...

Uh, long thread, I know, but it's been discussed and handled.
 
I had my debit card number stolen 3 years ago. I'm in Indiana. First day, there were 3 charges (all in Georgia), all under $25. Second day, 2 or 3 more charges, all under $75. Third day (last day it was used), two charges in the $150-$200 range. Total was almost $800. Then they stopped using it.

I discovered it on a Sunday viewing my bank account on line and canceled the card. Went to the bank the next day, filed the police report, etc. Since they didn't have my PIN they had used it as a credit card and the bank said charges could still show up for 3 days but no more did. About a month later, the police followed up and asked if I used my card at CVS. When I said yes, they told they had had about 30 stolen CC reports and CVS was the common link. Only takes one person on the inside I guess.

When I order online these days, I either use Paypal or my CC that generates a virtual card number that is good for one time only in the amount I charge.
 
I realize I'm late to this thread, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents. I was one of the ones victimized, and it was a giant PITA to get everything straight. I had all of my recurring monthly bills charged to that credit card, so in addition to having to spend hours on the phone with my bank, I also had to coordinate with a dozen other companies to change my auto-billing.

And so as a result I get a 10% coupon... that expires in a month! Are you kidding me? Wow, I can afford an extra 1.5 oz of cascades! (As an aside, I really wish there was a sarcastic dancing banana that I could insert here.) I get these kinds of offers in my email from MW, NB, etc. all the time and they DON'T get my credit card info stolen when I order from them.

I've always thought that AHS was hands down the BEST to order from (their kits are second-to-none IMHO), but this is absurd. I don't even know if I'll have the occasion to order anything this month and 10% is hardly worth bothering with anyway. I'd settle for free shipping on my next order.
 
Austinhomebrew said:
No store can have the lowest price on everything. We are working hard to order parts directly from China. We are trying to eliminate as many middle men as possible and pass the savings on to you.

I also just hired a full time price adminstrator to adjust pricing and source products. Most of the kegging and all-grain parts originally come from China and India. If we source the parts directly we can lower prices.

The price administrator started last week but I am looking forward to offering better prices and selection of products on top of the free shipping and flat rate shipping deal.

Just this week we had a couple order almost $450 worth of merchandise. The order cost us over $300 to ship but they paid $0 for shipping. Everything on our website qualifies for free shipping if your order is over $100.
No exceptions.

Forrest
Click to expand...

I also find this use of the term "No exceptions." to be a bit troubling, as I seem to be an exception.
 
I had my credit card system compromised as well...I was expecting a 42 qt. polar ware brew pot for my troubles, all i got was a 10% off coupon. Oh well, I'll still order some stuff.
 
Went ahead and used the coupon today. Pretty much covered shipping. I used PayPal though just to be safe.
 
Austinhomebrew said:
I will have more information as soon as it comes to me. Sorry for this situation. I want to give you as much information as I can. This is a slow and painful process and I am spending a lot of time trying to get to the bottom of this. I realize this is very frustrating for all of us and I profoundly appologize for the major incovenience you have experience.

Forrest
Click to expand...

Any update on the source of the compromise?
 
Just this past week, I had someone try to use my CC to buy a couple of things on the internet. Not sure if it's related as the last time I ordered anything from AHS was about 2 years ago.
 
weirdboy said:
Just this past week, I had someone try to use my CC to buy a couple of things on the internet. Not sure if it's related as the last time I ordered anything from AHS was about 2 years ago.
Click to expand...

That could not have been related to Austin Homebrew Supply.

Forrest
 
To AHS:

I have a credit card that has only been used rarely in the past couple months. I made a purchase through y'all on 2/16 which posted on 2/17. I had to call in the card number to get reimbursed because of an out of stock that went though online but y'all didn't have.

Very next day I had $400 in fraudulent charges. A couple days later a couple more charges. I canceled the card.

The only time I gave the card number to anyone other than a bank (in the past month) is to AHS. Now I realize that there is a small probability that it was not y'all to blame but...all signs point to someone at your store.
 
I would just like to go on record and thank those members that brought up this event to begin with and those that offered their experience. I was not affected but it did remind me that when I was working with Wells Fargo I had opened a checking account strictly for online purchases and then forgot about it. As I went to the bank the other day I was talking to a banker and learned that they offer instant credit cards. Pretty much you get a card while standing there and then they mail you the same thing with your name printed on it. So that's what we did and now use that account/card for all online things including SWMBO's Nook etc. It didn't cost us anything but 5 minutes time and would I would highly suggest it.

Forrest: I'll be placing orders again once we can get financially stable. (6 months of a lay-off and a new baby really mess things up)
 
tanavin said:
To AHS:

I have a credit card that has only been used rarely in the past couple months. I made a purchase through y'all on 2/16 which posted on 2/17. I had to call in the card number to get reimbursed because of an out of stock that went though online but y'all didn't have.

Very next day I had $400 in fraudulent charges. A couple days later a couple more charges. I canceled the card.

The only time I gave the card number to anyone other than a bank (in the past month) is to AHS. Now I realize that there is a small probability that it was not y'all to blame but...all signs point to someone at your store.
Click to expand...

Forrest had said earlier in the thread that it may have been a problem with his credit card processing company. Your example is very consistant with a hacked processor. I would lean more toward that explination than an individual employee in the store.
 
KurtB said:
Forrest had said earlier in the thread that it may have been a problem with his credit card processing company. Your example is very consistant with a hacked processor. I would lean more toward that explination than an individual employee in the store.
Click to expand...

Except he said he changed processors.
 
KurtB said:
Forrest had said earlier in the thread that it may have been a problem with his credit card processing company. Your example is very consistant with a hacked processor. I would lean more toward that explination than an individual employee in the store.
Click to expand...

He said he has changed processors (like the last post says.) Plus I personally gave someone the card number.

I honestly hate to say it, but I think someone in AHS is to blame. It's scary to think about but I just think someone is "joyriding" on customers card numbers.

However. I have absolutely zero proof. All I know is that AHS is the only place I have given the card number to, and it is also the only place I had used the card within month. The fact that fictitious charges showed up within 24 hours of the purchase is more than a coincidence (IMO).

This is the newest case I have heard of. Even after Forrest said the issue was fixed.

I love AHS and enjoy the company they run, I just feel something has gone astray.
 
With all that has happened it would have to be one BOLD MF'ing employee to be doing it after all that has happened. Or desperate with a drug and/or gambling problem?

If you did have to call in the number that would perhaps indicate a change in the procedure they use whoever. It indicates they didn't have access to the number to issue the credit on without it.
 
Hermit said:
With all that has happened it would have to be one BOLD MF'ing employee to be doing it after all that has happened. Or desperate with a drug and/or gambling problem?

If you did have to call in the number that would perhaps indicate a change in the procedure they use whoever. It indicates they didn't have access to the number to issue the credit on without it.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised. I had a friend in high school that stole credit card numbers from his work just because he could. (needless to say I am not friends with him anymore.)

It is easy just to say here's a number let me use it. They don't know me, they don't know my situation or where I live. I could b filthy rich or dirt poor. It's just some numbers that can be used to buy things online. Who cares who they belong to.

Just so you know why I called in my card number: I ordered something online that was actually out of stock. They needed the card number to refund the portion of money from my order for the out if stock merchandise. (Yes the number could have been stolen from the original purchase online but AHS says they changed processors. Since my case happened after this, it tells me that there may be a problem inside AHS.)

Like I said though, I have ZERO proof it was AHS, it's just that all signs point towards them and/or one of there employees. I only bring up my issue as a warning to others to be careful. This could easily happen to anyone with any transaction with any business.
 
Well, I thought I'd dodged the bullet - I ordered some stuff from AHS during "the window", but saw nothing on my card until last week - a $96 charge from beenverified.com, a company that does background checks. Am assuming that whoever harvested the numbers is doing that to get as much info on me as possible to move from credit card fraud to full on identity theft. Card cancelled, charge disputed, hopefully that'll be the end of it...
 
Just in case people thought this kind of thing was limited to AHS's online store.
I ordered a gun from budsgunshop.com with a credit card thats not been used online in 6 months or even at a store in months and one week later I got a call from citibank asking about charges for tickets to singapore.
I e-mailed budsgunshop.com and got a pretty much canned reply about how they'll look into it and nothing else.
 
I've had my stolen before, I think it's because the number is so easy to guess. It's 7815 2481 8425 0015 and ex 9/13 and to boot the sig code is also 913 .... weird.
 
Everything is secure at this point. We never see your credit card number. Nothing is stored. When you check out you will notice that the URL turns green. This is the same security that Amazon and Paypal uses. I think we are the only homebrew store that has this level of encription when checking out.


Thanks for the massive number of orders in the last month. I have had to double the shipping department and I still need to hire a couple more people.

Forrest
 
I was trying to be informative but after reading what I wrote I saw that it could be seen differently then what I meant. Also it is up to other stores to tell their customers. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

They never found a breach on our site and it was not any of the employees. I have changed and locked down everything possible. Everything is secure.

Forrest
 
Austinhomebrew said:
I was trying to be informative but after reading what I wrote I saw that it could be seen differently then what I meant. Also it is up to other stores to tell their customers. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

They never found a breach on our site and it was not any of the employees. I have changed and locked down everything possible. Everything is secure.

Forrest
Click to expand...

What about my experience? I had to call the card number in. Next day charges started posting. (only two weeks ago)
 
This is a card that was only used twice in the last 4 months. Once was through paypal. Once through you. Only time anyone even got whiff of the numbers was when one of the items I ordered online was out of stick so they needed my card number for a refund. Next day (thursday) after the phone call, a $400 dirt devil was bought, then the following Monday, charges posted from an online welding supply company. I would have never known about it except that the Credit Card company called me and said that tree was suspicious behavior and they shut down the card because of higher ticket items trying to be purchased with the card.

I think this is more than coincidence, what do you think?

(I made 3 posts on the previous page if you want to read my full story.)
 
tanavin said:
This is a card that was only used twice in the last 4 months. Once was through paypal. Once through you. Only time anyone even got whiff of the numbers was when one of the items I ordered online was out of stick so they needed my card number for a refund. Next day (thursday) after the phone call, a $400 dirt devil was bought, then the following Monday, charges posted from an online welding supply company. I would have never known about it except that the Credit Card company called me and said that tree was suspicious behavior and they shut down the card because of higher ticket items trying to be purchased with the card.

I think this is more than coincidence, what do you think?

(I made 3 posts on the previous page if you want to read my full story.)
Click to expand...

I think your incident occurred in the "window" where AHS was compromised.

what was the exact date you verbally gave out your card number?

-=Jason=-
 
Flomaster said:
I think your incident occurred in the "window" where AHS was compromised.

what was the exact date you verbally gave out your card number?

-=Jason=-
Click to expand...

March 16. Two weeks ago. A month and a half past the "window".
 
I also placed an order with AHS at the beginning part of March. I had to call in my card number because they processed the entire payment to my credit card rather than applying the gift certificate first.

Then this week fraudulent charges started showing up.

I can't prove AHS is responsible, but the relationship seems more than a coincidence.
 
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