PANAMA CITY — When credit card bills from holiday shopping sprees arrive, consumers are encouraged to double-check charges, as local fraud claims are spiking.
Bay County sheriff’s investigators on Monday reported a string of credit card fraud claims from customers of local banking institutions. Customers with Visa cards from Innovations Federal Credit Union and Tyndall Federal Credit Union are finding fraudulent charges that started the day before Christmas, BCSO investigator Albert Willis said.
“It happens every now and again,” Willis said. “It was most likely a computer hacker that got into a server.”
Willis said the failure happened at the merchant level, which is the point where credit cards are swiped or numbers written down.
“We haven’t had anything compromised,” said Greg Wheeler, vice president of marketing for Tyndall Federal Credit Union. “You sometimes have folks that will write down the numbers on cards and sell them overseas or use them online. It looks like a localized problem with someone working in the community and writing down numbers.”
Banking and law enforcement officials both pointed out that the credit card numbers could have been obtained at any time and likely were used during the holiday season to try to go largely unnoticed.
Individuals “may have taken the card number six months ago,” Wheeler said. “No systems have been compromised, and no data has been compromised. This happens every so often; we are probably seeing a spike now because the holiday season.”
Tyndall Federal Credit Union officials have notified customers when suspicious charges have appeared and in some cases contacted the Bay County Sheriff’s Office directly to report fraud.
David Southall, CEO of Innovations, said in a statement the credit union would “continue to monitor this situation and do everything possible to protect our membership from any type of fraudulent activity.”
Visa officials declined to comment on where the compromised information was obtained until the close of any police investigation but agreed consumers should be vigilant in spotting fraudulent charges.
“We also believe that the public interest is best served by quickly notifying financial institutions with the information necessary to protect themselves and their cardholders from fraud losses,” a Visa spokesman wrote in an e-mail. “Even a slight delay in notification to financial institutions could be costly.”
Consumers are reporting an average of several hundred dollars being spent from their account, with many charges occurring in Australia. The cases will be turned over to the Secret Service for further investigation, Willis said.
The recommendations for consumers are to check their account online for any erroneous charges and then contact the police to file a report.
“The most important goal when a data compromise occurs is to protect cardholders,” the Visa spokesman wrote. Visa cardholders are fully protected against unauthorized purchases, he added.
After filing a report, consumers can contact their banking institution with the law enforcement report number. Banks are responsible for refunding the money, Willis said.
“Visa is aggressively partnering with merchants and financial institutions to enhance security surrounding debit and credit card information,” the Visa spokesman wrote.
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Below is an earlier version of the story:
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PANAMA CITY — Bay County Sheriff’s investigators are reporting a string of credit card fraud claims from customers of local banking institutions.
Customers from Innovations Federal Credit Union and Tyndall Federal Credit Union with Visa cards are reporting cases of fraudulent charges that started the day before Christmas, said investigator Albert Willis.
“It happens every now and again,” Willis said. “It was most likely a computer hacker that got into a server.”
The recommendations for consumers are to check their account online for any erroneous charges and then contact the police to file a report. After filing a report, consumers can contact their banking institution with the law enforcement claim number. Banks are responsible for refunding the money, Willis said.
Consumers are reporting an average of several hundred dollars being spent from their account, with many charges occurring in Australia. The cases will be turned over to the Secret Service for further investigation, Willis said.
Calls to local banking representatives and Visa for had not been returned Monday morning.
Article source: http://www.newsherald.com/news/credit-89601-panama-city.html
Category: Identity Theft Watch