# Home Depot credit breach - free Equifax Premium credit monitoring for one year



## J Watts (Jul 19, 2012)

https://corporate.homedepot.com/MediaCenter/Pages/Statement1.aspx

Call this number to request the promo code: 866-205-0679

Go to this website and enter your information: http://myservices.equifax.ca/pplan

Premium plan is $250 a year, free for one year

Posting from: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/free-equifax-monitoring-1-yr-result-home-depot-data-breach-1550489/


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## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

just did that since i have been remodeling my bathroom and used home depot quite a bit lately
a free year for a product that costs $19.95 a year and appears to be not worth half that

i have been wondering how the credit companies will function when, inevitably all of north america have alerts on their credit 
now i know, they will making more than ever selling people products to protect them from malfeasance that should have never happened in the first place


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

*fatcat:* Maybe this breach won't affect the Canadian divisions - see Carverman's posties in the other thread. 



> i have been wondering how the credit companies will function when, inevitably all of north america have alerts on their credit
> now i know, ...


 ... maybe we go backwards to using cash? if not, bitcoins since the value of our dollar hasn't gone up for the past ? years? 



> ... they will making more than ever selling people products to protect them from malfeasance that should have never happened in the first place


 ...+1 and this credit monitoring systems seems like a negative marketing ploy.


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## J Watts (Jul 19, 2012)

Even if it doesn't affect us, free credit monitoring for a year.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

As enticing as this freebie is - what happens after the 1 year is up? Is it an automatic cancellation or do you have to call in to cancel ... I haven't read the fine print. 

This is a hypothetical (maybe off-topic) question - what happens if Equifax itself gets hacked? Any possibility?


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I'm in the US, where Target had a similar breach. They offered the same thing, free credit monitoring through one of the agencies for a year.

I looked into Target's offer in detail. On message forums people had warnings about the difficulty of canceling out of the service before it renews and starts costing you money.

So I would similarly be hesitant to sign up, because you may encounter hassle when trying to cancel the free offer.

By the way, CIBC customers can get some credit monitoring *totally for free, unlimited*. It's available through the online banking portal under alerts and notifications. They will inform you of any changes to your Equifax report. It works; they sent me a note when another bank did a credit inquiry on me.


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

Beaver101 said:


> As enticing as this freebie is - what happens after the 1 year is up? Is it an automatic cancellation or do you have to call in to cancel ... I haven't read the fine print.


I signed up today on the HD offer. Yes, you must opt out. Here's a paste from the confirmation email I got:



> Please note that once your trial membership has expired, the payment source you provided will be billed automatically if applicable in order to ensure that your access to your product is not interrupted. If you do not wish to continue your membership, you must contact our Customer Service Department (24/7) at 1-877-493-8785 prior to the expiration of your trial to avoid being billed. Otherwise, no further action is required and you will be billed automatically each payment period until you call to cancel.


But I didn't provide any payment information. The promo code from HD reduced the price to $0 so I didn't need to enter a CC#



Beaver101 said:


> This is a hypothetical (maybe off-topic) question - what happens if Equifax itself gets hacked? Any possibility?


That would be rather ironic, like a fire station burning down


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Do they put a credit fraud alert on your file ?

People that were affected by the People Trust breach have a fraud alert on their credit file and they are not automatically approved for credit cards because of this.


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

cashinstinct said:


> Do they put a credit fraud alert on your file ?
> 
> People that were affected by the People Trust breach have a fraud alert on their credit file and they are not automatically approved for credit cards because of this.


Um, nope it doesn't look like it.

Here's a list of the services offered by the promo package:

Equifax Complete™ Premier Plan
Lost Wallet Assist: One-stop assistance in cancelling and reissuing your credit or debit cards, driver's license, SIN cards, insurance cards, passport and traveler's cheques when your wallet is lost or stolen
WebDetect™ (Internet Scanning): Receive alerts when we detect your personal information (e.g. SIN or credit card number) is being used on the Internet
24/7 credit monitoring with email notifications of key changes to your credit profile
Unlimited Equifax Credit Score™ and Report
Up to $50,000 of identity theft insurance
View how your score trends over time


BTW, my credit score is* 790* which they say is better than 63% of Canadian consumers. My credit is spotless, I though I'd be significantly higher than the 63 percentile.


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## J Watts (Jul 19, 2012)

Beaver101 said:


> As enticing as this freebie is - what happens after the 1 year is up? Is it an automatic cancellation or do you have to call in to cancel ... I haven't read the fine print.


Then read it.



> This is a hypothetical (maybe off-topic) question - what happens if Equifax itself gets hacked? Any possibility?


Everything can be hacked. What happens if a hackers' hackers' hackers' Visa card is hacked?


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## J Watts (Jul 19, 2012)

dotnet_nerd said:


> BTW, my credit score is* 790* which they say is better than 63% of Canadian consumers. My credit is spotless, I though I'd be significantly higher than the 63 percentile.


+1

Some commenters on RFD also noted that their scores seemed really low for having perfect credit history. Personally, I've never accrued a single cent of interest and always pay my bills early, but apparently I'm only a "good" score.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

dotnet_nerd said:


> I signed up today on the HD offer.* Yes, you must opt out*. Here's a paste from the confirmation email I got:
> 
> But I didn't provide any payment information. The promo code from HD reduced the price to $0 so *I didn't need to enter a CC#*


 ... so you must notify them if you want the monitoring discontinued - that would be kind of a PITA - like trying to cancel your magazine subscription after the free-trial period is over. 

How's that you don't need to enter a cc # - how do they know what ccs they're monitoring for you... maybe I'm not following here?


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## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

J Watts said:


> +1
> 
> Some commenters on RFD also noted that their scores seemed really low for having perfect credit history. Personally, I've never accrued a single cent of interest and always pay my bills early, but apparently I'm only a "good" score.


thats why your score is low ... i am the same, don't use much credit and pay my bills on time ... this not what makes for high scores

people that pay their credit cards on time and in full are known in the industry as "deadbeats"



> I looked into Target's offer in detail. On message forums people had warnings about the difficulty of canceling out of the service before it renews and starts costing you money.


take a deep breath james, your paranoia is showing .... i didn't even have to provide a credit card number ...


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## PillowRage (Sep 5, 2012)

Beaver101 said:


> ... so you must notify them if you want the monitoring discontinued - that would be kind of a PITA - like trying to cancel your magazine subscription after the free-trial period is over.
> 
> How's that you don't need to enter a cc # - how do they know what ccs they're monitoring for you... maybe I'm not following here?


When I called Equifax, he specifically said "Do Not enter your credit card." They're able to access your credit history just with your address and/OR social insurance number (the SIN is optional), then they ask a few questions about your credit history such as "About January 2014, a credit card was opened with this company" and presents multiple choice answers to confirm your identity.

The Equifax service is then able to monitor not only your one credit card that you used at HD, but any credit. It correctly shows my mortgage, CC's, cellphone contract, and an old car loan.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Due to this thread........my wife registered for the free Equifax package. No credit card or SIN numbers needed.......just leave those areas blank on the application. It took only a minute to get it done........and we could check the report immediately.

We did learn there was one negative notation on her file, that is incorrect and we knew nothing about. We will have to correct that.

Unfortunately credit reporting is for the lenders, and is controlled by lenders...and not always scrupulously honest or efficient lenders either.

On "my" credit report, I discovered that 1 old auto loan.........that I co-signed for my son, was entered 3 times on my credit report. The first two times it showed the loan paid in full years ago, ........but the other one showed an outstanding $10,000 balance. I called the lender and they said......"don't worry about it.......the extra entries help your credit rating" and refused to correct the mistake.

Now, I have to send the information to get them corrected.

Two credit reports checked.............and an error on both of them.

I suppose one should also check the other credit agency Transunion, to check the accuracy of their reports.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

sags said:


> Unfortunately credit reporting is for the lenders, and is *controlled by lenders*...and not always scrupulously honest or efficient lenders either.


Well said. 



> On "my" credit report, I discovered that 1 old auto loan.........that I co-signed for my son, was entered 3 times on my credit report. The first two times it showed the loan paid in full years ago, ........but the* other one showed an outstanding $10,000 balance*. I called the lender and they said......"don't worry about it.......the extra entries help your credit rating" and refused to correct the mistake.
> 
> Now, I have to send the information to get them corrected.


Sloppy on the lender's part. I guess you have to "hound them" to update all your credit ratings once the loan is paid off. 
Ihave never used Equiifax or Transnion...don't need to. 

Two credit reports checked.............and an error on both of them.

I suppose one should also check the other credit agency Transunion, to check the accuracy of their reports.[/QUOTE]


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

sags said:


> Unfortunately credit reporting is for the lenders, and is controlled by lenders...and not always scrupulously honest or efficient lenders either.
> 
> On "my" credit report, I discovered that 1 old auto loan.........that I co-signed for my son, was entered 3 times on my credit report. The first two times it showed the loan paid in full years ago, ........but the other one showed an outstanding $10,000 balance. I called the lender and they said......"don't worry about it.......the extra entries help your credit rating" and refused to correct the mistake.
> 
> ...


Sloppy work by t he credit lenders..you have to hound them to make sure everything if up to date. Kind of useless
if the data is not accurate.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

fatcat said:


> thats why your score is low ... i am the same, don't use much credit and pay my bills on time ... this not what makes for high scores
> 
> people that pay their credit cards on time and in full are known in the industry as "deadbeats"


Actually I'm the same and my score is over 800, so not necessarily. It might have more to do with length of history or number of different lenders?

Also, thanks J Watts for starting this thread, very helpful!


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## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

i stated incorrectly earlier that the premium service was $19.95 a year ... it's actually $19.95 a *month*
it is useful but one would have to have taken leave of their senses to spend $240 a year on this product


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

fatcat said:


> i stated incorrectly earlier that the premium service was $19.95 a year ... it's actually $19.95 a *month*
> it is useful but one would have to have taken leave of their senses to spend $240 a year on this product


It's a crazy price indeed... one must be worried a lot about credit score / credit report to pay such a price monthly.

They charge you money on your credit card to inform you about how you manage your credit / credit cards...

Possibly that it's people with issues with credit cards that pay such monthly price.... with their credit card.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

So the only use for this service is the 'Unlimited Equifax Credit Score™ and Report' from the list above in post #9. But isn't there a cheaper version to get a credit score (free?) and report than $240?


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Beaver101 said:


> So the only use for this service is the 'Unlimited Equifax Credit Score™ and Report' from the list above in post #9. But isn't there a cheaper version to get a credit score (free?) and report than $240?


You can subscribe for one month only to get credit score and report with their service, then you cancel. They often have an offer for 1st month free, so you would have nothin to pay... I do this around 1 time per year. You need to call to cancel though.

You can get your report in the mail for free, but won't show you your credit score...


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

cashinstinct said:


> T*hey charge you money on your credit card to inform you about how you manage your credit / credit cards...*
> 
> Possibly that it's people with issues with credit cards that pay such monthly price.... with their credit card.


and the hackers do their part too to ensure that you are so worried about your credit cards that you have to buy `protection`
from these card monitoring services..


> 2. They lie, part 2
> When companies actually are upfront about what they're selling, they often advertise credit monitoring as identity-theft "protection." Credit monitoring doesn't protect you from identity theft any more than an ice pack protects you from getting been punched. It may help a bit afterward, but it doesn't prevent the blow.


http://money.msn.com/credit-rating/is-credit-monitoring-a-waste-liz-weston



> Credit monitoring won't stop bad guys from taking over your credit cards or establishing new accounts in your name. At best, it will give you an early warning that the damage has been done. The "insurance" policies many monitoring companies offer are essentially worthless, since most people who are victimized face few, if any, out-of-pocket


Ok, like I said, they offer absolutely NO protection on your bank card, if that is the way you did your purchase at the time the Credit Cards and Debit cards were hacked.

You have to change your pin ASAP and inform your bank that your card `may have been compromised`
by hackers in the stores that were attacked by the hackers...
at least that way the CDIC insurance will help you, if there is any unauthorized withdrawals on your debit number using the pin you last used. You would have to file a police report for the bank to get some relief on your claim
to your bank.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

The police and authorities are light years behind the hackers.

I read on a bitcoin forum (full of programming experts) that Home Depot credit card numbers were already showing up for sale on dark net websites.

About all credit monitoring is going to do.........is inform you when new credit is applied for. 

Purchases..........you will find out when the next bill comes in..........unless you have online access and check all the time.

I have 2 credit cards that I check every day online. The Home Depot card is my wife's and she has nothing online.

She doesn't trust it...........so she won't find out until she gets her next bill.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

J Watts said:


> Then read it.
> 
> 
> 
> Everything can be hacked. *What happens if a hackers' hackers' hackers' Visa card is hacked?*


LOL..and what happens every time you still use the SAME CC card registered with them..do *they (card monitoring
service) report you as fraud*..
or do they determine if the CC was used legitimately... in the same vicinity that you live.... at H-D?
Just too many holes here with CC fraud!

Those H-D cards, BTW, are easy for the hackers to duplicate. All they need is your name, CC account number.
They can make up a bunch of these up, sell the CC info to the "highest bidder" and have those" buyers" go into 
unsuspecting stores and make off like bandits, with large purchases that they can carry off themselves..no questions asked.

If I were one of these faux CC buyers, I could head off to H-D store with a rented panel truck, that I rented with a fake
licence (lots of those around), and buy up a few big ticket items in a another H-D store with my faux H-D card, then
return the truck, and put the snowblower, lawn tractor,etc, in my garage and none would be the wiser.

Lets say you used your bank cc..unless it is reported stolen or compromised, you are LIABLE FOR ANY new charges
on that card., What is to stop the hackers from selling the numbers to fraud CC makers? 

*Credit Cards*


> Your liability for unauthorized charges depends on whether the thief personally presented your card to make the purchase, or made the purchase over the Internet or by phone.
> 
> If the thief personally presents your card to make the purchase, the card issuer cannot hold you liable for more than $50 in fraudulent charges. Many card issuers waive this $50.
> 
> ...


*ATM and Debit Cards*


> W*ith ATM or debit cards, you must act quickly in order to avoid full liability for unauthorized charges when your card is lost or stolen. Under the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act, your liability is:
> $0 if you report the loss or theft of the card immediately and the card has not been used*
> 
> up to $50 if you notify the bank within two business days after you realize the card is missing
> ...


http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/unauthorized-credit-debit-card-charges-29654.html


This last one ^ may be a moot point since you would know from each monthly statement if there are fraudulent
charges on your credit card..but maybe some people don't even look at all the transactions on their monthly 
statement and just pay the minimum.....perfect targets for the hackers. 

Whether the card is "missing" or compromised by thieves unknown in a big box store that you last shopped at,
and was hacked during that period..you WILL need to change YOUR PIN very quickly, and report the incident to
the bank that issued your credit card. The bank will decide to whether issue you a new debit card or
allow you to keep the old one with a NEW PIN. Electronically over the internet, the thieves still need'
the pin or the security code on the back of the CC card for the card to be recognized.

If you used the CC card at the local big box store, you would be using the 4 digit PIN that you create when you
receive the card..on electronic internet purchases, they usually ask for the 3 digit security number on the back
of your CC, not the PIN. 

The question is..is that CC transaction you make at H-D or Target, etc; done on a secure link that hackers can't tap
into and grab the transaction info while listening for x days or even weeks?...probably yes, since it goes to your bank
and the banks ensure that the dial up access links to their CC computers are "reasonably secure"...but 
what about INSIDE the big box store?..are all POS terminals on secure links to the store's transaction computer that
registers the sales and sends a request to the bank in question to have the purchase charged against the CC
in question for the credit for the purchase to be reflected to H-D store number?

Can the hackers plant a trojan/malware into the Store's POS computer, and have it record the sales and s*end it on the same link the store is using to access the banks*? More than likely it is possible if you are an IT type and have knowledge of the access links, and numbers used for testing those access links.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ man, all this is mind-numbing :unconscious: ... 



> .. Whether the card is "missing" or compromised by thieves unknown in a big box store that you last shopped at,
> and was hacked during that period..*you WILL need to change YOUR PIN *very quickly, and report the incident to
> the bank that issued your credit card. The bank will decide to whether issue you a new debit card or
> allow you to keep the old one with a NEW PIN. ..


 ... if the cc wasn't issued by a bank (eg. Amex) as in my case, you need to go to a CP's POS terminal (per their web instructions) if you're unable to do it online ... duh ... possible further contagion to another?


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## Westerncanada (Nov 11, 2013)

J Watts said:


> Then read it.
> 
> 
> 
> Everything can be hacked. What happens if a hackers' hackers' hackers' Visa card is hacked?


WOW.. what a gem of a deal this is.. I was already paying $20.00 per month for this service (as I had a fraud incident in the past) and simply call the number, get a promotional code and boom. my service is now free for a year.


I did actually happen to shop at home depot but I have every type of visa alert, fraud measure in place already so i'm not too worried about it.

Thank you to the original poster! Great Find


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> ^ man, all this is mind-numbing :unconscious: ...


yes. it certainly is..and maybe for that $20 a month (or free for a year in H-D's case) you can sleep at night knowing that 
your are safe from a form of identity theft of someone using your CC number and pin...


*Can Credit Monitoring Services Deliver?*


> Consumer advocates, including Consumer Reports, have stated that credit monitoring services are not a good use of consumers' money, because they are inadequate at protecting against identity theft.
> 
> Here are some types of theft that credit monitoring won't alert you to:
> 
> ...


ok..so you can close down your CCacct ONCE you know it has been compromised..but lets say an identity theft occurs in the same area you live in, someone takes a fake H-D card created from the captured number of your H-D card...can the credit monitoring service differentiate whether the charge is real (authorized by you) or a fraud? 
How can they tell? Does H-D ask for two pieces of ID each time you use your H-D card there..of course not!

But here's the crux of this discussion...what H-D did this info get hacked from? If it's an inside job, in the US, and each store POS system is unique to each store location..how many of these hackers would have to be recruited to do all the US stores?


> As of February 3, 2008, it operated 2,234 stores comprising 1,950 The Home Depot stores, 34 EXPO stores, 5 Yardbirds stores, and 2 THD Design Center stores in the United States, as well as 165, 66, and 12 The Home Depot stores in Canada, Mexico, and China. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.


We also have 165 in Canada as well. There would have to be operatives the size of al-Qaeda to infiltrate almost 2400 stores in
the US/Canada.
How many H-D store cards are issued?..probably in the millions!
How much money will the credit monitoring service make if EVERYONE signs up for credit monitoring at $19.95 a month?...BILLIONS!

and...You only find out any unauthorized purchases using your credit card, about 20 -25 days later when you get your statement from H-D or your bank.



> ... if the cc wasn't issued by a bank (eg. Amex) as in my case, you need to go to a CP's POS terminal (per their web instructions) if you're unable to do it online ... duh ... possible further contagion to another?


You mean CP as in Canada Post?


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Since I do quite some credit card churning, I wanted to register simply to see my credit score. In the 750s.... so not too chabby 

Loc activity reporting
It increased quite a bit since I put some credit amounts on my line of credit and pay it down. They only report the months where there is activity on the LOC... so I automated a transfer in/transfer out each month to create some activity each month.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

When in doubt about the data breach at H-D, call the 1 800 number on the back of your H-D card.

After entering your H-D CC number and entering your MONTH/YEAR of birth, the auto-bot will direct you to press the key on your phone
to select the last 5 transactions. Record the amount and the date and keep this to attach to your monthly statement.

If you have your H-D receipts saved, you should be able to verify all of your authorized charges...simple as that..and no need to panic.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

carverman said:


> yes. it certainly is..and maybe for that $20 a month (or free for a year in H-D's case) you can sleep at night knowing that
> your are safe from a form of identity theft of someone using your CC number and pin...
> 
> ...
> ...


 .. yes, CP = Canada Post as per Amex's website. 

I think I'll save myself that $20 for a bottle of wino to enjoy instead (and they can keep the one year free-lunch - it's more trouble than it's worth)- in my case, I'll let the 2 big heads H-D and Amex figure it out. If my credit is compromised, they can kiss my future business good-bye, possibly forever. :distant:


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## canucked_up (Feb 23, 2014)

james4beach said:


> By the way, CIBC customers can get some credit monitoring *totally for free, unlimited*. It's available through the online banking portal under alerts and notifications. They will inform you of any changes to your Equifax report. It works; they sent me a note when another bank did a credit inquiry on me.


Thanks for that. I've got tunnel vision when there I guess.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> .. yes, CP = Canada Post as per Amex's website.
> 
> I think I'll save myself that $20 for a bottle of wino to enjoy instead (and they can keep the one year free-lunch - it's more trouble than it's worth)- in my case, I'll let the 2 big heads H-D and Amex figure it out. If my credit is compromised, they can kiss my future business good-bye, possibly forever. :distant:


It is in their best interests (H-D/Amex) to take care of any fraudulent use of their credit card(s) because of THEIR security breach.
This is not the same case as someone using your CC, which would have to be stolen, or a forged card (which is very possible) of an online purchase using your CC number.

If you* unknowingly, (through a personal error), did not create a situation for someone to steal your card , or your card number,* then you cannot be held liable for any fraudulent purchases against your CC number. H-D (if you used their card) or Amex have to come good on any fraudulent charges.

If you have lost your CC card, or left it behind at the last store you think you shopped at, and the store clerk did not save your card for you to get it back, YOU MUST report the card as LOST OR STOLEN. The CC card number is put on hold, and any attempt to use it will show up as DECLINED "possible theft"; or something like that to warn the POS clerk at the next place it is used.

The store clerk is supposed to keep the card and confirm with the CC card issuing company what to do next. 
Fraudulent use of your card is a criminal activity.

In a case of data breach at a store in a chain; 
You just have to be *diligent and monitor your current charges for upcoming month's billing and report any charges* that are NOT authorized by you as being legitimate purchases done by you. Once you report the discrepancy, the CC company has to follow up and cancel the disputed charges.

But the CC issuing company is not going to do that, *until you report it to them*. 
All these CC monitoring companies will do for $20 a month is: 1) take your money, and 2) maybe report a faux charge to you..IF that charge is originated by your CC number in Russia or Pakistan or some other area of the world that has known CC hackers.

In a larger metropolitan area, (if you live in these), people can drive around to various stores in a very wide shopping area and use a fake card with your name and CC number to make purchases, but IF YOUR CARD IS UNDER SCRUTINY BY THE SECURITY department and the cyber theives do not have the original PIN number that you personally set up, the CC card issuing company's computer will NOT allow the new PIN number to be attached to the fake CC card
as one must confirm with the old PIN number for the new PIN number to be accepted. That is why keeping
your PIN secret is so important..it CONFIRMS to the CC banks computer that it is YOU that is using the card.
PINS should never be written down anywhere.

PIN numbers should be going directly on a secured line to the AMex CC computer, not stored in the stores transaction
computer that handles all the POS terminals. 

Eventually it is YOU, the person that must pay the CC bill, that has to scan and report any discrepancies, once you are notified of your monthly statement. 

What the cyber thieves can capture is... the CC card number, and the date and details of the purchase.

For instance, I bought an tool at CTC a few days ago and *misplaced my sales receipt for an exchange*. CTC insists that in order to get credit back or an exchange, your sales receipt (or a record of it) needs to be presented to confirm that you actually bought the tool at their store(s).

In my case, I just *showed the customer service desk clerk my card, she entered it into her POS terminal and their computer came up with the date and copy of the transaction for the sales receipt on her screen*...the information was all kept on the stores computer including my CC number. 

This is what the cyber thieves steal...the numbers....but the PINS , should not be stored on these local computers.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ okay, got it. Thanks for the extensive write-up / explanation. 

I think I'm safe for now since I'm pretty diligent with reconcilating my statements and the fact that I can't recall my own PIN on cc signup for the life of me (many years ago). :biggrin:


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Additional information to confirm what Carverman was saying above also:

http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2014/10/03/credit_monitoring_may_not_stop_data_breach_roseman.html



> ....
> 
> What if people miss the message and put in a credit card number anyway? Could their service continue after a year?
> 
> ...


.. guess there is nothing better than DYI (if you can) on about everything these days ... sigh. :unconscious:


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Agree transaction monitoring is the short term exposure situation and we should all monitor our transactions on a frequent basis. But the larger more painful issue is still identify theft that can take years to overcome if left in place too long. Credit monitoring is key to that. The article downplays that too much - it may be infrequent but is ultimately more damaging.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

AltaRed said:


> Agree transaction monitoring is the short term exposure situation and we should all monitor our transactions on a frequent basis. *But the larger more painful issue is still identify theft that can take years to overcome if left in place too long. Credit monitoring is key to that*. The article downplays that too much - it may be infrequent but is ultimately more damaging.


 ... agree too ... sigh, sigh, sigh - perpetual self-monitoring. :numbness:


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

The saga continues ... more on this "credit monitoring" business ... 

http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2014/10/06/beware_of_slick_pitches_for_credit_services_roseman.html



> ...
> Sokoloff called TransUnion, but found a $16.95 charge on June 25 and another on Aug. 27.
> 
> “I’ve spent over three hours on the phone with them (cutting into work time). Twice, their unauthorized charges have pushed me over my balance limit, causing me to incur extra charges,” he said.
> ...


 ... now I don't know what to believe ... if the "creditor-monitoring bureaus" can't do its own job right, I can't see it helping on the bigger problem of identity-theft. :confused2: :confused2:


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