Great time at SSR

[pcparamedics01]

Did she leave an imprint at the front desk when she checked in "for incidentals?" Could it be that the card was accidentally charged by the resort?

No I paid for everything. She never took it out of her purse.

 

[pcparamedics01]

Not saying this is the case with the OP's mother, but how would security know if someone went in through an open sliding door.

How many people check into a resort that has a sliding door and check immediately to see if it is locked.

Also the OP has not said if the card was used in the Orlando area or not, only that fradulent charges were made. We don't have enough info to know where the numbers were lifted.

Well we were on the third floor. It is too high to go through the sliding glass door I would think. Anything is possible I guess.

 

[JimMIA]

We can come up with all sorts of theories and bogeymen, but the truth is that we don't have enough information to make any rational conclusions about what happened here.

For example, there are software packages available free on the Internet which provide the algorhythm for generating appropriate credit card numbers for any type of credit card. It's a hit or miss proposition, and you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, but it's a big payoff when you get one right.

Another possibility -- Alpharetta, Georgia just happens to be one of the intergallactic capitals of credit card fraud and identity theft. If you EVER see an Alpharetta, Ga address for you in your credit file (and you don't live there), you'd better put fraud alerts on all your files immediately...even if you have not yet suffered any fraud. So there is a possibility that the fraud actually occurred somewhere other than Disney World. If you find the fraudulent purchases were done either in the Atlanta area, or scattered throughout major US cities, I'd bet the farm that the theft occurred at home.

It's possible that someone found your mother's purse in the room at SSR, and that they wrote the name, card number, and expiration date down and went shopping. However, there are at least two security devices on the card which they wouldn't have -- one is electronically encoded on the mag stripe (and therefore would be picked up by skimming), the other is imprinted on the card. In most transactions, the purchaser is required to provide one or the other, depending on whether the card is swiped or not.

Is it possible to get around those security devices? Of course it is. But it's not nearly as likely as someone skimming the card, stealing the info directly from the credit card company itself, getting it from a rental car contract, etc, etc.

If your mother has EVER done a single transaction with that credit card -- anywhere -- skimming is by far the most likely way the card was compromised.

 

[anabelle]

I am really sorry this happened to your Mom, as I have had several dealings with credit card and identity theft.

But that said, let's please do not be rash to judge what and where it was misued.

I recently had a credit card used fraudulently that had never, ever been taken out of my safe at my home. Never used, never taken out of the safe and yet the numbers to my account were stolen and charges were made.

So until the proof shows where the charges were made lets not rush to judgement.

I totally agree with this. We had our Disney Visa card used fraudulently last year. Chase called us. They had a rash of stolen card numbers. I found out. Sometimes it is an employee of the credit card company.

 

[pcparamedics01]

We can come up with all sorts of theories and bogeymen, but the truth is that we don't have enough information to make any rational conclusions about what happened here.

For example, there are software packages available free on the Internet which provide the algorhythm for generating appropriate credit card numbers for any type of credit card. It's a hit or miss proposition, and you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, but it's a big payoff when you get one right.

Another possibility -- Alpharetta, Georgia just happens to be one of the intergallactic capitals of credit card fraud and identity theft. If you EVER see an Alpharetta, Ga address for you in your credit file (and you don't live there), you'd better put fraud alerts on all your files immediately...even if you have not yet suffered any fraud. So there is a possibility that the fraud actually occurred somewhere other than Disney World. If you find the fraudulent purchases were done either in the Atlanta area, or scattered throughout major US cities, I'd bet the farm that the theft occurred at home.

It's possible that someone found your mother's purse in the room at SSR, and that they wrote the name, card number, and expiration date down and went shopping. However, there are at least two security devices on the card which they wouldn't have -- one is electronically encoded on the mag stripe (and therefore would be picked up by skimming), the other is imprinted on the card. In most transactions, the purchaser is required to provide one or the other, depending on whether the card is swiped or not.

Is it possible to get around those security devices? Of course it is. But it's not nearly as likely as someone skimming the card, stealing the info directly from the credit card company itself, getting it from a rental car contract, etc, etc.

If your mother has EVER done a single transaction with that credit card -- anywhere -- skimming is by far the most likely way the card was compromised.

\

Thanks for the info. My Mom does not live in Alpharetta I do. But thanks for the info I will be on my guard.She lives in a small town in Upstate NY. What is skimming? I do not quite understand.

 

[pcparamedics01]

\

Thanks for the info. My Mom does not live in Alpharetta I do. But thanks for the info I will be on my guard.She lives in a small town in Upstate NY. What is skimming? I do not quite understand.

Oh okay skimming is directly from the credit card company. She does not use the card at all and she did not rent a car. In fact the last time she used the card was three years ago.

 

[JimMIA]

Oh okay skimming is directly from the credit card company. She does not use the card at all and she did not rent a car. In fact the last time she used the card was three years ago.

No, skimming occurs at the point of sale (especially restaurants, bars, and malls), not at the credit card company. All credit card companies have issues with internal account info theft -- some much worse than others -- and it's also possible to steal the info at the middleman, the processing houses.

You're just going to have to wait and see what the credit card company says about where the fraud occurred -- and that may or may not tell you how and where the card was compromised.

As soon as she sends the affidavit of fraud back to them, they'll take the charges off her account and that will be the end of it. Unfortunately, they are not likely to do much investigation unless it ties in with some big ring they're working.

I would definitely recommend that she put "fraud alerts" on her files at all three credit reporting agencies. Then, wait a couple of months and get copies of her files from all three and check them. She should see the fraud alerts, and she should not see accounts that aren't hers or addresses/employment that is not hers. If she finds any of those things, there's a procedure for having the file corrected.

 

[pcparamedics01]

No, skimming occurs at the point of sale (especially restaurants, bars, and malls), not at the credit card company. All credit card companies have issues with internal account info theft -- some much worse than others -- and it's also possible to steal the info at the middleman, the processing houses.

You're just going to have to wait and see what the credit card company says about where the fraud occurred -- and that may or may not tell you how and where the card was compromised.

As soon as she sends the affidavit of fraud back to them, they'll take the charges off her account and that will be the end of it. Unfortunately, they are not likely to do much investigation unless it ties in with some big ring they're working.

I would definitely recommend that she put "fraud alerts" on her files at all three credit reporting agences. Then, wait a couple of months and get copies of her files from all three and check them. She should see the fraud alerts, and she should not see accounts that aren't hers or addresses/employment that is not hers. If she finds any of those things, there's a procedure for having the file corrected.

Oh got ya! But she never uses it so where would the possiblity of skimming come into play at Malls, restaurants etc? My step father does not believe in charging anything. She just has it for emergencies.

 

[bluslag]

You know you have to start somewhere when something has been taken. No one likes to blame anyone else but the fact remains someone did and you have to start with what you can remember. If you left something in your room and it was taken all you can do is call the front desk of the resort and start to figure it out. I had items taken out of our home one year and I didn't want to blame anyone but we had to find out who. I talked to our local deputy and told him that we had lots of people through our house as usual but the only different one was we had a window washing company come in and clean the windows. I knew the owner and was friends with him but the deputy looked into it for me and found out it had happened at other houses and it was one of his workers. I certainaly will be more careful when we go down the winter. I try to take cash and 2 credit cards thats it. I keep the credit cards with me and keep some of the cash in the safe. Maybe this is a good reason to use your room key for charges so that you don't have to pull out your credit cards. It also makes the DDP more attractive.

 

[pcparamedics01]

You know you have to start somewhere when something has been taken. No one likes to blame anyone else but the fact remains someone did and you have to start with what you can remember. If you left something in your room and it was taken all you can do is call the front desk of the resort and start to figure it out. I had items taken out of our home one year and I didn't want to blame anyone but we had to find out who. I talked to our local deputy and told him that we had lots of people through our house as usual but the only different one was we had a window washing company come in and clean the windows. I knew the owner and was friends with him but the deputy looked into it for me and found out it had happened at other houses and it was one of his workers. I certainaly will be more careful when we go down the winter. I try to take cash and 2 credit cards thats it. I keep the credit cards with me and keep some of the cash in the safe. Maybe this is a good reason to use your room key for charges so that you don't have to pull out your credit cards. It also makes the DDP more attractive.

Thanks! That is what we are doing. We spent the whole day yesterday drilling my mom. Are you sure you never took it out, used it etc. What about this what about that. All no. She never uses it.

 

[Chuck S]

Because they have cameras EVERYWHERE! Outside that is and in hallways!

I don't think they have cameras moitoring all the balconies, especially at resorts like OKW and SSR. We've even have guests leave their door ajar all day at OKW while we were at a park, and nothing was touched, on the other hand, I've had guests not check their connecting door, and had a child walk in from the next room while they were having breakfast.

We really don't know enough to specifically say the Disney CMs, or anyone at Disney, contributed to these incidents, let alone accuse them of theft.

 

[JimMIA]

Oh got ya! But she never uses it so where would the possiblity of skimming come into play at Malls, restaurants etc? My step father does not believe in charging anything. She just has it for emergencies.

I read your original post to mean that the card was not taken and that she still had the card. In that case, skimming is the most likely explanation, but not the only explanation. If she truly has not EVER used the card in three years (to charge something, to hold a reservation, guarantee room charges, etc), skimming probably is NOT what happened in her particular case.

If the card itself was stolen, it's pretty obvious what happened, but your OP said nothing was actually taken.

 

[pcparamedics01]

I read your original post to mean that the card was not taken and that she still had the card. In that case, skimming is the most likely explanation, but not the only explanation. If she truly has not EVER used the card in three years (to charge something, to hold a reservation, guarantee room charges, etc), skimming probably is NOT what happened in her particular case.

If the card itself was stolen, it's pretty obvious what happened, but your OP said nothing was actually taken.

That is correct. The card was not taken. She does not hold rooms. She doesnt go anywhere on vacation unless I take her. But, those are some good scenarios. Thanks.

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks! That is what we are doing. We spent the whole day yesterday drilling my mom. Are you sure you never took it out, used it etc. What about this what about that. All no. She never uses it.

There's no need to beat her up. The credit card company is going to send a printout of all the charges, and she either used the card or she didn't. Either way, it will show up when you receive the package from their fraud investigators. It's possible that she bought some surprise present for one of you and doesn't want to say, but it will all come out in the wash.

No matter what happened, it's not her fault. Some people are just crooks.

 

[bavaria]

We really don't know enough to specifically say the Disney CMs, or anyone at Disney, contributed to these incidents, let alone accuse them of theft.

Exactly, yet any time something goes 'missing' they are blamed. There are several threads going on right now on this website where housekeeping is blamed for 'missing' items, and where the mob is not hearing some of the reasonable voices pointing out that there are a variety of things which may have occured.

 

[squirrlygirl]

What's worse is if they have your number, then you feel that you're never safe from identity theft - Lifelock.com is an excellent service to prevent anyone opening any account - they are great - sometimes too good!! (as in if you want to open an account at a store that is having a promotion - you do have to jump some hoops - its all great protection tho!)

Good luck, hope you can post some details to help anyone else protect their cc # too!

I don't get why you would pay a company to do something you can for yourself for free-we currently have fraud alerts, and have been taken off mailing lists for prescreened offers. We had the option of not just putting fraud alerts on our accounts, but also fully locking our information so it could not be pulled up at all. It is free-one call to one of the 3 credit bureaus and they pass it on to the others. Homeowner's insurance can have coverage for identity theft, too.

DH had fraudulent charges on a card once that he hadn't used in 2 years and didn't carry. The fraud dept. said more than likely they lifted the number from our mailed-in payment (had one of those balance transfer/life of balance things). We now pay online and don't even receive statements in the mail.

 

[pcparamedics01]

Exactly, yet any time something goes 'missing' they are blamed. There are several threads going on right now on this website where housekeeping is blamed for 'missing' items, and where the mob is not hearing some of the reasonable voices pointing out that there are a variety of things which may have occured.

I think I am being very reasonable. I did state that it could of been an intruder, door left unopened etc. I am open to all. But there have been many reports of issues. I am the one that posted on the other site nothing of mine was stolen and I left everything out until my mom called me yesterday. But I also posted I was stupid for doing that. And even if this did not happen I would take more precautions next time, like I would anywhere now.

 

[JimMIA]

Exactly, yet any time something goes 'missing' they are blamed. There are several threads going on right now on this website where housekeeping is blamed for 'missing' items, and where the mob is not hearing some of the reasonable voices pointing out that there are a variety of things which may have occured.

Right -- those rotten @$%@@&&XXX's stole some of my wife's jewelry a couple of years ago. She didn't discover it until we got home and was really wailing...so I asked her, "Sweetie...did you check the safe before we left?"

It got real quiet, and then she asked if I still had the front desk number for OKW on my cell. Needless to say, the front desk CM just laughed and said, "Yeah, we have it! We were waiting for you to call to see how you want it shipped."

To this day, whenever she can't find something, I tell her to check the safe!

 

[mamatojon]

Sometimes you just never figure it out. We just had two credit cards used fraudulently, and my suspicion is that there was a breach in security with the credit card company. They were both Southwest Airline visas, different account numbers (one mine and one dh's) and they were both used to make a multitude of online transactions, at some of the same places. We used the cards often, but given that they were all internet transactions, I don't think skimming was the culprit. My suspicion is a breach in the rewards system (since purchases earn airline credits) or something like that, at Southwest.

Chase automatically reversed any charges that we said were fraudulent and sent me an affidavit to sign, so we aren't out anything. It does make me mad though. According to the detective, the credit card companies lose less than 1% of their profits to fraud, so it isn't really worth it to them to pursue finding who is committing these crimes. He said that in a way, it was almost the "perfect crime".

 

[bavaria]

My Mother just called today! As you remember I posted earlier in this thread that nothing of ours were stolen! They weren't but someone used my mother's number off her credit card and charged 1700.00.

I don't call either the thread title or your post reasonable - I call it alarmist. I do understand that you are trying to warn people, but publically blaming the resort staff is quite a stretch from a fradulent charge which may have come about for a variety of reasons.

At least we do have posters like Jim and Sammie who can try and present an alternative view rather than immediately assume the worst.