Compromised credit card information after ordering from HK?

[Joker 53150]

On Friday I tried ordering a plane from HK, but my credit card was declined. I checked with my bank and they said it was because they don't permit orders to be processed for Hong Kong companies due to security risks. I told them to go ahead and allow it in this instance, and that I'd just re-submit the order.

After thinking about it for a while I decided to go to the local hobby store, pay a little more, and support the local guy with a Hobby Zone Super Cub purchase.

I called the bank and asked if they could stop any payment to Hong Kong, since I wasn't going to re-order as planned. No payment had been made or authorized with HK at this time, and my online account confirmed that the order was not processed. However, to keep my bank from authorizing an order by HK I had to cancel the card and get a new one. Not a big deal, so I agreed to it.

Today I got an e-mail notification that somebody tried to buy Amazon.com gift cards on the US and French Amazon sites.

Coincidence? I was stupid and used my same log-in ID and password on Amazon as I had on the HK site, and now my canceled credit card number is also on the HK site, so it's possible all that info was taken from the HK site and the people with the info took a guess that I had an Amazon account as well.

I can't be sure that the e-mails I got from Amazon were even legit - I refuse to clink on the links and will simply call my bank Monday morning to see if any actual attempts were made to charge my card.

I love how the internet makes it easy to buy from just about any corner of the earth, but all the scammers, thieves, and assorted a-holes out there really take the fun out of it.

Either way, if/when I want to order from HK again I'll avoid giving their servers my credit card info.

 

[lobstermash]

Time to sign up for Paypal! That way, your credit card details will never be on the HK website. Mind you, I've heard of people having their Paypal accounts hacked too. Can't be too careful anywhere on the net.

 

[PaulT]

A sugestion:
Set up a credit card (separate from the one you normally use) with a low dollar credit limit.
Set up a paypal account as mentioned.
Protects you two ways and even if something happens you are limited to smaller damages.

 

[Joker 53150]

I'm protected either way, since I didn't make/authorize any fraudulent purchase my bank will reimburse me in the case of fraud. However, I'm temporarily out the scammed money while the bank does their thing. I made a purchase a few years ago and the seller never shipped the product and wouldn't return calls/e-mails. I took copies of my e-mails to the bank as proof of my attempts to solve the problem and they pulled the funds from the seller's account somehow and within 3 days I had my money back. Turns out the seller left the country...

I'll probably just go back to PayPal, since I've had an account there for years. Different ID and password though - gotta make the scumbag scammers work for it!