People often buy something completely random, often online, to see if the card will work before they go for something larger. Could be the result, although FIVE charges seems ridiculous.

 

Apparently, we must eat at the same restaurant because I was just scammed by this same person. This is what appeared on my bank statement:

DEBIT PURCHASE Aug 16 09:10 0846
NORTON *SOFTWARE NORTON.CO $ 49.99

Three separate times as well.

I noticed that you're in South Carolina. I am in New York City. Did you happen to make purchases through Amazon.com right before your information was stolen? I'm trying to track down how my debit card information was stolen and they are one possibility. All of my other purchases were via my normal routines. I bought 5 dvds on Amazon and right after that my debit info. was stolen. As you know, Amazon uses MANY different vendors. Who's to say what they do with your information after they send you a $5.00 DVD.

I also noticed that you were scammed way back in March. ...and I was just hit in early August. This means that the person is still in business. Citibank told me that they only go after "rings"...that these "petty thefts" aren't worth prosecuting. I then asked, "What if someone steals $150 from 10,000 people? Is this still a petty theft"? To that she had no answer but to agree with me.

Also, this Norton.com scam definitely appears as a "ring" to me. It obviously involves multi-states and individuals.

Lastly, this is the SECOND time that my debit infomation was stolen in less than a year. The other time I was nailed for (once again) THREE charges from Target.com for $150 each. Citibank again refunded my money, but, would not provide any information whatsoever. Most frustratingly, they would not say how my account was breached. They gave the same vague suggestions that some have also mentioned on this forum...an unscrupulous waiter in a restaurant or a skimming device at a gas station. I know what a skimming device looks like and again, I doubt that you and I ate at the same restaurant in NYC.

So, hopefully we can keep this topic going. I'd like to know who else is a victim.

Steve NYC, NY

 

interested to see a resolution

I'm sorry to hear that Steve.

 

 

Norton/Symantec anti-virus is a very competent AV software package, especially in the Enterprise arena. Many magazine reviews will attest to that.

 

yeah, the free stuff is certainly good for a home user - especially a fairly knowledgeable home user - but symantec is great for what it does.

 

Sounds like you got some Scare-ware on your computer and it caught your credit card number

 

MS security essentials is A LOT better than Norton and it's free.

 

I got a letter from Monoprice.com a couple of weeks after my incident saying they had a secrurity breach. I had bought stuff from them, so I'm guessing that's where it came from. They even offered a year of credit protection. I didn't take it. It seemed like a risk too. I hadn't heard of the credit protection company before, as was leary about turning my info over to them. I've got a new debit card and haven't had any problems since.

 

My hotmail recently got hijacked. Emails of a website link were sent to my contact list. I have since changed the password and only use a virtual keyboard to type in logins and pws.

Following the recommendations here, I dled HiJackThis and Malwarebytes. I currently use Kaspersky Suite and Spybot and was surprised when Malwarebytes found a trojan. To be safe but not paranoid, what are the AV and spyware programs one should have? My Kaspersky will expire in a few months.