Alert - STC SAWA Credit Card Fraud

[peeking]

I got hit by these scammers too. Three charges for $80 each. It was a Citibank card.

Citibank canceled the card and issued me another. I was told that they had been informed of the situation.


This was a card that I used only for online purchases and subscriptions. I used the card online regularly, so it is hard for me to figure how my info was stolen.

[shoshannah]

Originally Posted by The Merg

Same thing as in same exact charge? Hmmm.... That is interesting. I think I might be calling Citibank up and inquiring a bit more.

- Merg

Yes Exact Same Charge! I see I was dinged twice, now that I have access to my statement. I hope they catch the SOB's!

[alnnay712000]

On Thursday and Friday, July 26 & 27, I was charged three times in the amount of $80.80 each. I was so happy to find a forum about this scam. My bank has been fairly good about the whole incident. These crooks need to be stopped though. I'm now in the process of having a new debit card issued~it's just such a huge inconvenience. Have any of you contacted authorities about this problem?

[Sheriff553]

Hello everyone,

My name is Investigator East and I am with the Goochland County Sheriff's Office in Virginia. I am working on a case that appears to be very similar to the complaints that have been voiced in this forum and it now appears to me that this issue is not localized to my jurisdiction. At this point in my investigation what I am looking to do for my victim is to try to find out how her information was stolen in order to help her find closure to this incident. Her card was charged 2 times, once on 7/20/07 and once on 7/24/07, both in the amount of $80.00 to STC SAWA Recharge Telecommunications Services. The posts made in this forum have helped me tremendously in my investigation but I think we can help each other find some sort of closure to this. My victim has a Meryl Lynch Visa Card that she never uses online and very rarely uses at all. She uses it at a local gas station (BP) to purchase gasoline at outside pumps and she also uses it to purchase medications for her husband from Medco Health.

In order to attempt to find some sort of connection between all of these cases, if the persons in the forum who have been victimized would be willing to make another post stating the following general information, it could help me try to piece together this puzzle.

- Victim's location
- Name of bank/type of card used
- # and amount of each charge
- Date of each fraudulent charge
- Name of company spelled exactly that the charge was made to
- If any online shopping is done and what companies used if you can remember
- Any past history of ID theft (just yes or no)

I can't promise that with this information I will be able to track down this person and prosecute him/her, but hopefully we can determine a pattern and try to at least figure out how the information got out so future problems can be avoided. Please keep in touch with your respective banks and credit card companies as they have fraud departments that can continue to investigate this crime as well. Also you may be able to report this fraud to the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov. Also, being that this is a form of Identity theft, you may also want to consider contacting one of the 3 credit bureaus in order to place a fraud alert on your credit report in case future fraudulent acts are attempted. Thanks for your time and hopefully together we can gain some closure to this incident.

Investigator M. A. East
Goochland County Sheriff's Office

[bjbtexas]

Originally Posted by Sheriff553

- Victim's location
- Name of bank/type of card used
- # and amount of each charge
- Date of each fraudulent charge
- Name of company spelled exactly that the charge was made to
- If any online shopping is done and what companies used if you can remember
- Any past history of ID theft (just yes or no)

Houston, Texas
Compass Bank - Visa
8 charges all $82.40
2 on 7/25
2 on 7/26
2 on 7/27
2 on 7/29

I just got back from vacation in Cozumel Mexico where I used the card at Carlos and Charlies, Los Cinco Soles and our Hotel Coral Princess. online i've used the card at Papa Johns , GoDaddys, Hotel.com, Amazon,

One charge location I have in common with a previous post is Citgo. I don't think there is a Citgo in Sweden -- who knows.

STC SAWA RECHARGE RIYADH 3% ISF DEBIT FOR CHECKCARD 8218913583

I have used my card all the time without issue in the past. I need to rethink that now.

[peeking]

I really wish the press would get a hold of this story. I think it much worse than we have seen.

I called my issuer to request more information. They didn't know much more than what was on my statement. All the rep could tell me is the charges were made online.

[ScanTech]

I have a Citibank Business Master/Debit Card and was originally hit on 7-25 at 20:39 for $82.39 twice. These were Authorizations to Debit. I called Citibank on the following day to dispute the charges. I was told the transactions looked like a utility company but nothing could be done until the charges were actually debited from my account, but the Bank representative also told me he would put a block on the transactions and initiate a dispute if the charges did reach my account.

I called Citibank again on Monday to indicate the amounts had changed from $82.39 to $82.40. A different Representative then assured me that the bank would still stop the charge if it hit my account.

I had to finally tell a third bank representative today to block the entire account and reissue a new card to me overnight because I had found this website while being placed on hold with the bank.

Today is Tuesday and there are now 4 charges on my account, different from the ones above:

Citibank Master/Debit Card- Fort Lauderdale, FL
Dates ranging from 7-25-07 to 7-30-07
Today:
2 for $80.00 each
2 for $2.50 each
STC SAWA RECHARGE RIYAHD - all transactions from the same company

I use this card daily for all my business purchases, online and at local gas stations. I do check to see if the website is secure before making online purchases and I always try to rely on larger online retailers with positive ratings. I am a IT specalist with over 30 years of computer expertise and I feel quite confident that my personal computer systems have not been compromised. I am not saying my systems are not compromised, I am saying I do not believe they are at this time and I am inclined to believe this problem is originating outside of any of our own computers. It is likely a financial system has been breached and our information has been sold.

I am very fortunate to have a business partner who looks at our financial status everyday. It is very hard to find such diligent individuals and I am very greatful to have such a person on my team.

I will do what I can to get the word out.

My thanks to those who have already posted.

[ScanTech]

I have sent the URL address for this thread to CBS News and NBC News as well as my three local television stations for ABC, CBS and NBC.

Maybe someone will pick the story up and apply some investigation power to this problem. No offense Sheriff553, Just trying to bring in some resources.

There is really little we can do besides try to get the word out at this point.

[nomaxim]

As pointed out it would be a good idea to get credit monitoring on your credit reports. The prices start around $5-15 a month dependent on which credit bureau and type of monitoring option you choose to use.

http://www.experian.com/
http://www.equifax.com/home/
http://www.transunion.com/

I personally recommend Equifax Silver, $4.95/month. These can be set up to notify your with an email if odd charges show up on your accounts, again depends on which you choose to use. It can also help speed up the resolution of any fraudulent charges and other ID theft problems.

Originally Posted by Kuulei

Ok how many of the people that previously posted play WoW? I am curious to know if online gaming or recurrent subscriptions may be the culprit

I'd guess that Kuulei's statment comes from this thread, forums.worldofwarcraft.com

[Peter Cornstalk]

Here is where you can access all there free annual reports in one location:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com

It would be interesting to find out what the connection is between all of these... maybe the cards are getting stolen at the processor, that would be more central than anything.