BPI - Credit Card "Data Incident"

[Cold Spring]

So on last Thursday I received a call from one of our credit card banks, following up on suspect charges that were flagged by its computer system. The security agent asked us about 3 charges and if we made them earlier that day? Answers: no, no, no. Two were made at a Wal Mart and one at another place, its name didn't ring a bell.

The bank agent then told us our CC info must have been compromised and they'd cancel the card and re-issue new ones with a different number of course. Wife and I wondered how that happened and narrowed it to only two internet vendors where we’d used that CC in the previous week or so. One of them was Ballistic Products and that shipment arrived on Friday.

Today we received an email from BPI on a "Data Incident" and I've copied the pertinent info below. FYI in case you bought something from BPI recently.

> The purpose of this email is to make you aware of a data incident experienced by one of our third-party vendors that may have resulted in the disclosure of payment card information of some of our customers. The vendor of this service has launched an independent investigation with the help of national cybersecurity experts. At this time, we have received only limited information as the vendor’s investigation remains ongoing. BPI and our vendor take the security and privacy of your information very seriously and regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

Our vendor has informed us that it is working with the payment card brands and law enforcement authorities to better understand the scope of this incident. We were notified that payment card brands may be cancelling and re-issuing certain payment cards. Please note that BPI does NOT directly collect or store payment card data in our own computer system. We employ and rely on offsite vendors to safeguard this data. Accordingly, we do not yet have access to the information required to determine which specific cards were impacted and, therefore, we are unable to provide any additional information about those impacted at this time. We anticipate receiving more information from the vendor concerning specific customers who may have been impacted, and we will notify those individuals upon receiving such information.

We appreciate your patience in the coming weeks as our vendor and industry experts work through this complex situation.

Sincerely,
Ballistic Products

[Fishrising (Ben)]

Got the same email today…and just checked my card charges over the last few weeks, nothing unexpected (knocking on wood)….

[Dean Romig]

I wouldn't allow ANYONE to reissue a new card or card number to me. I would do it myself without the further risk of more breaches.





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[Cold Spring]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

I wouldn't allow ANYONE to reissue a new card or card number to me. I would do it myself without the further risk of more breaches.


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Dean, I don't follow your logic. The bank that issued the card that was compromised and is now cancelled, is issuing me the new one. How would that present a further risk of more breaches?

[ArtS]

Same thing happened to me. Three charges tried. All for several thousand dollars. My CC holder caught it, locked the card and contacted me. I have held this particular card since the 1970's. It has been compromised 4 or 5 times in that period.Always cancelled and reissued with no charges and no hassle. Because of their track record, I use this card exclusively for online purchases.

I got the BPI email today, so I presume that is where the breach occured.

[Jeff K.]

Ditto for me. Capital One caught the two one dollar charges to Walmart and then a larger
charge. New card shipped two day. I haven't seen an email from BP but a BP shipment arrived on Saturday.

[Terry Hobson]

Same here. Fraudulent charge to Walmart for $200+ about a month ago.
Got the email from BPI today. Been several months since I have purchased from BPI.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Frank Srebro

Dean, I don't follow your logic. The bank that issued the card that was compromised and is now cancelled, is issuing me the new one. How would that present a further risk of more breaches?

You sure it was the bank that did that Frank? I'd want to be the one to initiate such transactions...

Fool me once shame on thee... fool me twice shame on me.





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[Cold Spring]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

You sure it was the bank that did that Frank? I'd want to be the one to initiate such transactions...

Fool me once shame on thee... fool me twice shame on me.


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Still don't follow you on this Dean. Well when the bank (one of the largest in the US) leaves a message to call them to verify some questionable charges, and I call them using the phone number printed on the credit card, and they ask me answers to the "secret" questions I have on file with the bank, I'm sure it's a legitimate contact. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but far from being the dumbest.

If you want to reply here about something how about posting to members who've recently bought from BPI and may not have a bank with sophisticated anti-fraud capabilities. Might save them some grief and effort when they get their next CC statement?

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Frank Srebro

Still don't follow you on this Dean. Well when the bank (one of the largest in the US) leaves a message to call them to verify some questionable charges, and I call them using the phone number printed on the credit card, and they ask me answers to the "secret" questions I have on file with the bank, I'm sure it's a legitimate contact.

I don’t recall reading this explanation in your original post Frank. If you had I might not have been as skeptical of the situation.
There are thousands of unscrupulous entities in this world who pretend to be something or someone they’re not just to gain our confidence and steal from us. No apologies that I am one of the most cautious and skeptical people I know.
Sorry if I upset anyone, it was not intentional, but if I’m going to be doing business with a bank, investment firm, credit card company, insurance company, or whatever… please notify me if you suspect fraud but I will initiate a bsiness transaction… regardless of who you SAY you are.







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