It seems that every 8 to 12 months, one of my credit cards gets compromised. Maybe I missed a skimmer on a gas pump, or maybe an online store was hacked and my info and card numbers went into the dark web abyss that way. Who the hell knows.
2 weeks ago, I discovered fraudulent charges on my Costco (Citi) card. I locked the card, called them, they said I would have a new cc number in an hour available to me to use online, and a new physical card in about a week. Cool. I get the new number, and put it in my Google wallet (after changing my google account password). I also stored that new number in my Amazon account. I used it to pay a city utility bill, make some Amazon purchases, and a new camera direct from Canon.
Last Friday, I got the physical card and activated it. Late that night (about 2am Saturday morning), I checked email before going to bed (F-ing insomnia)--- the NEW card number was hacked again. I have never had one hacked in less than a week. There were two $1 test charges-- to Google Australia and Google Japan, then charges to Shopify.IL (Israel) and Shopify in the US each for about $430. What in the Actual F*** is going on here?
So we go through this again with getting a new card. The Citi rep said my purchases in that time were really from reputable businesses and he doubted the number was leaked from them. HE thought it was probably hacked from Amazon where I had it stored. He did not think having the card in my Google wallet was the issue. Hmmm-- neither Google nor Amazon reported any account security issues. So-- WTF is going on?
So... paranoia is interesting and the speed of that cc number being compromised has certainly freaked me out. Of course-- it's not paranoid if they really are out to get me. With that in mind, one of the possibilities I have to consider is that my home network has potentially been compromised somehow, and someone get my number by reading it right off of one of my own computers. What a scary damn thought--even if it's unlikely. To that end, I decided to order a new router (Asus RT-AX57) to replace the TP-Link router I put in a few years ago that seems to require a manual restart 1~2 times per week. LOL--- is that a paranoid overkill reaction? From some things I have read elsewhere here on IPCT, it's probably a good choice to ditch the Chinese TP-Link no matter what-- right @fenderman?
So-- Question time (to help make this a learning experience for all).
2 weeks ago, I discovered fraudulent charges on my Costco (Citi) card. I locked the card, called them, they said I would have a new cc number in an hour available to me to use online, and a new physical card in about a week. Cool. I get the new number, and put it in my Google wallet (after changing my google account password). I also stored that new number in my Amazon account. I used it to pay a city utility bill, make some Amazon purchases, and a new camera direct from Canon.
Last Friday, I got the physical card and activated it. Late that night (about 2am Saturday morning), I checked email before going to bed (F-ing insomnia)--- the NEW card number was hacked again. I have never had one hacked in less than a week. There were two $1 test charges-- to Google Australia and Google Japan, then charges to Shopify.IL (Israel) and Shopify in the US each for about $430. What in the Actual F*** is going on here?
So we go through this again with getting a new card. The Citi rep said my purchases in that time were really from reputable businesses and he doubted the number was leaked from them. HE thought it was probably hacked from Amazon where I had it stored. He did not think having the card in my Google wallet was the issue. Hmmm-- neither Google nor Amazon reported any account security issues. So-- WTF is going on?
So... paranoia is interesting and the speed of that cc number being compromised has certainly freaked me out. Of course-- it's not paranoid if they really are out to get me. With that in mind, one of the possibilities I have to consider is that my home network has potentially been compromised somehow, and someone get my number by reading it right off of one of my own computers. What a scary damn thought--even if it's unlikely. To that end, I decided to order a new router (Asus RT-AX57) to replace the TP-Link router I put in a few years ago that seems to require a manual restart 1~2 times per week. LOL--- is that a paranoid overkill reaction? From some things I have read elsewhere here on IPCT, it's probably a good choice to ditch the Chinese TP-Link no matter what-- right @fenderman?
So-- Question time (to help make this a learning experience for all).
- Have you ever had a card number hacked before you even got the physical card?
- Do you store CC #s on websites or in Google wallet or Amazon? My faith in these is shaken-- over-reaction on my part?
- My network has a ton of devices on it. My 9 cameras are isolated from the internet. The 5 cell phones, 2 tablets, 4 tv's, 3 Acurite weather station devices, 2 blu-ray players, 6 computers, and 3 laptops (two of those school issued) all use the internet and need to. Before I swap that router and make a bunch of changes-- what utility should I run (on windows) to check/sniff/monitor for possible unwanted traffic on my network? It's been years since I have done this, and I don't remember what I used before. There likely is better software now than what I used back then, and I am certain you guys can suggest something good.
- I am also running Zero-Tier on 3 computers on my network, and one off-network-- is that realistically a possible hacking point of entry or is that such a remote chance that I shouldn't even worry about ZT?
- The Asus router arrived today. For you Asus router owners, what do you consider a MUST-DO in setting that up in terms of security or anything else?
- What the hell else am I forgetting that EVERYONE should probably do periodically on their network as a security check-up?
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